Africa ready for rebirth
The Sowetan (Johannesburg)
April 7, 2000
Johannesburg - Through African renaissance the continent's intelligentsia
are seeking to start a popular movement for change, writes Sharon Chetty. On
a continent beset by a litany of woes, talking about a rebirth and renewal
is often met with cynicism. And justifiably so.
Africa has the highest percentage of poverty-stricken and ill-educated
people in the world, a large number of its leaders are unelected, ethnic
divisions fuel the competition for resources and it has only a minute
proportion of global infrastructure.
Now, almost four decades after independence from colonialism first started,
the intelligentsia of the continent are once again looking to propagate
fundamental change that will lead to a re-birth in attitude and a renewal of
the idea of ubuntu.
The idea is not new. In the 1960s, leaders like Julius Nyerere, Kwame
Nkrumah and Sekou Toure espoused an independent, prosperous Africa where its
peoples regained the dignity lost to centuries of colonialism.
Although 30 years later Nyerere's "United States of Africa" may not have
been attained, there is a "new wind", especially since South Africa's
liberation from apartheid, sweeping the continent that is expected to lead
to at least some of the ideals taking root, say analysts.
In South Africa, the idea of an African renaissance has been spearheaded by
President Thabo Mbeki and over the past two years the notion has gained
currency as leaders in different fields have added substance to what was at
first seen as mere idealism.
This weekend, at a conference in Johannesburg, the South African Chapter of
the African Renaissance (Sacar) will be launched and the gathering is
expected to attract more than 1 500 participants from different sectors,
both locally and from abroad.
The aim is to start a "popular movement" that will ensure that the idea of
an African renaissance is not merely confined to the domain of intellectuals
and to put into practice some of the ideas that have been debated.
Already, commissions have been set up to look at economic recovery; health
and medical affairs; science and technology; continental affairs; arts,
culture and heritage; human settlements; energy and environment; human
resource development; infrastructure and communication; gender; youth; peace
and governance and minerals.
Their tasks have been to identify "deliverable and realistic" projects and
look at the challenges faced by the different sectors, says Dr Meshack
Khosa, executive director of the Human Sciences Research Council, who chairs
the commission on communication and infrastructure.
Broadly, his team, after extensive discussions and consultation, have
identified three key challenges in the sector: that of access and usage;
control and ownership; and the pressures of globalisation, especially where
indigenous talents are undermined.
Khosa says that the commission has come up with "Africa First" programmes
that will look at how, for example, jobs can be created while local
communities are empowered.
"In Africa, a lot of the infrastructure is built by big companies who are
often from outside the continent," he says.
"We believe that developing and using local skills must be a key part of any
project." Initial suggestions include the setting up of a resource or
knowledge centre which will act as a repository for original works from the
continent.
Another is that a directory of African experts be set up so that
professionals, no matter where they are, can be called on to fill in the
skills shortage of the continent.
A website set up by the South African branch is expected to be launched soon
and will be one of the ways to maintain global and continental links, Khosa
says. He says that the ideas are not "airy-fairy" as, for each suggestion,
someone had to do the research to test its feasibility.
Harnessing the resources of business, especially the private sector, and
converting them to the idea of a stable and prosperous Africa being good for
business, is one of the key tasks of the economic commission, says Thandile
Nxumalo, of Women's Investment Portfolio Capital, who heads that team.
"Economic recovery is important for every single one of us," and how
economic growth is translated so that "the ordinary man on the street"
benefits through job creation projects is important, she says.
How to use indigenous knowledge systems and existing resources as well as
how to make capital more accessible are some of what her team has been
looking at.
"In Africa, there is vast mineral and agricultural wealth. Instead of
exporting the raw materials, we can look at how we on the continent can add
value to what we produce instead of simply selling products abroad." Nxumalo
says that systems like stokvels can also be explored as avenues for finance.
Whatever the practical steps being taken, instilling a broad movement across
the continent to promote the ideals of a renaissance will definitely take a
long time, given the continent's enormous problems.
Dr Francis Kornegay, who is currently the Bradlow Fellow at the South
African Institute for International Affairs, warns against the African
renaissance merely being seen as "feel-good" Pan Africanism.
"Rebirth and renewal will inevitably be a rather painful process," Kornegay
says, adding that the African renaissance tends to be seen as a "linear
progress of positive developments", which he warns will then only be
"utopian and a sham".
"The African renaissance will have as much to do with upheaval as with other
exciting developments," he says.
He adds that "Africa is now at a different stage in a different global world
and South Africa is a major player on the continent." These factors are
likely to give more impetus to the idea of a renaissance.
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