Growing up in Africa, Lagos Nigeria, was a beautiful experience. My neighborhood was littered with houses that had low fences on well-planned streets marked with lovely large green fields on which kids played freely without fear.
Though we had our issues, yet life as l remember it was pretty sublime. Funny enough most of those issues still persist till date. Energy has always been a problem, so is governance and poor infrastructure. The education system has deteriorated tremendously – you can’t compare the state of public/government funded institutions to what it is today – most are generally in a sorry situation. One thing that has changed for the better though is telecommunications. We have free and easy access to telecommunications with no more preferential treatment based on whom you know or how much bribe you can give to get your telephone lines working. This one positive change gives me hope that my country can address the plethora of problems that plague our development. We can make things work, if we have the right leadership and willpower to do that which is right. The magic of telecoms privatization worked in so many regards: job creation, a more efficient way of delivering service, access to technology and tremendous investment flows and outlays.
Traversing around some African countries, you will find some basic similarities in both the Anglo and Franco phone countries. Some of these similarities include: poorly developed infrastructure or a complete absence of one plus a wide gap between the rich and the poor.
Many African leaders are exposed to other parts of the world. Many have travelled wide and far. Returning to Lagos on my last trip outside of the county, l once again began to wonder why (with so many leaders who have travelled wide and far – and have seen both the 7 or 8 wonders of the world and more) many African countries are still lagging behind the so called development phenomenon. I belong to the school of thought which embraces development as defined by the majority of the local inhabitants of a state. As long as it embraces the philosophies of progressive living, fairness, upholding the rule of law and justice and inclusivity.
Africa has been burdened with many challenges, starting from slave trade, civil wars, famine, apartheid to colonialism. However, in the 21st century we began to see what many tag as the rising of the African continent, with many governments finally settling down with a large degree of political stability and economic development. The economic upheaval in developed countries which saw many countries stagnating economically or even declining caused many investors to look to Africa for expansion and growth.
We, therefore, experienced a turn around – a situation where we as a continent which was, prior to then, positioned as one needing development support from many international NGOs, celebrities and multilaterals agencies, was now one that had value to be tapped from.
Inflow of investment created jobs for a population which had a teeming number of young persons. In certain instances, however, increased growth in population erased the economic gains that these investments would have otherwise brought. Hence issues like poverty remain a problem for the continent.
There is, however, a long way to go and a couple of things strike me has been instructive: which is the fact that Africa or each country in Africa must succinctly and articulately define its key areas of focus for development in the next decade and how it wishes to go about getting this development sustained. The sustainable development goals offer a unique platform to do this. For those who have – we need to ensure that it is sustained. The future of Africa must be laid today, actions that will drive that development must begin now. Each moment counts.
I look around the world and get somewhat exasperated at where we are with the rate of not only economic progress, but more importantly social and human development. The pace appears slow and in many instances we have seen regression and an inability of leaders to decisively provide the direction to a path of sustained development.
The global fall in oil prices affected the oil producing economic giants of Africa. This shouldn’t have been the case. Others are still ridden with corruption while some cling unto power without providing the appropriate direction nor the socioeconomic prosperity that their citizen needs. Yet, the potential for socioeconomic development is immense considering the yet untapped amount of resources that Africa alone accounts for.
We have to take our future in our hands and act now. We mustn’t depend on ODAs (aid from others), we must learn to empower ourselves and our citizens. With trillions of dollars pumped into the Africa economy over the last couple of decades – we have really seen nothing for all that investment. The multilateral agencies must drive for performance, related interventions were return on development investment are accounted for, seen and experienced by all. I for one am tired of all the sorry pictures of Africa that we see in international media – it must change and it can be done.
What is holding us down? Is it a lack of will or want of knowing what to do or is it simply a case of self-interest which manifest its self in corruption?
A few things to consider
- With renewed focus on democratic governance in most parts of Africa and infiltration of technology: Citizens can get involved in policy advocacy through various platforms – social media, panel discussions and regular print and electronic media.
- We should focus on getting the basic things right: such as sound institutionalized reforms to fight corruption, strong leadership that can ensure the rule of law and order; accountability and transparency – government should demand for performance against set goals and objectives; others are: increasing spend on infrastructure which is simply providing the back bone for a society to thrive both socially and economically; expose the citizens to education – an educated work force is a gold mine; health they say is wealth – this is the driving force of productivity; a conducive operating environment with sound, consistent fiscal and monetary policies for private sector investment; inclusive policies which takes cognizance of gender, race and ethnicity; push for enterprise and innovation for a teeming young population and good governance (private and public sector).
My belief is that Africans must solve this development challenge, not by taking up arms but by making their voices heard and doing whatever they can in their own small corners. Our model of propelling socio-economic progress forward need not necessary be the same age long style everyone is used to. A million concerted actions towards change by individuals and organizations will definitely make positive impact.
