African countries are making remarkable progress although there are still many challenges to overcome, writes Bryan Mukandi
WE WISH to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us . . . our vices and our degradation are ever arrayed against us, but our virtues are passed unnoticed.
Those words were written by John Russwurm in the first edition of Freedom's Journalin 1837. Freedom's Journalwas the first newspaper published in America that was written and operated by black people. Russwurm's words could be mine, as well as many Africans today.
Like Russwurm, I feel the world tends to look at my people through a broken lens. I feel as though our faults are magnified and our condition over-simplified. I feel that there are many who claim to speak for us yet see us as something slightly less than human - less, at any rate, than our European, American or Asian brothers and sisters.
I have been asked why, given all the resources poured into Africa by donor agencies and governments, Africa has not made more progress. Concerns have also been raised about population growth in places like Ethiopia.
The short answer is that Africa has, and continues to make, remarkable progress. That said, there are still some serious challenges on the continent. Where people are vulnerable, they tend to have more, rather than less, children. Where infant and child mortality is high, families will try and have more children to make sure some survive to adulthood. They depend on their children to help work their land, source food or take care of them when they get older and are no longer able to look after themselves. It is human nature.
And yes, Somalia is still Somalia. Yes, the Niger delta is unstable. And there is also Sudan, the Congo and Zimbabwe. As a continent, we have a tragic track record of human rights abuses - then there is corruption and the mismanagement of resources. Progress is being made all the same, though.
Once, the idea of the one-party state was acceptable, but now most African countries have accepted the concept of democracy in principal, if not always in practice. While sometimes it feels like sub-Saharan Africa takes two steps forward then one step back, at least the overall movement is in a positive direction.
The continent as a whole is slowly coming to terms with the standards and norms of the world. This is happening not in isolation, but while trying to negotiate through murky, sometimes treacherous, global waters.
There is so much external interference in Africa's affairs that China and the West are at loggerheads over who gets to pimp the continent. If, in spite of all of that, some are still concerned at the ecological destruction that results from the number of children Ethiopian women choose to bear, our apologies. Feel free to have nothing to do with all things African. The greatest danger to development is the desire to see a "return" on one's "investment". Giving money for development work is not the same as investing in a start up company, it is not even similar to investing in a social enterprise. Both come with the expectation of financial reward. The desire for quick fixes and instant results is what leads to an over investment in projects like food handouts over those that help people achieve food independence. It is the latter rather than the former which should be promoted, even though it is less measurable.
The second greatest danger to development comes from not realising the worth of the people who are being helped. Africa's greatest asset is not her oil or mineral wealth, but her people. The rate of development and growth there will be determined by how many Africans are empowered to contribute to their countries.
I wholeheartedly believe in seeking African solutions to Africa's problems. That will only truly happen when Africa's rural majority has the kind of access to information and resources as other people groups.
The main aim of all those interested in that continent should be rural development. Food independence and basic skills provision are a great start, but to date some have seen them as an end. There needs to be intense investment in communication infrastructure.
The rural masses need access to the outside world. Phone lines, access to international television and the internet will change local aspirations. There is something about knowing how other people live that produces discontentment with a sub-standard way of life. That discontentment will bring about more positive changes in local and national government than all the conditional aid in the world. If Africa is going dramatically to develop, it needs more world-class universities. India's plethora of universities has done wonders for the Indians. Africa needs many engineers, teachers, lawyers, scientists and medical personnel. We also need many politicians, philosophers and lawyers to form systems of governance that will work in our context.
America's democracy is different to Europe's and Japan's. Perhaps it is time Africans came up with their own form of governance - and while some of our professionals might emigrate, the migration of Indian professionals has helped the sub-continent in the long run.
The average African man or woman needs to be seen as being no different to the average European, apart from their different circumstances. If that happens, the natural response will be to pour as much as possible into changing those circumstances and that can happen without a cent going to an African government official if so required. It can also come to be without a cent from a single Western aid agency. It has been said though that many hands make light work.
Africa will come right eventually. It is just a question of time.
Vincent Browne is on leave