the west has to deal with the new africa
TRANSCRIPT
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THE WEST HAS TO DEAL
WITH THE NEW AFRICA
Arica is a place where many things have been changing and continue to change or the better, writes HassanBa, David Applefeld, Tumi Makgabo, Mugo Kibati, Kola Karim, Euvin Naidoo, Rosa Whitaker, and
Ali Belhaj.
For all the enthusiastic response to
President Obamas July address in Ghana
and Secretary o State Hillary Clintons
rst Arica visit in August, there is another
Arica in which the Obama message o Arican
accountability resonates dierently.
This other Arica is the one that doesnt
make the news or need the pep talk. Yet
or a decade or more, many parts o Arica
have been quietly leaving their colonial legacy
behind, building inrastructure, nurturing
democratic traditions, curbing corruption,
and resolving longstanding ethnic rivalries.
Some historical perspective is in order: most
o Aricas 54 countries have only been inde-
pendent or 50 years or less. Evaluating
Arican progress today is like assessing the
state o America in 1825. Recall that the
US, too, struggled with its own public health
challenges, like small pox and yellow ever.
Remember that Americas unparalleled inra-
structure was not built in a day or even a
century. 1825 marked the much-hailed open-
ing o the muddy Erie Canal. Violent confict
with the nations indigenous peoples namely,
the American Indians was widespread.
Democratic and developed nations mature
slowly. Like the youthul America, Arica too
has been maturing but its problems should be
seen as part o the natural development pains
and not the absence o its emergence. The
post election confagration in the country
o Obamas own roots Kenya could be
viewed in similar light: a crucial but necessary
stage in the organic journey toward socio-
economic maturation.
Just as Americans preer to remember the
visionary heroes o the 19th century like Eli
Whitney, Robert Fulton, John Deere, and
Charles Goodyear, Aricas new leadership
beckons attention. Today you may not have
heard o Mo Ibrahim, Aliko Dangote, Binta
Diop, Ismala Sidib, Vimal Shah, or Patrice
Motsep, but Arica, too, has its share o con-
temporary heroes.
Much o the western world is unamiliar with
the new Arican elite indeed most media
coverage o Arica perpetually concentrates
on the continents public health problems,
ethnic conficts, and the shenanigans o Aricas
remaining despots. Even Barack Obama, in his
eloquent and riendly speech, structured his
Arica agenda around the continents tradi-
tional shortcomings.
The on-the-ground acts in Arica are morecomplicated. A new breed o Arican leaders
and its can-do thinking gained gravitas in the
1980s and 90s under three pillars: signicant
advancement in civil liberties; disengagement
with State control in avor o an emerging civil
society and private enterprise; and the open-
ing up o Arican society to public education,
urbanism, and emigration.
Young leaders especially women have
lled important political and economic roles
in most Arican countries or more than a
decade. They are at the ront line against cor-
ruption, ght or transparent management
o public unds, and have risked their own
security or a new understanding o common
Arican good.
Thousands o Arican women have decided to
enter the political arena on the local, national,
and continental levels. They have oten suc-
ceeded in uprooting patriarchal systems that
blocked gender parity and helped send excep-
tional leaders to the state house, such as
Young leaders especially women
have flled important political
and economic roles in most Arican
countries or more than a decade.
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Ellen Johnson-Sirlea, president o Liberia and
Luisa Diogo, the rst emale prime minister
o Mozambique.
This new Arica elite includes young business
leaders and entrepreneurs who have succeed-
ed in making several Arican economies some
o the astest growing in the world, including
Tanzania, Congo, Angola, and Malawi. Well
beore President Obamas visit, many people
in Arica were already comortable talking
about Aricas need to count on itsel and be
rid o the shackles o external aid which has
proven inecient and inantalizes a continent
o capable adults.
This new elite has learned, too, to embrace
the practice o sel-criticism and to insist
that the rest o the world approach its part-
nerships with the new Arica based on mutual
respect, not as ormer colonial masters.
The new generation o Arican leaders have
identied seven priority areas to which they
are applying their leadership:
The rethinking o the Arican Union as
a genuine regional institution rom the
ground up, and the creation o one vast
market with a consensus o shared values.
The establishment o solid and sustainable
national democratic institutions in nations
like Liberia and Zambia.
Food production that eliminates ood inse-
curity and starvation or the entire Arican
continent.
The development o human capital via edu-
cation and proessional training.
The construction o modern inrastruc-
ture (airports, ports, roads, and bridges)
throughout much o the continent.
The creation o an attractive business envi-
ronment compatible with sustainable devel-
opment and social justice.
The drating o a New Green Deal or
Arica that positions the continent to be a
global exporter o renewable energy and a
primary provider o carbon credits.
To solidiy and reinorce Aricas emerging
economies and democracies, Aricas new
leaders welcome western leaders rm con-
demnation o corrupt leaders who subvert
constitutions and oreign corporations who
circumvent the law. Yes, the ght against pov-
erty and AIDS is ar rom over in Arica. Yet
Arica, ueled by its own talent and sel-belie,
is making ar more progress than westerners
realize. It is oten said that it is always darkest
beore dawn. But Aricas dawn has already
arrived.
Hassan Ba, special advisor to the president
o Senegal, is currently writing a book on
Aricas new leadership. David Appleeld is
a specialist in Arican media and small busi-
ness . Tumi Makgabo is a South Arican tel-
evision producer and CEO o Tumi and Co;
Mugo Kibati is the ounder o Miliki Ventures
in Nairobi, Kenya; Kola Karim is the CEO
o Shoreline Energy International in Lagos,
Nigeria; Euvin Naidoo is the CEO o the South
Arican Chamber o Commerce in Boston;
Rosa Whitaker, the CEO o The Whitaker
Group, served as the Assistant US Trade
Representative or Arica in the Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush administrations, and
Ali Belhaj is a leading Moroccan politician. n
Durban is the second
most populous city
in South Arica.
Hassan Ba
David Applefeld
Corporate Africa 2009 7