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Perspectives on African Development

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

Barh Koh ESDA


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