“Building a Developed, Valued, and Respected Africa Now: A Clarion Call for a Collective Participation by Africans for African-Led Solution”
Being the text of a Keynote Address delivered by Engr. IfeOluwa Oyedele, Executive Director (Networks), Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHCO) during the
2022 International Voice Achievers Award held on the 18th to 20th August 2022,
Protocols…
Introduction
It is a delight for me to be here today to stand in the presence of an excellent array of distinguished personalities from all over Africa and beyond. I am aware that this is the 12th award ceremony where distinguished men and women of African descent will be honoured, I am also aware that this year’s awards ceremony is the second time the event will be hosted in Africa having hosted the first 9 consecutive awards in the Netherlands. One can still vividly recall that the 10th awards ceremony was hosted by the Deputy President of Kenya, His Excellency William Ruto who has been declared as the In-coming President. This was the first time that the ceremony will be hosted in sub–Saharan Africa. I, therefore, want to seize this opportunity to appreciate the efforts of the First Lady of the Gambia, HE Madam Fatoumata Bah Barrow who was honored as the ‘Africa Woman of the Year 2021’ in Dubai. Some may recall that during her acceptance speech, she invited African Voice to the Gambia for the hosting of the 2022 Awards ceremony in Banjul, Today, thanks to Her Excellency, we are all gathered in this beautiful hall for today’s epoch-making ceremony.
It is particularly significant that His Excellency President Adama Barrow, President of the Gambia will be receiving the Voice Achievers’ Icon of Democracy Award. I also salute and congratulate Dr Mrs. Fatima Maada Bio, the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone for winning the African Woman of the Year 2022 award. I equally felicitate warmly with all other distinguished awardees here present.
Apart from my selection as the African Man of the Year 2022, I have also been saddled with the arduous task of delivering of this keynote lecture on:
Building a Developed, Valued and Respected Africa: A Clarion Call for Collective
Participation by Africans for An African-Led Solution. It is a task that I accept with all humility. Permit me to reiterate the fact that one of the primary aims of bringing the conference to Banjul this year is to beam the spotlight on The Gambia with a view to harnessing its huge potential and that of the entire African Continent. The organisers, I understand, are interested in celebrating our common African heritage and exploring ways to advance the good of Africa.
A Broad Overview of the Concept of Development
Since the end of World War II, the concept of development has been a major thematic focus of social science scholarship. Several theories have been developed to explain its trajectory across the world. These theories have been embraced and continue to be attractive to several African leaders and policymakers that are interested in modelling their development plans along the recommendations of the development experts of the West. Notable development theorists such as W.W. Rostow, Gunnar Myrdal, W. Arthur Lewis, Paul A. Baran, among others, have examined the issue of development and underdevelopment from diverse perspectives. While Rostow identifies five stages every society must go through to attain the “lofty height,” Myrdal’s argument underscores the centrality of nationalism to the attainment of development. To Lewis, the natural resources and the behavioural pattern in society serve as critical factors in determining the level of development, but Baran adopts a Marxist approach to explain the exploitation of the colonial territories by the European powers, and how post-independence development has continued to be hampered by the policies of the Western capitalist powers.
The divergence of opinions on how countries in the West attained development reinforces the popular saying that there are many routes that can lead to the marketplace. The renowned Austrian economist and economic historian, Joseph Schumpeter, in his analysis of economic development sounded a note of warning to his audience about the limitation of his model. He wrote that his analytical paradigmatic framework on development is premised upon the experience of the capitalist countries of Europe and North America and that such a framework lacks universal applicability since it would require significant modifications if it was to be used in other climes. In other words, the historical context in which the social and economic conditions evolved necessarily play key roles in the strategies to be adopted on development issues. In the case of sub-Saharan Africa and her longtime quest for development the importance of home-grown strategies cannot be overstated. Colonialism under which her social, political and economic systems were structured was primarily targeted at serving the interest of metropolitan Europe.
Before proceeding with this address, I am of the view that it is pertinent to have an understanding of what really constitutes development and especially what it connotes for contemporary African countries. In a nutshell, development means a positive change or improvement in a hitherto existing state of affairs. It also connotes the process of coming into existence or of creating something new or more advanced. It is a post-World War II concept that was synonymous with industrialization in the early years. But the concept subsequently assumed a wider meaning that goes beyond just ordinary change in society to become an all-encompassing change that affects every facet of society and makes life easier than what it used to be. Development, according to Lieshout (et. al 2010), is a deliberate acceleration of modernization. It is the modernization of every aspect of a country’s social system namely; economy, government, political system, and so on. Myrdal defines development as the upward movement of the entire social system which includes both economic and non-economic factors. Wilbert Moore (1960) conceives of development as the opposite of the traditional notion of progress but the rise of rational spirit.
By implication, development cannot be fortuitous, it does not just happen by chance; rather it is a result of a deliberate effort by people who desire a life better than what they have been living. Also, the idea of development transcends just an aspect of the society but the entire society, which, in the case of Africa, go beyond a productive economy. For instance, a productive economy may guarantee an inflow of capital but this is just a means to achieving a goal. As noted by Ragnar Nurkse, capital is a necessary but not a sufficient condition of progress. Society does not progress on a mere accumulation of capital as the situation of African economies has shown; rather, it must be deployed as a tool linked with advanced technology to raise the standard of living of the populace.
Several scholars and analysts and policymakers have lamented the fact that countless number of African youths have been risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea into Europe every year. It is obvious that the hope that comparatively better living condition awaits them in the Western World has continued to fuel the resolve of many African migrants to embark on this perilous journey. At the heart of this attraction is the issue of development. (Falola and Afolabi, 2007:382).
Thus, one may be tempted to ask further why development has remained an elusive chimera in much of sub-Saharan Africa despite years of efforts, either individually or collectively. One can easily recall the prominence of President Nkrumah as one of the earliest advocates of industrialization and economic independence for African countries as a remedy for the anticipated problem of the flag independence granted by the departing colonial powers. The Arusha Declaration in Tanzania under Nyerere’s socialist system; the Monrovia Declaration adopted by OAU which later served as the template for the Lagos Plan of Action in 1980, and the Structural Adjustment Programmes of the 1980s and 1990s are few examples that point to the fact that African countries have always desired a better situation since independence. Much as efforts geared towards development in post-independent African states were not lacking in the past, the failure to materialize and advance the cause of Africa in the final analysis are indications of certain militating factors that need to be adequately understood and be guarded against in designing new strategies.
Even though colonialism ended in Africa some decades ago, one of the major legacies of colonial rule is the skewed allocation of roles to colonies in the global division of labour. Sub-Saharan African countries have found it difficult to fix the anomalies built into the global economic structure handed down to them at independence, and the difficulty is similar to what one encounters in an attempt at building an impressive super-structure on a crooked foundation. In other words, it is a classic example of building something on nothing. The realization of the structural weakness of African economies found expression in the Lagos Plan of Action which showed that over-dependence on the export of primary products, agriculture and minerals, made the economies highly vulnerable to the vagaries of the international market.
A report of the World Bank in 1980 stated that sub-Saharan Africa “has the most disturbing outlook” of any region in the Third World. In spite of this gloomy picture, the point here is that Africa has the capacity to overcome its social, political and economic problems, and beyond the capacity to improve upon their lackluster condition, African countries can also achieve the seemingly elusive development with the right strategies that take into consideration the peculiar nature of the continent and its diverse populace. To occupy her rightful position in the comity of nations and earn the respect of others Africa requires a home-grown solution to her many crises that have plagued many parts of the continent since independence.
It is very important in a discourse of this nature to highlight the view of Gunnar Myrdal a Swedish economist and 1973 Nobel Prize Winner who made major contributions to development economics as well as social and economic policy. As the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe his scholarly contributions became increasingly critical of mainstream neoclassical economics. This led him to adopt what has been described as the institutionalist or state interventionist approach to economic development.
Myrdal’s approach emphasized the role of values and advocated for interdependence between economic and non-economic factors in development. He equally examined the problem of inequality among nations and explained the increasing global inequality between rich and poor nations leading to a high level of development in rich countries and the siphoning of capital from poor countries.
Myrdal’s analysis of economic problems caused him to question the ability of the market to produce equitable growth and development. This view, and his concern for economic and social justice, made him a strong advocate of interventionist government policies and planning. In the 1950s and 1960s, he wrote copiously on international economics, the problems of underdevelopment, and value biases in Western economic thought. He argues that the ‘crucial factor is not the amount of foreign aid or the kind of economic system used but the social discipline of the masses.’ For him, what is required is a re-orientation of the masses and their active involvement in nation-building. Other strategies include; patriotism, population control, transparency and drastic reduction in institutional and systemic corruption.
His conclusion is that without these strategies, lasting development is likely to be impossible.
Given the salient submissions by Myrdal, this distinguished audience will agree with me that his views appear relevant in proffering homegrown solutions to the African condition.
Selected Case Studies
Like every other thing in the world, development has its own history. For most countries in Africa, the very idea of ‘colonial development’ which purportedly aimed at developing the colonies laid a foundation for the selectivity that defined development in its early years and into the post-independence years. Colonial development from the 1930s onwards basically sought to enhance the earning capacity of the state by promoting a few areas of interest in the economy while other sectors suffered neglect (Austen, 1987). This narrow view of development continued to reflect in the writings of development theorists who in their definitions equated development with industrialization (Rapley, 2007). However, Cooper (2010) challenges this narrow notion of development and describes it as a mere “rhetoric of European-directed progress” to capture wide-ranging issues that affect the human race generally.
It is noteworthy that different countries in Africa have experimented with a series of development strategies in the past and these produced varying degrees of success and failure. A survey of those past efforts will be undertaken here with a view to determining whether African countries need to follow already known path or chart a new course for themselves in their quest for sustainable development.
The birth of independent Africa into the Cold War era substantially influenced the ideological orientations of African countries and this was reflected in the paths taken in the course of their developmental history. In independent Tanzania led by the late Julius Nyerere from 1964 to 1985, the socialist development model was embraced, and it found its best expression in the Arusha Declaration of 1967. The projection and expectation that Tanzania would experience appreciable progress did not materialize as the President himself confessed ten years later that the achievement of Tanzania’s goal was not even in sight. Nyerere had to admit that he was a “poor
prophet” (Nyerere, 1977). Thus, following the exit of Nyerere from office in 1985, the country jettisoned the socialist model for a liberalized economic system. This started with the gradual lifting of restrictions on economic activities from 1986 onwards. The opening up of the economy to private participation (Tanzania Country Report, 2022), injection of private capital, and innovative ideas from which the country has benefitted immensely particularly when considered against the backdrop of the distressed economy of the 1980s. Tanzania did not adopt it wholesale but based on the envisaged needs by the leadership under the homegrown agenda for change tagged MKUKUTA in the mainland and MKUZA on the Island of Zanzibar (IMF, 2009). The World Bank report in 2020 shows that the diversified economy of Tanzania witnessed two decades of sustained growth with the notable sectors being tourism, mining, construction, agriculture, and manufacturing. The logic here is that a combination of local developmental concepts and the adoption of free market economic policies appear to have facilitated economic stability.
In North Africa, Morocco and Egypt like other countries in that part of Africa had run an economic system known as Dirigisme in which the state actively controlled the economy. But this was no longer sustainable in the 1980s when Morocco broke with the old order to embrace the liberal economic ideology of market economy in 1983. Egypt began a gradual opening of its economy to private investors within the country in the 1970s but it was in 1987 that the country officially accepted market economy. A common feature of the two North African economies was the delay in implementing the recommendation of the International Monetary Fund. In fact, it took Morocco ten years, 1993, to privatize the first state enterprise (Khosrowshahi, 1997:244). Although governments in the two countries formally espouse market economy, they nevertheless still exercise much control over the economy because the social and cultural environments remain what El Malki, (1986:113) describes as non-capitalist.
Like Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa who adopted different approaches to development, Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa also chose opposing development paths immediately after independence despite the fact that they both shared a similar experience as former colonies of Britain. Nkrumah’s obsession with socialism as the sure way to post-colonial Africa’s development reverberated across Africa but evidence shows that Ghana under Nkrumah could not be justifiably called a socialist state. For instance, more than 80 percent of Ghanaian industries were
privately-owned while the state-controlled as few as 15 percent (Ghana Central Bureau of Statistics, 1973). Therefore, beyond the rhetoric of socialist state Ghana can be appropriately called a mixed economy. The same description slightly fits the Nigerian economic system since its inception, even though the country during the First Republic did not hide its bias for the capitalist West (Osoba, 1980). While Nigeria is touted as the largest economy in Africa today this has to do more with its huge population than the performance of its oil-based economy that successive administrations have not been able to successfully diversify over the years. Ghana’s economy stands at 12th among 47 states in sub-Saharan Africa but falls below average globally.
In the Southern Africa region Botswana and South Africa stand out as the two most prosperous economies. The two minerals-rich countries have successfully managed the resources well to escape the “resource curse” theory that has impoverished many African countries. South Africa has a peculiar history in the region, its drive towards development was not complete until after the end of its infamous apartheid system (Knight, 1988). It is also has mixed economy with strong government regulation, yet it is the most industrialized, technologically advanced with a diversified economy in Africa (Venter et al, 2012). Botswana with its prosperity is not industrialized like South Africa. Its economy is basically driven by the mining of diamonds and export of beef, but the much-advertised miracle is attributable to the skillful and prudent management of the revenues derivable from export (Skidmore-Hess, 2002) which shows that managerial skill and transparency in the handling of resources can make so much difference in Africa.
In this lecture, I have decided to adopt the experience of Rwanda as a developmental model for other African countries still battling with the challenges of sustainable development.
The Rwanda Economic Miracle
A recent UNESCO report put together by Alphonse Nkusi underscores the place of African-led growth as a major driver of sustainable development. According to him and we are all aware that about a quarter of a century ago, the bloodiest chapter in the contemporary history of Africa was written in Rwanda. In less than four months, more than a million people lost their lives, millions were displaced and millions became orphans, widows and widowers.
The first concern of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, RPF-Inkotanyi, the political party led at the time by the current Rwandan President Paul Kagame, was to stop the genocide and restore peace and security. Interestingly, the strategies to put a stop to this genocide and kick start the reconciliation and developmental process were firmly rooted within the framework of the local traditions of Rwanda. Thus, priority was given to unity and reconciliation. To this end, the gacaca, the traditional system of justice, was revived. This allowed the trail of the perpetrators and the acceptance of their request for forgiveness. In ten years, the gacaca courts judged 1.9 million cases, before they were officially closed in May 2012.
In fact, in the aftermath of the genocide, another traditional method was used to enable citizens participate in public affairs. It consists of a commitment to planned activities in a management system that provides for contracts called imihigo. In the past they were oral and endorsed by a ceremony, today they are written and signed, but their function remains the same: they engage the individual to carry out a number of tasks during a year, at the end of which their performance is evaluated by the community. This method has contributed significantly to the improvement of public services in present-day Rwanda, which has opted for consensual democracy and power-sharing.
Thus, with an average growth rate of more than seven per cent per year since 2000, Rwanda is now one of the leading African countries in economic growth. According to official figures, its investments in agriculture, energy, infrastructure, mining and tourism have lifted more than one million people out of poverty.
This development is accompanied by the country’s increased integration into regional economic structures, but also by its greater participation in the international community. With 6,550 personnel, Rwanda is now the fourth-largest contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations. The country has been investing consistently first and foremost in people to achieve all-inclusive development. That is why it places women at the forefront of public life. In order to ensure women’s protection at least thirty percent of positions are reserved for women in all state bodies at all levels. Today, sixty-two percent of parliamentarians, fifty percent of ministers and forty-four percent of officials in the judiciary are women.
Education and health are two other priority sectors, which have absorbed thirty percent of the annual national budget for several years. The rate of school attendance in the twelve years of compulsory education is ninety percent and health insurance
coverage is eighty-seven percent. Health services have improved considerably in remote areas since the arrival of Zipline drones, which, according to the chief executive officer of the American start-up, made more than 4,000 deliveries of blood and medicine between October 2016 and April 2018.
Education, too, is slowly but surely changing as a result of new information and communication technologies (ICTs), particularly since the launch of the “One laptop per child” initiative in June 2008. 4,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cables have already been rolled out in the country. It is expected that wireless Internet and fiber-optic will soon cover ninety-five percent of the country.
The vast majority of the population already has access to mobile phones and more than 4 million Rwandese can now shop and pay their bills, taxes, and even police fines, using mobile applications. The same applies to administrative procedures. Simply go to the portal Irembo (the word means access in Kinyarwanda) to find most government services online. Banking and business transactions are facilitated through mobile services. Urban transport is also facilitated by car and motorcycle services controlled via mobile applications. Artificial Intelligence (AI) officially entered the university curriculum in 2018.
It is our hope that Rwanda will continue to march forward in its current developmental strides. The bottom-line is that Rwanda is today an economic giant in Africa partly because as it was borrowing ideas from outside, it also looked inwards and re-enacted its indigenous culture for fundamental solutions to its developmental challenges.
The 2022 SDGs Report and Africa’s Performance
Interestingly, the United Nations eventually came out with what it termed the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These are:
• Eradication of Poverty
• Zero Hunger,
• Good Health and well-being,
• Quality Education,
• Gender Equality and Inclusion,
• Clean Water and Sanitation,
• Affordable and Clean Energy,
• Decent Work and Economic Growth.
• Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure,
• Reduced Inequalities,
• Sustainable Cities and Communities,
• Responsible for Consumption and Production,
• Climate Action,
• Life Below Water,
• Life on Land, and
• Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.
Comparatively, the Sustainable Development Goals embrace wider issues than the previous global agenda, and this shows that the concerns are not to meet the needs of the current world population alone but also on how the present generation will not compromise the existence of coming ones, hence the call for the judicious use of available resources. In other words, the global agenda seeks to create a world liveable for now and in the future through a sustainable development system.
The big question is where is the place of Africa in the context of this new definition of development and how far has it succeeded in achieving the SDGs? As noted earlier, the whole essence of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to ensure that humanity live a good and fulfilling life and that a sustainable planet is guaranteed for future generations. It is therefore incumbent on the leaders and the led across the world to work conscientiously and assiduously towards realizing the 17 goals of the SDGs. With particular reference to Africa, the 2022 SDGs Report is a pointer to the fact that sub-Saharan Africa has not made the expected progress towards achieving the goals. In fact, its performance is abysmally low and uninspiring for a people that needs to progress in a direction that conforms to global standards.
The Report shows mounting domestic and external debts and the precarious situation of African economies. The recent development in Nigeria where it was reported that the amount to be spent on debt serving has exceeded the country’s revenues best illustrates the unpleasant economic situation in most African countries.
The lack of electricity and running water in most rural communities is another low point that deserves to be improved upon to create a sense of belonging for the African rural populace and discourage rural-urban migration. The condition of workers has also not improved as most workers live in extreme poverty as noted in the Report. Inadequacy of unemployment benefits appears to have further deepened poverty in Africa. Currently, there is food insecurity all over Africa and the situation has been further compounded by the ongoing military debacle in Ukraine.
Considering the vast arable but uncultivated land in Africa, one would wonder if Africa really should have problem food shortage, let alone good nutrition that aids the healthy growth of children. The case of the highest neonatal mortality, lowest intervention against neglected tropical diseases, and the missing out on essential vaccines are testaments to the great challenge confronting the people of sub-Saharan Africa. The low ratio of health professionals to patients on the continent which is partly a fallout of the migration of skilled workers to Europe, North America and Asia for better working conditions confirms the insufficiency of investment in the Healthcare Sector. As far as gender inequality and access to leadership positions by women is concerned, Africa only comes second to Latin America and the Caribbean, but it leads in extremely low access to clean cooking fuel and technology. It worthy of note that sub-Saharan Africa is a non-starter with the report of its performance in every area of the SDGs. However, in the aspect of the coverage of mobile broadband the region has made appreciable progress which can be improved upon given the significance of modern communication to development.
Key Factors relating to the Challenges of Development in Africa
In addressing the problem of development in Africa, I proceed from the following premise that the solution to African problems rests with Africans. To start with, the inherited structures from the erstwhile colonial masters cannot support the quest for development in Africa because they were not designed to accommodate this, hence the compelling need of laying a new foundation for the proposed impressive super-structure that is sustainable and put subSaharan Africa in the rightful place in the world. Therefore, the following issues and their relevance to the building of a developed, respected and valued Africa will be discussed in turn: Peace and Stability, Technology-driven Agriculture, Improved Healthcare, Decolonized Educational System, Younger Population as Assets, and Cooperation for Development.
Peace and Stability
Peace and stability are basic and central to positive development in any society. It is often said that there is no development without peace. However, it is lamentable that many parts of Africa today are beset with instability resulting from insurgency, separatist tendencies, banditry, kidnapping and violent crimes which are obviously not conducive to development. Peace is necessary for unity and harmony and a guarantee for safety which humans require to go about their productive activity. For instance, countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Chad, Cameroun, Ethiopia, and Nigeria are embroiled in different kinds of crises that have created humanitarian concerns and insecurity. Clearly, such a situation is a disincentive to investment in any sector of the economy. If one is to go by the view expressed by Benjamin Higgins that development requires primarily large amounts of Capital Investment that is made in a sizeable lump, and not through the marginal increments that result from a set of unrelated individual decisions, then it is inconceivable that a crisis-ridden country will attract serious investors that will be ready to commit large amount of capital as investments. However, it is important to note that the current instability and wars in some parts of Africa are challenges that are surmountable. The Rwanda Genocide is too well-known to need much elaboration here, but the phenomenal transformation of a crisis-ridden country into one of the fastest growing economies and highly stable polity under President Paul Kagame is an infallible sign that irrespective of past or current situation other
countries in sub-Saharan Africa can attain sustained development with the right policies, focused leadership and the political will to midwife rapid socio-economic and sustainable development. Furthermore, South Africa is another beautiful bride in sub-Saharan Africa which gives hope to other countries on the continent that development is achievable when all hands are on deck.
Technology-Driven Agriculture
Agricultural production is another key aspect of the economy of Africa that when taken seriously and modernized, using appropriate technology, can advance the cause of Africa in food security and boost her industrial capacity. The on-going Russia-Ukrainian War and the global food crisis it has engendered, particularly the disruption in the global wheat market betrays the low capacity of sub-Saharan African farmers to maximize its massive arable land. Although China is the largest producer of wheat in the world, it exports a mere 1% of its production while the rest is consumed locally. Among many countries in sub-Saharan Africa that have the potential to grow this important cereal only Ethiopia grows 0.5 % of total global wheat output while the combined output of the rest of the continent amounts to 0.2%. Four countries in North Africa, namely; Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco produce 2.5% of global output. Moreover, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development reports that between 2016 and 2018 Africa imported about 85% of her food from outside the continent. This shows the low performance of agriculture in a continent with an estimated 874 million of hectares of arable land.
In a 1997 article titled, “Agriculture and the Wealth of Nations”, D. Gale Johnson highlights the key role that agriculture has played in industrial nations. He notes that there are as few as 3% of the population engage in agriculture but the yield has been higher than when about 90% took to farming. According to him, there is no doubt that farmers play essential role in boosting the wealth of nation through agricultural production, but the success of farmers was contingent upon those who invented and produced farm machines, the scientists that developed new and high yielding seeds and those who discovered the essential nutritional needs of plants to yield more per hectare. The list also includes those who learnt how to extract nitrogen from air, those who developed the transport and communication system that gradually integrated farming into the rest of the economy, and the providers of education at all level of the rural areas which allow a good and modern life for the farmers and their families.
The lesson for countries of sub-Saharan Africa in this is that they must be able to produce adequately and feed themselves in order to earn the respect of others. It is glaring that the traditional farming system in which a larger percentage of the population engage in farming needs to give way to a new system, and that agriculture requires massive investment with the right technology, plus essential farm inputs. The rural areas will have to be provided with the much-needed infrastructure to make life easy for farmers and aid their activities. Furthermore, with the right technology and infrastructure in place farmers will constitute only a fraction of the population and produce more to guarantee food security while others will be released into other productive sectors of the economy.
Improved Healthcare
One can easily hazard a guess at the level of investment in the Healthcare Sector in most of sub-Saharan Africa using the yardstick of the rising medical tourism and the ceaseless migration of health professionals from Africa to Europe, North America, and even Asia. In December 2021 President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria lamented the brain drain in the Health Sector in Nigeria and other West African countries. He noted that the migration of home-trained medical professionals to countries outside Africa has created a significant gap between the requisite treatments for patients and the available treatment and care. No doubt the popular saying that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation has become a cliché. Africa is still plagued by many ever-present diseases such as Malaria, Tuberculosis, Ebola, Cholera, HIV and others. African leaders need to strengthen the Healthcare Sector not only as a bulwark against future pandemic but also to discourage medical tourism, save the scarce foreign exchange, raise a healthy productive and innovative population to produce more wealth. As a fundamental component of human capital, improvement in health will guarantee a significant boost to the growth of the economy as better health leads to the capacity to earn higher income. Therefore,
nations aspiring to become developed cannot afford to neglect a crucial sector such as the healthcare system.
Decolonized Educational System
Education is one of the essentials of development in any nation. It is often said that no nation can grow beyond her system of education which presupposes that the philosophy behind an educational system goes a long way to determine its value and the benefits derivable from it. Western Education in Africa came through the Christian missions and it was subsequently appropriated by the colonial state to feather its nest. The philosophy behind it was to advance the cause of the Christian missions and that of the colonial administrations. It is not surprising that comparatively limited education was provided in the colonies. At independence and upon the realization that the system of education bequeathed to them was unsuitable for the type of society they envisioned, African leaders embarked on educational programs that they deemed appropriate for the protection and advancement of the corporate interest of their societies but this did not last long as successive governments grappled with different situations.
Similar observation was made by Abdoulaye Sadji on the need to re-fashion the educational system in Africa and divest it of its individualistic propensities in order that it will serve the purpose of the society at large. It is incumbent on the people of Africa to de-emphasize the idolization of anything foreign. It is through this that Africa can drive its developmental process. Apart from reviewing the educational curriculum in sub-Saharan Africa to reflect the contemporary needs of each country, the language of instruction also matters. Experts have argued, and convincingly so, on the importance of the mother tongue to intellectual development and the progress of any society.
In the view of Kwesi Kwaa Prah, no country can make progress on the basis of a borrowed language. Mariama Khan corroborates this view with her emphasis on the need to jettison the high premium Africans place on foreign language and look inwards to effectively exploit the asset which indigenous language represents to achieve sustained development. Therefore, the use of indigenous language as a medium of instruction will not only enhance better understanding among the
students, its multiplier effect on the society through the creative powers of intellectually developed citizens will lead Africa to the promised land.
Related to the above is investment in science and technology in order to create an enabling environment for a thriving economy. There is no gainsaying the fact that sub-Saharan African states are endowed with enormous mineral resources which foreign multinationals have dominated with their superior technology. More worrisome is the fact that for even age-long and local textile products such as aso oke, the Chinese through its advanced technology have achieved significant comparative advantage in the production of this hitherto hand-woven fabric that is very popular among the Yoruba of Nigeria. The mass production of the fabric with its fine texture and cheap prices continue to endear Chinese-made aso oke to many people who now prefer it to the Nigerian-made fabric.
In a recent observation by Foresight Africa 2022, lack of sufficient investment in Science and Technology in most of sub-Saharan Africa has undermined the economic transformation of these countries at both the structural and sectoral levels. It states further that Africa contributes just 2% of world research output, accounts for only 1.3% of research spending, and produces 0.1% of all patents. Investing in research in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in sub-Saharan Africa could open doors of opportunities through innovative ideas that can be deployed in various sectors of the society, create additional value-chains in the Agricultural Sector, boost the industrial capacity with adequate supply of electricity from diverse sources, and good road network to generate employment for the teeming youths of the continent. In addition to the foregoing, the jaundiced concept of “resource curse” which posits that Africa’s endowed natural resources have detrimental impact on the people will be deflated with the judicious use of these for the betterment of African populace.
Younger Population as Assets
Africa has a unique opportunity to harness her youthful population for development. It is a fact that sub-Saharan Africa has the youngest population in the world with almost 70 percent of her population falling under the age of 30. No doubt, this is an asset waiting to be turned into a nucleus of innovation driven by the fact that the inquisitive minds of young people are more receptive to new ideas. Conventional
wisdom has it that when the energy of the youths and the experience of the adults are combined it creates a powerful result that benefits everyone. With structured opportunities made available these young minds will be able to unleash their talents and abilities into lawful productive activities to tackle Africa’s developmental challenges.
66 % of China’s over 1Billion population in 1975 were under 30 years old. They drove the Chinese Miracle over the next 35 years which lifted 500 Million people out of poverty, to project China to a World Power, the Factory of the world!
Africa has very similar demography. The population of Africa today is approximately 1.3 Billion of which 67% are less than 30 years Old. Contrast Africa’s youthful population with the rest of the World’s ageing population. We must consider also that IT, AI, Medical Biosciences are far more advanced and accessible today than they were in 1975 when China started their economic miracle.
Why shouldn’t Africa do better than China in the same 35-year period? I must however sound a note of warning when discussing the advantages of a youthful population. The Yoruba of Nigeria have a saying that: “omo beere, osi beere” literally translated to mean too many children portend excessive poverty. In celebrating the population of our youth, we must be very conscious of the ability of Africa’s Population 2020
1,340,598,113
Population less than 30 Years old
Male 34.10 %
457,143,956.53
Female 33.30 %
446,419,171.63
%67.40
903,563,128.16
a man to cater for his family needs. I am sure we all know what I am talking about. A situation where a man has children for whom he cannot provide is dangerous and is a time bomb. We must discard those old time religious and traditional belief that give us license to do as we please without restraint. It is time to practice Birth Control.
Cooperation for Development
One of the contributory factors to China’s ‘development miracle’ is that China was and still is one Country with 1 strong Government, whereas Africa is 54 different Countries, 54 different economies, different languages, different customs, different comparative advantages and disadvantages.
The relatively recent launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) however amply demonstrates the firm and continued belief in cooperation among African countries. There is no argument about the existence of regional economic blocs in Africa but the recent AfCTFA has shown that an Africa-wide cooperation in trade and commerce will best serve the need Africa in an increasingly competitive world where the West, and now China, has established their dominance. Much as the idea of a free trade area in Africa is a brilliant one, and the need to sustain it can never be overemphasized, the inherent benefits in the new initiative can adequately be maximized when every country puts its house in order. Since majority of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa are producers of primary agricultural and mineral products, the success of AfCFTA is dependent upon the development of the manufacturing sector in member countries with each one focusing on its comparative advantage. There is also the need to strengthen the extant regional blocs such as CEN-SAD, COMESA, EAC, ECCAS, ECOWAS, IGAD and SADC with a view to exploring the possibility of pulling resources together in proximate states for mutual benefits.
Home Grown Finance
Africa needs home-grown finance to fund the development of Infrastructure, Power, build Schools, Transport, Houses, Healthcare, IT, etc.
Infrastructure costs money, people say Africa is broke, they don’t have money, yet the new estimates indicate that capital flight from African countries continues to increase steadily since the turn of the century. Total capital flight from the sample of thirty countries covered in this report amounts to a $2 trillion (in constant 2018 US dollars) over the period 1970-2018.
Africa needs to develop policies to assure investors of safety, sanctity of capital, etc., to bring all this Capital back to invest in higher rewarding investments in Africa.
Conclusion
In spite of the adoption of the Structural Adjustment Programmes and other recommendations by Bretton Woods Institutions in the 1980s by African countries in the 80s and 90s, the influential Economist magazine recently described the overall economic conditions of Africa as hopeless. While such disparaging description betrays the thinking about Africa and its peoples in the West, it equally demonstrates the futility of relying on an exogenous solution to the problems of Africa. The compelling need for a home-grown solution that takes cognizance of the historical context and peculiarities of every society has been stressed by scholars over the years and there is no better time than now for leaders
of African countries to look inwards for workable and sustainable strategies to advance the cause of Africa.
Building a developed, valued, and respected Africa is a dream that can be realized but the onus lies essentially with Africans themselves. The continent possesses the essential ingredients in terms of human capital and natural resources spread across different regions and these are waiting to be exploited for the benefit of Africa. In fact, Africa’s young population is a highly coveted asset waiting to be tapped. The experiences of Rwanda, Botswana and South Africa show that the challenges currently being faced by a number of states in sub-Saharan Africa can be overcome with the right policies in place. With the right leadership to galvanize the abundant resources coupled with a positive reorientation on the part of the followership, Africa can become truly independent and well developed. The saying that heaven helps
those who help themselves is very apt. Africa needs to develop several home-grown solutions to its myriad problems if it is to achieve rapid economic development and be valued and respected in the comity of nations.
Finally, please permit me to use another Yoruba adage which says: ‘Ko si abuja lorun ope” meaning there is no shortcut to climbing a tree. There can be no shortcut in the quest for Building a developed, valued, and respected Africa. The plan must be deliberate and painstakingly executed. While we should be in a hurry, we cannot afford not to get it right. We must learn from our past mistakes and those of the developed nations in putting together an African-led solution through collective participation.
Your Excellences, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I thank you for the honour of your attention.
IfeOluwa Olusola OYEDELE; FNSE, FNIEEE, FNIPE, FRMN
