Folks,

I have had a chance to read with interest a few of the postings on this topic
albeit the gruelling schedule I can hardly get myslef out of these days. I
unfortunately cannot add more comments on this but I think you will find the
following article inspiring in light of the discussion going on. I thinm it's about
time we start pondering on what WE can do, with the resources and prospects
at our disposal, to help emancipate our people from economic enslavement.

For the Business elites and students among us, I would love to hear your views
on the SWOT -Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats - (for those
who don't know) analysis given at the end of the article.

Enjoy.

BambaLaye
==================================================



Brighter visions for Africa
The Futurist; Washington; Mar/Apr 2002; Cynthia G Wagner;

Copyright World Future Society Mar/Apr 2002

Young Africans share their ideas for a better future for the continent.


A project to explore "hopes, fears, ambitions, and goals of young dynamic
Africans," has culminated in a new book published by the Nordic Africa
Institute, African Voices, African Visions. The purpose of the project was to
generate new ideas about the future and to get the younger generation of
Africa's intellectual leaders to think about the unthinkable-- Africa's long-term
future.

"The value of this project goes beyond this book," according to the co-editors,
Nigerian economists Olugbenga Adesida and Arunma Oteh. "As far as we
know, it is the first time that such an effort, which specifically targets young
Africans, has been undertaken."

The problems facing Africa are manifold complex, and overlapping, but the 14
contributing authors are unflinching in their battle against "Afro-pessimism." It
is possible that optimism is a necessary condition to think about the long-term
future of Africa in the first place (it has been said that humanity's greatest
hope for the future should be that we have one). But it is also possible that the
very exercise of imagining preferred futures generated the optimism to be
found in these essays.

"The desire for a better future permeated all the essays that we received,"
according to Adesida and Oteh. "The authors desire a future that is uniquely
African, with a high quality of life and standard of living." In short, their desire
is for "a future full of hope and promise; a dream for a beautiful future for the
coming generations. The overwhelming conclusion is that we, as Africans, can
make this happen."

Project coordinator Adesida, founder of the Knowledge Network, a futures
think tank and strategic consulting firm, is a professional futurist, but the
essayists are drawn from academia, policy analysis, development work,
journalism, and other disciplines.

What Africans Want

The preferred future, the authors seem to agree, is for a free and prosperous
Africa. The way to that future is blending global and local approaches, modern
and traditional values. Above all, solving Africa's problems is Africa's
responsibility; blaming the West, blaming colonialism, playing the victim is, the
authors suggest, disempowering and counterproductive.


Ghanaian policy analyst Godwin Y. Dogbey provides a strategic management
approach to understanding the current situation in Africa through a SWOT
analysis-strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats [see sidebar, "A
SWOT Analysis of Africa," page 46].

Two of the biggest problems Africa faces are political corruption and economic
incompetence. But solving these problems isn't simply a matter of applying
models of democracy and capitalism developed elsewhere. The "winner-take-
all," majority-rule principle of democracy and the consumption-driven, laissez-
faire form of market economy found in the United States, for example, would
exacerbate the rich-poor disparities already corroding the African psyche.

As Africa transitions from colonialism to democracy, a new politics of exclusion
has emerged in places like Nigeria, where the trend has been greater
entrenchment of incumbents, notes political scientist Musa LM. Abutudu. The
dictatorships that superseded colonial rule were definitely not the future that
Africans dreamed of achieving.

But a new form of democracy is possible-one that is set in Africa's multiethnic
and multireligious context. This model of democratization depends on
decentralization of authority and more local autonomy, Abutudu suggests.

"To realize our vision of democracy, African societies must begin to take
conscious steps to delegitimize dictatorships," writes Abutudu. "The tendency
of African leaders to defend their gross violations of individual and collective
rights by vague and unsubstantiated references to 'African Culture' or the
peculiar character of the African state must no longer go uncontested. There is
nothing in African culture that encourages murders, torture, and incarceration
as a basis for governance and political control."

Ending corruption must begin at the top, concurs Nigerian student Chika
Nwobi, who calls for "admirable leaders" such as South Africa's Nelson
Mandela and Ghana's Jerry Rawlings-"persons of integrity, committed to
serving their nations before themselves." Integrity at the leadership level will
then spread to all of society. As Nwobi puts it: "When the bath water is poured
directly on the head, it will trickle or flow down and sanitize the rest of the
body."


Caption: DATA BOX FOR AFRICA

One way to reduce corruption is through new political rules, such as term
limits, open political succession, and even a non-party presidency. Egyptian
political science professor Hamdy Abdel Rahman calls for a Swiss
consociational model of democracy-consensus rather than "majority rules."

Likewise, economic power must filter down to the grassroots, investing more
in education and in what Ugandan economist Barbara Mbire-- Barungi
calls "indigenization" of the economy-i.e., support for small and micro
enterprises at the local level.

Human Numbers: Asset or Liability?

Surprisingly little attention is paid by the contributors to rapid population
growth as a source of Africa's ills. The problem isn't overpopulation, the
authors seem to feel; rather, the problems are African agriculture's inability to
feed everyone and the massive migration that overwhelms cities and leaves no
one to work the farms. The solution is thus to invest in agricultural
development.

Humans are a resource, too, to be invested in. The potential of women as
economic contributors and political leaders in Africa has gone untapped. Not
only must the subjugation of women end, but women's full potential must be
explored if Africa is to fulfill its goals, according to Levi M. Obijiofor, a Nigerian
journalist.


"The idea of elevating women to leadership positions may sound unacceptable
to many African men given their patriarchal background. However, it is my
considered opinion that African male leaders have failed Africa and that
women should be given the opportunity to lead the continent out of its
predicament," says Obijiofor. "Equity, justice, and fairness demand that we try
women in all areas where men have failed Africa."

Africa in the Global Village

With a worldwide economic crisis looming, the more powerful regions
(Europe, Asia, and the Americas) could turn their backs on Africa; this could
work to Africa's advantage if it spurs the continent to become more self-
reliant, suggests Ghanaian Comfort Lamptey, a program specialist with the UN
Development Fund for Women.

An important potential source of support from the world community could
come from the African Diaspora, Lamptey notes. In one scenario, she
writes, "Africans in the Diaspora exercised their responsibilities to the
continent through the cultivation of strategic alliances and networks between
those Africans in key international institutions outside the continent and
relevant counterpart institutions within Africa."

But the rest of the world must play a role in helping Africa overcome its
current problems, says Hamdy Abdel Rahman. "Africa must take its future into
its own hands [but] this does not exclude the importance of external variables
and actors." Among other things, "the West should stop attempting to
recolonize Africa by imposing policies and programs that do not take African
initiatives into consideration. In this regard, the international community can
contribute to ending the marginalization of Africa in various ways by reducing
the debts of Africa, encouraging African initiatives that emphasize self-
dependence and development, cutting assistance to despotic regimes in Africa,
and supporting democratization that ensures genuine public participation."

Editors Adesida and Oteh conclude that the visioning process among all
Africans, young and old, is an ongoing and necessary project. They write: "It is
only by challenging ourselves, reflecting together, and thinking about the
possibilities that we can have the audacity to dream and generate ideas about
how to make our dreams a reality. In a sense, we have no choice except to
dream of the impossible, given the fact that almost all predictions paint a
gloomy picture of the future of the continent."


A SWOT ANALYSIS OF AFRICA:

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

Strengths

* Well endowed with mineral and other natural resources.
* Stable landmass that is generally protected from earthquakes, volcanoes,
tornadoes, and other disasters plaguing other regions.
* Human productivity capacity is potentially high among professionals.
* Emerging consensus among intellectuals on the state of the African crisis,
the nature of the problems, and potential avenues for lasting remedies.
* Transition of South Africa to participatory democracy offers model for the
rest of Africa.

Weaknesses


* Political instability due to dictatorship, military adventurism, heightened
ethnic tensions and intolerance, overflows of refugees into relatively stable
nations, causing civil disorder.
* Dependence on exporting primary products (e.g., commodities) that are
subject to volatile price fluctuations, causing chronic trade imbalances.
* Low attainment of health and education.
* High government intervention in economies, creating bureaucratic inertia,
corruption, lack of accountability, and inefficiency.
* "Victim mentality" leading to calls for reparations from colonialism. "This
posture reduces innovation and capacity utilization by dissipating energy in
accusing people of one's woes rather than living up to the challenges of the
times," says Godwin Y. Dogbey, a policy analyst in Ghana.


Opportunities

* Globalization expands opportunities for increasing trade in new markets.
* Knowledge sharing and intra-African trade are enhanced by such
developments as South Africa's transition to participatory democracy and
advances in technical know-how in South Africa, Mauritius, and Egypt.
* The emerging information technology revolution can enhance skills
development and knowledge transfer.
* Increased activism of non-- governmental organizations becomes a resource
for mobilizing home-grown economic growth and political development.
* Sizable inflow of development assistance funds.
* Large Diaspora can help connect Africa with other regions, stimulating
investment, technology transfer, and a potential reversal of the "brain drain."

Threats

* Trade terms are disadvantageous to the many African countries that export
commodities and threaten to perpetuate the debt crisis.
* Competition for aid funds has risen from eastern Europe.
* Drug trafficking through many countries poses risk of increasing robbery,
murder, and other ills.
* New World Trade Organization regulations increase protectionism of
industrialized countries, threatening to further marginalize Africa.

Source: Godwin Y. Dogbey, research officer, Policy Analysis and Strategic
Studies Division of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public
Administration, in African Voices, African Dreams.

About the Author

Cynthia G. Wagner is managing editor of THE FUTURIST.
For more information, see: African Voices, African Visions, edited by
Olugbenga Adesida and Arunma Oteh. Nordic Africa Institute. 2001. 217
pages. Paperback. Available from the Futurist Bookstore for $27.95 ($25.50 for
Society members), cat. no. B-2394.

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