Renaissance: Dream or reality?

the resistance put up by our forebears throughout the slavery and the colonial era, which bear testimony that Africans have always tried to assert themselves and break loose from bondage.
A defining moment was reached about 50 years ago when almost all of Africa gained independence from colonial rule with the last historic and significant liberation being the collapse of apartheid in 1994.

The euphoria and high expectation that greeted these newly independent countries was understandable. Fifty years on, most of these dreams remain largely unfulfilled. Africa gained independence at a time when the “cold war” was at its peak and was forced to make a choice either for the East or for the West.
Having just come out of colonial rule, perpetuated by the West, most of Africa found itself in the Eastern bloc. Although the continent under the erstwhile Organisation of African Union (OAU) belonged to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the cold war divide was manifest in the affairs of the individual countries.

Wrong policy choices leading most of the newly independent states to declare one-party states with their leaders as life-presidents, intolerance of opposing views leading to imprisonment of opposition leaders, usually, without trial, pursuit of faulted economic paths saw the stagnation and even retrogression of hitherto buoyant economies leading to hardships to the majority of their peoples.
These culminated in political instability with its attendant coup d’états strewn across the length and breadth of the continent, characterised by military dictators with hardly any vision, and the collapse of the first wave of the African Renaissance epitomised by the end of the cold war era with the symbolic demolition of the Berlin Wall.

The next wave towards Africa’s Renaissance could be traced to the immediate post-cold war era marked by an international order, which saw the dominance of multilateral organisations in the affairs of African countries.With their hopes and aspirations dashed with the end of the cold war, African leaders seem to have come to the realisation that it needed more than political independence to achieve the self-determination that they wished for themselves and their people.
Almost to a man, Africa’s leaders subjected their economies to Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) prescribed by these multilateral organisations with all their stringent measures and ‘one size fits all’ conditionalities.
Significantly, African governments were made to down-size their civil service, cut subsidies to local farmers, make citizens pay for the full costs of education, health, transportation, among others.

Very soon, there was unrest all round: the financial packages given to sacked civil servants, euphemistically termed “redeployment,” soon run out; output of farmers began to fall leading to scarcity of food items because of their inability to afford the high cost of inputs owing to the removal of subsidies; the high cost of living made it difficult for citizens to assess education for their children or health care or basic infrastructural facilities.
Not surprisingly, these measures failed partly, because both the multilateral organisations who had prescribed them and the African governments who were implementing them had not thought through properly the consequences of their actions on the citizens. The managers implementing the programmes were also found wanting in many respects as they lacked the expertise and technical-knowhow to manage them.

Most African countries had adopted socialist development models with centrally-planned economies and power at the centre. The SAPs were essentially, western-style economic systems which meant devolution of power and the release of the energies of the people to achieve their utmost.
Despite their best intentions, most of the implementers felt lost; the people the policies were supposed to benefit appeared confused. Not surprisingly, most civil servants who used their severance packages to enter businesses came crashing to the ground, sooner than later, as with no experience or orientation in private sector management they could hardly stand up to the challenge of the market.

The collapse of this second attempt at African Renaissance however brought home forcibly to all that economic liberalism must go hand-in-hand with political liberalism. By the 1990s many African countries, with encouragement from their development partners, have started to shed off their socialist and one-party mould and have begun to adopt multi-party systems.
This marked the third stage of Africa’s Renaissance and to where we are today. This third stage is marked by leaders who are better educated, have a sense of history and are focused on securing a brighter future for their people.
These leaders understand better the nuances and intricacies of the international scene and are prepared to make a mark for themselves and their people. They are democratic in nature and are constitutionally-minded.

Perhaps, the single most important feature of this new leadership in Africa was the changing of the Charter of the Organisation of African Union, which they found to be obsolete and not in tune with modern trends to a new Charter giving birth to the African Union.
At their meeting in 1999, the heads of state and government of the OAU established African Union to accelerate the process of integration of the continent to enable it play its rightful role in the global economy while addressing multifaceted social, economic and political problems resulting from the globalisation.

While the OAU, which had among its major objectives to: rid the continent of the remaining vestiges of colonisation and apartheid, promote unity and solidarity among African States, coordinate and intensify cooperation for development, safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Member States had served the continent well, it was obvious that Africa needed renewed momentum if it were to confront challenges of the modern era head on.
To announce their renewed determination, African leaders adopted the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), as a blue print for Africa’s development.

NEPAD’s primary objectives are to: eradicate poverty, place African countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development; halt the marginalisation of Africa in the globalisation process and enhance its full and beneficial integration into the global economy, accelerate the empowerment of women.
To complement their economic aspirations, African leaders adopted the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as the political anchor for sustenance of good governance and democracy on the continent.

The APRM is an African self-monitoring mechanism to ensure that the policies and practices of participating states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance.
Its primary purpose is to foster the implementation of policies, standards and practices that lead to political stability, high economic growth, sustainable development and accelerated sub-regional and continental economic integration through sharing of experiences and reinforcement of successful and best practice, including identifying deficiencies and assessing the needs for capacity building.

The AU, NEPAD, APRM, is ample evidence that the African Renaissance is here. It is the clearest statement yet of Africa’s determination to chart its own course of development while meeting internationally accepted principles of governance.
But Africa has gone a step further, we have produced the Secretary-General of the United Nations in the person of Busumru Kofi Annan, we have through our own initiative resolved raging conflicts in Kenya, Liberia, and Sierra Leone and turned them around into viable functioning states, all around the continent, state after state are turning to constitutional rule and holding elections in a ways that have been certified as “free and fair” by the international community, the list goes on.

To cap it all, the first World Cup hosted in Africa by South Africa recently, has been acclaimed as one of the “most successful” in the tournament’s history. Gone were the violent scenes that marked previous tournaments, neither were there kidnapping, raping of women nor mugging as the doom mongers of Africa will have the world belief before the start of the competition.
In fact all who came left with the impression of having had a good party. I understand some even wanted the duration of the tournament extended so they could continue having a good time.

But Africa needs to do more to realise its aspirations even as we solidify the gains made so far. We need to deepen democracy and constitutional rule and ensure that the ballot box is the only viable means of changing governments.
We need to ensure that the wealth of our nations go to benefit the people by means of expanding educational facilities at all levels, make healthcare readily accessible to all, build infrastructure to alleviate the plight of our people, especially in the rural areas, by providing good drinkable water and the eradication of preventable diseases, etc.

Most of all we must be able to stand our own on the international scene and make sure that we get what must rightly accrue to us.
Today, Africa is being courted vigorously by China and the other emerging economies while our traditional partners in the West are also holding on tough. Africa must ensure that it comes out of this tango, better off.

No longer must our leaders succumb to our trading partners for the fancy of it. None of those seeking our resources are doing so just for the love of Africa. They are coming for their financial benefits. It is the duty of African leaders to ensure that the interests of the continent are upheld or even bettered.

We have had the experience of selling our resources for a pittance under colonial rule. That scenario must not be repeated this time round. The experience of the colonial era should serve as guide to make us arrive at better terms for the good of our people.

In this globalised era with its attendant information proliferation, we should not be found wanting in any quarter. This is the only way we can ensure our development and also win the respect of the rest of the world.
We should bear in mind, however, that the renaissance is not an event or project whose success must be measured at a predetermined time. It must be seen as a whole movement, a whole crusade that will result in unearthing all that is beautiful, adorable and unique of Africa. – African Executive.