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Africa doesn't need Obama's style of democracy

July 13, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Really? A lot has been written about Obama’s vist to Africa and I have scanned and read a few of the artcles/blogs. Earlier today I came across this one although it would appear that it has since  been pulled, unless something is wrong at my end

Zimbabwe Tribune Is Mr. Obama out of touch with the African question?
Zimbabwe Tribune – Harare,Zimbabwe
Africa needs to curtail spiraling poverty, widespread disease and falling literacy rates. Poverty is at the centre of what has caused so much suffering, .

I do agree with the opening statement but the article went on to say Africans didn’t really care for democracy and certainly not the sort of democracy that is being advocated by Obama and his chums. Obama was out of touch with African affairs and so was the rest of the Western world and as such this explains the lack of progress in spite of the billions of dollars that have been poured into Africa. Apparently  the likes of Mugabe have remained in power precisely because they have spent their money where it matters??

Anyway reading this article in particualr remined of something I wrote about way back  in Nov last year and if you missed it here it is

Having followed the news headlines particularly on reactions from around the world the issue of expectations of the new president stood out for me. In particular the expectations of the people of the people of Kogelo in kenya. This is a poor African village and the news that one of their own made it the highest office in the land is put simply a Miracle

Ok he is not a Kenyan president, but when I watched the interviews of the villagers on TV I got a feeling that the villagers believe Obama’s victory is crucial for their village and as one commentator put it “they believe their streets will soon be lined with gold” Why would a news reporter say such a thing?

Well you would have to understand how politics works in some parts of Africa in order to understand such a statement

Generally speaking in some areas of Africa politics and nepotism go hand in hand and therefore it

is generally accepted that the life of folk in a certain village will improve if one of their own get’s into government “she/he will look after us”

An illustration of this is the First Lady of Uganda is the MP for Ruhanga in the SW of the Country where we are currently working to improve the lives of the villagers. But one Ugandan business person I approached for support said to me “why should I help those people? their tribes people are in power and as far as I understand a lot of money has been invested in their villages!”

My efforts to convince him otherwise fell on deaf ears

The other side to these sorts of expectations of the person in government are rather sinister in that it is implied that the person is corrupt!

As I watched the scenes from the Kenyan village I couldn’t help but wonder whether they believe that a president Obama will increase aid to their village or whether the assocaition will draw tourists into their village who will spend money in their village and thereby improve their lives!




So the question I ask today, did Obama’s speech/visit to Africa inspire folk to do more to help themselves out of poverty or did it raise un realistic expectations?

Is Obama’s kind of democracy possible in places where people are starving, dying of disease or is it a necessity in order that these issues can resolved?

Is there anyone out there that understands Africa’s problems and how to resolve them? One thing for certain as someone I met two weeks ago put it “there are no Silver bullets”

What do you think?

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Filed Under: Development Policy, International Policy

G8 leaders on Food Security for the developing world

July 10, 2009 By 1 Comment

It is the final day of the G8 meeting in L’Aquila Italy. The issue for discussion as I understand it is help for African farmers and reduction in Food AID to Africa and the overall aim is bring about food security and reduce poverty.

I am encouraged by proposals to increase grain storage, irrigation projects, availability of seeds and fertilisers as way forward to reducing world hunger and extreme poverty. This is all great stuff, but I can’t help but wonder how it will work out in practice

We know about farmer’s subsidies here in Europe and the US and we also know that there is an over production of food most of which ends up as FOOD AID in Africa.

We agree that in emergency situations this is necessary. What is questionable is whether this food actually gets to those that need it. You will recall the case of the Canadian Peas?
In addition Food Aid/dumping as it is called in some circles kills local industry remember the case of the Zambian farmer?

W e also know that some parts of Africa have too much food whilst others don’t. Do we know how we can get this food from parts of Africa that actually need this food?

What about the extreme weather conditions, floods, lack of rain leading to poor soil condition etc not to mention diseases that affect the plants such as the banana and coffee wilt in sub-Saharan Africa? How do we tackle climate change? One thing for sure those in the developing world appear to be the worst hit by extreme weather conditions leading to disease, loss of shelter, food security amongst other things.
These are all big issues that will require the commitment of all stakeholders in order to effect change.

My wish list,
• I would like to see initiatives that work directly with individuals on the ground
• I would like to see more skills sharing with people in the developing world, they understand their environment much more than we will ever do
• I would like to see a system that enables African farmers to sell their food to other African countries that can’t grow enough. This might be achieved through increased food storage facilities as well as grain storage
• I would like to see a reduction in Food Aid from Developed countries as I believe that food could be provided from parts of Africa that have too much food. That would give those countries the incentive to grow more food, create jobs etc

Your thoughts please?

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Filed Under: AID, Development Policy, Environment, International Policy Tagged With: , , , ,

G8 A New Deal for the Developing World?

July 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

The G8 summit gets under way in Italy  today and I understand that on top of the agenda is the effect of the credit crunch on folk in the developing world.

Yesterday I wrote about the Millennium Development goals as well as the fact that Italy is one of the countries that has failed to meet the pledge it made to the developing world and has been accused of creative accounting.

Assuming that this assertion is right, can Italy justify its actions?  Stepping into the role of devil’s advocate, parts of Italy are very poor, I can’t forget a Bus ride from Naples airport to the train station! We drove through some of the poorest neighbourhoods I have ever seen in Europe in fact because the windows were down the neighbourhood children threw broken china through the windows for fun!  Should Italy send money to Africa or use that money to tackle problems of poverty in its own back yard?

Does Italy’s “refusal” to meet it’s pledge expose a much wider issue,  one of sustainability perhaps? Can we in the west  sustain sending AID to Africa?

According to economist Dambisa Moyothe answer is no and if there is one thing  the recession can teach us is that if your own needs are not met then it is impossible for you to help others. Could that be the reason that France and Italy have “failed” to meet their pledges? They need the funding for their country’s folk?

One of the issues that is up for discussion at the G 8 Summit is the economic down turn and how that has affected people in the developing world. At this point I turn to another for of AID be it an unreported one, REMITTANCES. This is the money that Africans in the diaspora send home to their relatives and at some point this amounted to between 4-6 billion dollars!

Such was the concern about the dependency this creates that the head of the Ugandan Investment authority pleaded to the Ugandans in the UK to stop sending this money and instead  invest it in meaningful/income generating  ventures. “you are making us dependant” she pleaded, and you don’t realise this is a form of AID” at the time when we are tyring to stand on our two feet  and  develop sustainable investment and  means of income this is near impossible.

 ”We need to learn to go out and work and make ends meet but if you give us money week in week out that encourages us to sit back and wait for it and ask for more”

Well I say, with the recession it would appear her  pleas were answered! But the twist in the tale here is that it was reported earlier this year that people in Africa are said to be sending money to the people in the UK who used to send them money!

The point of this, is that the people back in Africa want to sustain their people in the UK and when the economic situation improves that money would start flowing back to Africa. If the people in diaspora return to Africa, that is pretty much the end of the Money!

So there you have it folk, governments that pledged more money for Africans can’t afford it nor can the diaspora. Is it time for a new deal for Africa? Will folk at the G8 summit in Italy come up with new way and sustainable ways to lift the bottom billion of the developing world?

Who knows?

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Filed Under: Development Policy, Economic down turn, International Policy, Planning and Strategy, Sustainable development