Partnerships linked to trade critical for Africa’s economic transformation
Finding sustainable solutions for economic transformation of Africa’s largely rural agricultural economy requires a major shift from donor aid to economic partnerships linked to trade in value-added goods and services.
The African continent is at a major crossroads in its quest for sustainable economic development. With a chequered history of colonialism, apartheid, and misrule amidst plenty of natural resources, the continent must chart and follow new, innovative and sustainable development pathways to cope with current and emerging socio-economic and environmental challenges in a globalised economy. To meet the growing economic aspirations and overall well-being of its people, the role of trade is critical, but this requires a major paradigm shift in the way Africa does business within and with the rest of the world. This means moving away from the history and legacy of relying largely on foreign aid and export of raw materials to a new era of negotiated and mutually beneficial economic partnerships and trade. It also requires strong and sustained investments in both infrastructure and Africa’s innovation system, including research.
This is certainly an exciting time for Africa. When I left Nigeria about 21 years ago to New Zealand in search of further education, the continent was replete with military misrule, squandering of national wealth, apartheid in parts of southern Africa, war and famine in parts of east Africa. The few spots of democracy were characterised by despicable corruption, dictatorships and rampant human rights abuses. There were much more. HIV/AIDS had emerged as the curse that would (nearly) decimate the population of many communities and render millions of others economically unproductive, thereby escalating the socio-economic burden on families and their communities. The majority of leaders plundered their nations' wealth and stashed them away in foreign banks, while overseeing the collapse of infrastructure, weakening of the institutions of government and a cycle of perpetual foreign debt servicing. The situation was dire and there seemed to be no way out of the socio-economic and geo-political quagmire. Africa became synonymous with the term ‘the dark continent’ – hapless, helpless and hopeless!
The century of misrule and dependence on foreign aid
In response, the friends of Africa from the rich North and other developed countries poured in billions of dollars in aid, some of which were siphoned to prop and maintain corrupt and illegitimate governments. To many a donor, it was a case of maintaining constructive engagement and strategic national interests by dealing with such debauched governments in parts of Africa. After all, there were strategic economic interests in Africa: the waning ideologies of the ‘cold war’ and access to the abundant natural resources – crude oil and gas, minerals, forest and agricultural raw materials like cocoa.
Meanwhile, as people yearned for progress in good governance, strong democratic institutions, peace and prosperity, they were rewarded with bad leadership and plundering of Africa’s natural resources under the watch of its leaders. The decades of socio-economic opportunities lost to military madness and mismanagement in Nigeria, civil war and famine in Ethiopia, civil war in the DRC, genocide in Rwanda, civil war and anarchy in Somalia, apartheid rule in South Africa, and total economic collapse in Zimbabwe, are just a few examples of the horror witnessed by many Africans during the most part of the recent century. A wasted century in many respects some might argue.
Two decades ago the only hope for change in many newly independent nations in Africa seemed to be another stratocracy through a cycle of assassinations and overthrow of governments, often replacing bad leaders with the worst, albeit in new khaki and camouflage uniforms. Many leaders in civil society – religious, business, academics and the like – were all too happy and content with ushering in these military governments and even accepting appointments in the Supreme Military Councils of the day and other organs of government. To some, such appointees were just mere puppets, sycophants and opportunists who followed military command in the guise of service to the nation. In concert with either military or civilian dictators who ruled, they sold out their conscience and thereto, a big chunk of the life of Africa. It was just a hopeless vicious cycle of misrule, corruption, incompetence, betrayal and wanton abuse of people and the soul of the continent.
Africa was, in many measures, being wasted – its natural resources were plundered willy-nilly, and its human capital remained largely untapped for national development and improvement of economic well being. Africa remained, for the most part, a mere source of industrial raw materials and cheap (but resourceful and talented) economic refugees to the industrialised world. Natural resources like timber, cocoa, coffee, petroleum, gold, diamond, and skilled human resources like medical doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers poured out of Africa across the oceans in search of better life. The centuries of misaligned economic engagement with the rest of the world and bad leadership, had at best, left Africa reeling with greater poverty and in many instances, worsening economic and human wellbeing.
Teenage Africa is born – South Africa and Ghana lead the way
The 1990s brought rays of hope in countries like South Africa and Ghana. In South Africa, apartheid was finally dismantled and democracy was born through free and fair elections under the exemplary, visionary and wise leadership of Nelson Mandela. Ghana, on the other hand, typified the rare case of a genuine military interregnum that was conceived and executed in the national interest. JJ Rawlings took over power and purged the nation of its past and incumbent corrupt leaders and went further to lay the foundation for sustainable democratic principles and peaceful socio-political change through the ballot box. The successful abandonment of the gun and bullet for the ballot box and pen as vehicle for peaceful social and democratic change marked a turning point in the history of the small west African country. As if it was following its legacy as the first country in sub–Saharan Africa to free itself from colonial rule, Ghana had shown that it is possible to chart a new course towards sustainable economic development built on democratic principles and practice.
Today, South Africa and Ghana symbolise the rather too few countries in Africa where fair and free elections have become the norm as the people’s instrument to effect democratic change in leadership and thus the platform for socio–economic development and nation building. It is therefore not surprising that both countries have continued to enjoy greater political stability, inclusive economic growth and measurable progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) than most other countries on the continent.
The models used to achieve positive socio-political change in South Africa and Ghana are strikingly different but appear to be progressively yielding similar good results. There was and still is the African National Congress (ANC) – championing and leading the course of a democratic South Africa as the economic powerhouse of Africa, but closely kept in check by an increasingly confident, assertive and credible opposition led by the Democratic Alliance (DA). The political party which JJ Rawlings (former military coup leader) later led to win democratic elections in Ghana was subsequently defeated by the opposition in a free and fair election. The handover of power was smooth and peaceful. These stories of South Africa and Ghana are in many ways the hallmarks of a teenage Africa – energetic, resourceful, and full of lofty ambitions.
Adult Africa born in Arab Spring
The new Africa of today – in adulthood – is emerging through the will and actions of grassroots citizenry, led by the ordinary mother, daughter, son and father. This ‘adult’ Africa has surprised itself and its friends around the world, especially those locked in a wrong view of Africa that was supposedly resistant to universal principles of democracy, equality, and freedom. The birthday to adulthood was unannounced but turned out to be rather big and positively infectious across the continent and beyond into west Asia. Without arms deals, covert operations, diplomatic shuttles, closed economic deals, new political manifestos or ideologies imposed from elsewhere, ordinary Africans have finally reclaimed their continent, thereby saying NO to dictatorship, misrule and reckless corruption. The Arab Spring of 2011 has in many ways renewed Africa and engendered hope across the continent and among its people.
Through the singular action of one of its ordinary citizens that ignited and rallied a nation, Tunisia showed the signs of Africa in adulthood, followed closely by Egypt. Like South Africa and Ghana in the period of teenage Africa, Tunisia and Egypt have shown the rest of continent and the world at large that the tenets of democracy, freedom, justice, human dignity and desire for good economic wellbeing are universal and not synonymous with any particular nation, region, culture, creed or people. It is also colour-blind. Together, these countries have shown that without foreign intervention Africans have the desire and ability to champion, nurture and promote democratic principles and inclusive economic development. We distaste misrule. There is no doubt in my mind that there is no immediate guarantee of long term success after ‘Spring’. However, it is also clear that the foundations have no doubt been laid and the building blocks will have to be put in place through the strengthening of democratic institutions, rule of law and pursuit of sustainable trickle-down economic development.
Good governance and strong democratic institutions
First among the critical building blocks of sustainable democracy is the ability to hold free and fair elections. Removing bad leaders and even banishing some by popular mass action is courageous and commendable, but Africa needs more democratically elected leaders who can be held to account through due processes. The second critical element is the development and nurturing of credible political parties that are willing to serve the people even as opposition in parliament. The third is the strengthening of the third arm of any democratic government – the judiciary – to promote the rule of law and accountability. The role of a free and responsible media as the public watchdog is paramount; after all, it is well know that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. And finally, there is an urgent need to transform the economies of African countries into engines of growth through the creation of businesses that manufacture good quality and high value products and services for trade.
As part of the global community, Africa should also count on its friends and partners. Not through another era of aid dependent economic development, bad loans and the related structural adjustment programmes of the recent past, which seemed to perpetually lubricate the wheel of poverty and kept many African countries locked into loan servicing at the neglect of transformative socio-economic programmes. Africa’s development partners would do better by not endorsing and supporting those governments who merely fold their arms to assure the free outflow of African agricultural and natural resources while neglecting the critical and urgent task of creating and supporting the necessary business environment for job creation and poverty reduction. Like all adults, Africa wants, deserves and expects dialogue and understanding in addressing its new growth challenges. African leaders and development partners must find ways and means to actively and genuinely engage with the broad aspirations of our people for meaningful and inclusive economic development. There are plenty of lessons from the Arab Spring of 2011 for everyone. Clearly, the tools and means for social change have changed. It was largely fathers and mothers that led the independence movements in Africa. As shown by the Arab Spring, the youth of Africa are now leading the quest for broad–based sustainable economic development and we need more opportunities for job creation.
The world re-engaging with Africa – Australia looks leftward!
At a recent roundtable followed by a workshop held at The University of Sydney, the Australian government, represented by the Foreign Minister Mr Kevin Rudd, addressed an audience that included African ministers and other officials about Australia’s re-engagement with Africa. Key themes of the discussion included mining, higher education, and taping agriculture for food security. Australia has earned its rightful place on the global stage as a strong, diversified and industrialised economy. From its frontline role in the global fight against terror to its leadership in addressing regional challenges such as refugee crises and bilateral trade, Australia can become a strong African partner in the ongoing socio-economic transformation of the continent. Australia can look westward without losing its strategic focus on its neighbours: Asia and the South Pacific. However, this requires a new approach to doing business in Africa that is built on partnerships and not just aid in the traditional development assistance jargon. It requires a re-engagement with Africa based on mutual benefit and respect, bilateralism and multilateralism and not unilateralism. Indeed the 21st century Africa demands to be treated like an adult, not a teenager. Engaging with Africa, constructively in the long-term, can bring mutual benefits as Australia’s remarkable success in Asia during the past two decades has shown.
Learned academic journals and other repositories of knowledge abound with sentimentally old as well as new celebrated stories about Africa as the cradle of human civilisation, phonetics, biodiversity, etc. However, more recent socio-economic and geo-political articles about Africa are less flattering – filled with stories of food insecurity, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, low human development index, widespread poverty, among others. In this era of globalisation and greater interdependence of nations, Tunisia and Egypt have shown that Africa in adulthood can offer more than the history of human origins, supply of raw materials and (new) agricultural land to the world. This is where the future engagement of Australia in Africa becomes critical for both continents.
Australia and Africa re-connected
Like Africa, Australia is a continent with abundant natural resources. But that is where the comparison ends. Over the years, Australia has developed and nurtured the relevant human capacity and infrastructure to tap these resources at home and elsewhere in the world for its economic development and improvement of human wellbeing. Australian agriculture has evolved from a few scattered settlers with hand diggers, horses and chainsaws to global agri-food value chains, supplying the world with consistent good quality, nutritious and safe food including cereal grains, meat, horticultural fresh produce, assorted processed food products and other high-value industrial biomaterials. Australian research and academic institutions are widely recognised for innovation in mechanised and precision agriculture, postharvest management, watershed management, dry land agriculture, breeding, and export-led innovation in value-adding, among other areas. The success of Australian agriculture and bio-based industries mirrors the tremendous success of its other land-based industries, including mining.
In comparison, agricultural development and productivity have remained largely stagnant in Africa over the past century. Despite rapid increases in population and rising rural to urban migration, the tools used in agricultural production in most of Africa have remained largely the same. Today in the 21st century, the majority of farmers in Africa, like their forebears, still rely on a combination of the hand hoe, cutlass and human muscle for nearly all agricultural operations, from bush clearing to planting, cultivation, harvesting and processing. High incidence of postharvest losses, poor produce quality, inconsistent supply and inadequate infrastructure that are often characteristic of subsistence agriculture exacerbate food insecurity and limit farmers’ access to both local and global markets. Due largely to bad leadership, investments in research and innovation and related human capacity development are grossly inadequate and often lacking in many African countries. With the new grand challenges of rising global temperatures, rapidly declining fresh water resources and increasing demand for quality, safe and cheap food to feed an increasing urban population, there is an urgent need to develop innovative and sustainable agricultural practices that would increase productivity per unit of resource with long term deleterious environmental impacts. Building partnerships for agricultural research and innovation, and promoting investments in commercial agriculture have become more critical than ever before.
The African renaissance
As Africa embarks on its ongoing renaissance, it must find and follow a new path to economic development that is resource-efficient, environmentally sustainable and economically viable. It must pursue sustainable and integrated economic growth, which tackles poverty and promotes trade. The challenges of climate change, greenhouse gas emissions, rapidly declining fossil fuel and fresh water resources, and the increasing understanding of the significant impacts of these phenomena on the future survival of life on our planet have heightened the search for sustainable economic development pathways. With the lessons learnt on the environmental consequences of the energy-intensive, chemical-dependent large-scale agricultural development that contributed in eliminating food insecurity in the industrialised world and averted the apocalyptic Malthusian theory, it is conceivable that Africa can lead and show the world the way for a truly sustainable agriculture in the 21st century.
Africa has vast amounts of hitherto uncultivated agricultural land and other natural resources to adequately feed itself and the rest of the world. The continent has 60% of the world's total amount of uncultivated arable land, and the African economy is predicted to grow faster than China at an average rate of more than 7% over the next two decades. A major challenge for Africa is whether it can feed its over 1 billion people in 2015, sustainably? My answer is ‘yes, we can’! The caveat though is that this must be accomplished in a both resource and environmentally sustainable manner, and production agriculture must be viewed, pursued and supported as only half the battle.
The development of profitable and resource-efficient agricultural value chains must be part and parcel of such sustainable economic and industrial agenda. While subsistence farming has and will continue to play an important role in Africa’s food security, the future of agriculture and food supply in Africa must also take full cognisance of the rapidly changing demographics and as well as evolving food habits in the continent and globally. We must envision a new African agriculture that must feed 1.5 billion people and many more elsewhere in the globe in 2020 and not the agriculture that fed only 500 million inhabitants in 1950. With increasing demand and competition for production inputs such as fresh water, energy and land, and given the significant contribution of agriculture and the global food system to greenhouse gas emissions, reducing postharvest losses and waste and creating opportunities for economic livelihoods downstream the value chain are equally important.
Today, we must plan and implement the economic and technological transformation of agriculture that focuses on Africa’s future generation of farmers and consumers. We should focus on a new agriculture and economy in Africa that can guarantee food security as well as promote access to quality education and good health through the creation of jobs and income. With a rapidly aging and frail rural workforce and increasing urban population, there is an urgent need to transform smallholder subsistence agriculture, which accounts for more than 70% of present economic activity in many African countries, into integrated and profitable agribusiness value chains. This requires innovation in cost-effective, resource-efficient and environmentally friendly technologies for mechanisation of small-scale agriculture and development of related value-adding industries. In doing so, we stand a better chance of creating the much needed employment for youth in Africa and assure their participation in the wider economy.
The new path for sustainable agriculture and economic development in Africa must lead farmers into regional and global food systems, thereby feeding local people and the world through trade. No nation or continent walks alone along this path. Africa needs mutual, bilateral and multilateral economic partnerships. Not foreign aid. The Arab Spring revolution is a vivid testimony of the urgency for action in addressing these interrelated needs for gainful employment, income and human dignity.
Asia today, Africa tomorrow
As it did in Asia during the past couple of decades, resulting in new global economic powers like China and India, the wind of political and economic change is currently blowing across the African continent. People in many countries in Africa have found new courage to rightfully demand good leadership, democratic governance and economic freedom through gainful employment. This new found courage needs to be nourished with new economic opportunities that improve human wellbeing.
To succeed, Africa’s new leadership need to develop and nurture genuine and strong democratic institutions for sustainable economic development. This is the time for genuine bilateral and multilateral economic partnerships to develop viable and profitable agriculture and other industrial value chains in Africa, supported for strong education and research institutions, and catalysed by regional and global business and trade. An Africa that is economically and politically strong will not only enhance peace and stability in Africa and the world; it will also promote greater global trade and innovation for a stronger world economy. It is through such win-win partnerships that we should know and judge Africa’s leadership and our development partners. Finding sustainable solutions for economic transformation of Africa’s largely rural agricultural economy requires a major shift from donor aid to economic partnerships linked to trade in value-added goods and services.
Prof Umezuruike Linus Opara is agricultural engineering and research professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, where he holds the South African Research Chair in postharvest technology. He has extensive international experience in tertiary education, research and consultancy in Australasia, the Middle East and Africa. Email: opara@sun.ac.za