The major stories coming from Africa that made headlines during
the past several decades included: Drought; Famine; the Debt
Crisis; Civil Strife; Coup d’états; Apartheid;
Refugees; Spread of Diseases; and Corruption. Today
we are faced with global warming resulting in destructive
floods in the otherwise semiarid Sahel or droughts in other
parts of the continent. The world took notice and schools
of thoughts began to emerge:
The late Robert McNamara, former head of the World Bank summed
up his assessments of the African development woes back in
1991 as follows: “Many observers think that the African
problems are intractable; others think that the future of
Africa is loss of hope; some believe that the African problems
must be handled by Africans; conditions in many countries
are worse today than they were 40 years ago; donor agencies
need to do more than they have been doing in Africa; the US
will not contribute significantly to African development programs”;
etc...
We now fast-forward to 2009 and the new wind
of awakening, blowing from other concerned and descendants
of the “Dark Continent.” First was the publication
of the book “Dead Aid” by Dambisa Moyo, a former
World Bank Associate - in which she eloquently argued that
foreign Aid to governments led to corruption and ineptness
by African governments. Not long after the buzz following
the publication of “Dead Aid”, we also heard former
UN Secretary General, Kofi Anan made a statement that: African
leaders must shape up their responsibilities because corruption
is costing Africa around $150bn a year. More significantly
was the American president and son of Africa, Barack Hussein
Obama who dashed with pride onto Africa, praising and scolding
his father's continent with his assertion that forces of tyranny
and corruption must yield if Africa is to achieve its promise.
My take on this issue is that poverty in Africa
can be eradicated and sustainable development achieved - through
concerted, practical and sensible capacity building strategies
and technology transfer. Foremost, the African himself must
rise up to his conscience and work toward objective and all
inclusive development programs. In addition, Development Assistance
must adopt new and efficient strategies to help "Relieve
Poverty for Sustainability", as opposed
to the old inefficient approach of "Poverty
Relief within Poverty." For instance, the
African village does not need hundreds of dispersed water
holes, and does not need hundreds of portable power generators
to rise above poverty. What the villages need are efficient,
centralized systems for water and electricity and this, through
programs that support long-term maintenance and engage local
communities.
Titki D. Tarassoum, President & CEO
Barh Koh ESDA
titki@barhkoh.org
