Democracy and Development in Africa

"Africa's future is up to the Africans ...","... what Africa needs is not strong men but strong institutions" (the words of President Barack Obama of the United States of America in a speech at Ghana,2009). Africa can not develop without good governance.This is the plain truth.The Dark continent has been bedeviled by corrupt,oppressive rule since its liberation (?) from colonial rule.One oppressive system merely replaced another as neo colonialism ensured that most African states have strong economic and political links with their former colonial masters.Many African states lapsed into civil war,others were constantly under military misrule allegedly with foreign support.Democratic structures which existed in pre colonial times were dismantled and no effort was made to revive them upon Independence.

The way forward would be the imitation of the success story of the Industrial revolution witnessed in 15th and 16th century Europe and America:Entrepreneurs, independent of Government, developed the economic system and the political system,fearing irrelevance,provided the necessary infrastructure and the rest is history.Developing the economic system will automatically develop the political system.If poverty is reduced,the struggle for scarce resources becomes less of a zero sum game and politics would be for the purpose of serving the people instead of serving selfish interests.

The industrial revolution in Europe, Germany, France, Russia, 1815-1914

Electronic Governance would reduce the cost of governance and enable government to reach more people, thereby acquiring more legitimacy.This will ensure stability which attracts local and foreign investments which in turn ensure more socio economic and political stability.Electronic voting will eliminate electoral fraud and ensure that the will of the people prevail.The mass media also have a role to play in the development of democratic values:the African media are pessimistic about the chances of progress in democratic lines because of decades of decay and the unwritten rule of Journalists: "bad news is good news".



Hopefully,the mass media will rise to the challenge of liberating Africa from the negative stereotype : the dark continent.

ICT 4 DEV

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) defines the current age,the Information Age.The age of Computers has changed the culture of Billions of people as information (and wealth) travels faster than the speed of light.Yet,despite the numerous opportunities availed us by the internet,poverty ravages Africa and unemployment is widespread even in developed countries during the economic recession.

For any country to survive the harsh economic climate,it must be up to date and use 'out of the box' solutions to the myriad of problems facing it.Problems such as poor infrastructure,inadequate qualified manpower and inadequate funding hinder the efforts at bridging the digital divide.



The poor state of infrastructure hinders the spread of ICT in Africa.The vital infrastructure needed is electricity.The power sector in Africa is grossly inadequate for any meaningful development thus resulting in the closure of factories,loss of jobs,hyperinflation etc.The proposed African electric grid ,designed by Eskom South Africa,offers a fantastic opportunity for African states to resolve the power crisis.Regional institutions can build grids connecting member states and also implement power generation projects which can enable flexibility (according to the vagaries of demand and supply).Various developmental agencies can be assigned to various regions in order to ensure adequate funding.This should be a counterpart funding arrangement combined with Public Private Partnerships.Prepaid meters enable energy saving (and cost saving) consumption resulting in optimal utilization of energy.

The problem of inadequate qualified personnel can be resolved through a series of "training the trainer" projects.Interns from organizations such as the Technical Aid Corps of Nigeria can train African students,civil servants etc on best practices in the ICT sector.This project should be backed by the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the US Peace Corps.Revolving grants and loan guarantees should replace salaries and wages.This will reduce the inflationary pressures on ICT projects and increase their feasibility rates thus attracting more funding.

Funding can be increased through the attachment of financial literacy to computer literacy.Banks will only fund feasible projects by the financially literate( those with business systems).Patrons as investors model (cost as revenue system) can defeat inflation and reduce risks.This will certainly appeal to investors.Angel investors should be encouraged in order to reduce marginal risk.Industrial schools to cooperative education using online jobs and internship,integrated business management and model business planning,shift system and business cloning with a multiple income stream can create this vital class.

Introduction to NEPAD

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is a new developmental paradigm that seeks an indigenous solution to Africa's problems.This is meant to be a home grown solution to the myriad of problems hindering Africa's development and can be seen as a localization of the United Nations Organization's Millennium Development Goals.Previous development plans had been seen as foreign solutions which are disconnected from the realities facing African countries.

The journey towards the formulation of the NEPAD began at the G7 summit in Japan in 1999.The Group of industrialized nations needed details in concrete terms what the continent needed to do at the beginning of the century and what kind of support they would require.The outcome was the Millennium African Plan.At Lusaka, during the OAU summit in the year 2001,three African leaders(President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria (Chairman of G77),President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa (President of the Non Aligned Movement) and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria (Chairman of the OAU)) presented the plan to their colleagues for adoption.The OAU was in transition (into the African Union) and the tenure of the Secretary General was about to end at this time.Soon after,Genoa in Italy offered another opportunity for African leaders who were invited for a presentation of the African initiative by G7+1,namely,US,Canada,Britain,France,Germany,Italy,Japan plus Russia.By then , a programme similar to the one conceived by the three founding African leaders had been introduced simply as the New African Initiative.The three founding fathers joined by Wade of Senegal made a presentation to the leaders of the industrialized world,who then decided that at their next meeting in Kananaskis,Canada,they would also present.Before the planned summit,such as G8 leaders such as Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Jean Chretien of Britain and Canada respectively had been evolving their Governments' African program and also taken time to visit President Obasanjo in Abuja to discuss shared visions about Africa.

For several reasons,the Abuja Summit of African leaders in October 2001 was a defining moment for the partnership.First,President Obasanjo who had been elected as the Chairman of the Implementation Committee hosted the Summit.Second a record number of African leaders attended the summit and took part in its deliberations.Third,the Steering Committee,composed of experts from member countries,had made concrete preparations and held meetings to come up with a detailed programme.Four,the consensus was that the efforts thus far made needed to have a name agreeable to all members as an initiative,as an African efforts and with emphasis on partnership.Thus emerged th name by which the programme is now called "the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD).The Dakar meeting in April 2002 had the objectives of involving the private sector in NEPAD.The meeting also highlighted the partnership with industrialized nations and noted NEPAD was not separate from the African Union.The Kananaskis meeting was held in June 2002 and aimed at fulfilling the undertaking the the Genoa meeting of the G8:to come up with an Action Plan.A pledge of $6 Billion as assistance was made under conditions of trade and market access,debt remission,investment and official development assistance.The Durban Summit in July 2002 saw the transition of the OAU into the African Union.Its also witnessed a crucial update of NEPAD with a report on the Kananaskis.

FUTURE PLANS OF NEPAD
1.To ensure that NEPAD remains an African Initiative
2.Involvement of regional blocs in Africa
3.Involvement of vital sectors in the program.
4.Engaging in practical program and delivering a positive impact.
5.To intensify the effort at popular participation in NEPAD through information channels marketing and contact
6.To strengthen the steering Committee as the technical storehouse of NEPAD in areas such as ICT,infrastructure,poverty reduction ,water,transport,health,agriculture,energy,sanitation,education
7.To ensure that African leaders have the political will to make the necessary sacrifice in areas such as APRM