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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

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