Posts tagged ‘African’

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April 10, 2012

The African Dawn Confusing Old Europe

There is bad news for those aggrieved European diplomats whose complaints about being denied access to President Kibaki made headlines last weekend.Goaded by the diplomats’ grumbles, angered by the arrogance that lay just below the surface, and astonished by the apparent ignorance of the shift in international relations with Africa, State House let rip:“The world has changed, and so have our priorities”, the diplomats were in effect told. “The countries you represent are rapidly declining in importance. So stop trying to jump the queue. The President’s diary is full. Period.”It was a two-fingered diplomatic snub that doubtless sent the ambassadors into a flurry of activity, composing dispatches trying to play down such a frank dismissal. Yet the message at the heart of the State House response could not be ignored. The Kenyan worm has turned — at last.For years the Kenya Government did the bidding of the bwanas in Britain and bosses in Washington.

Whether boycotting the 1980 Moscow Olympics or being soft on apartheid, whether making deals that turned Mombasa into a US navy facility, or allowing north-east Kenya to become a vast training ground for British troops, State House could be counted on to meekly roll over and comply with West desires.Those days have gone. And in making it clear that Europe no longer counts in the way it once did, I suspect that State House is reflecting a widely held view.Ever since Kenya became independent, a steady stream of emissaries from Europe has beaten a path to the State House door, confident that it will open in automatic welcome.I say “emissaries”, but only for lack of a collective noun to describe this gaggle of political has-beens and want-to-bes, junior ministers and smooth opportunists, and assorted influence-peddlers and sales people, all still shaped by the colonial past, all with one assumption in common: that a meeting with the native in charge was no more than their rightful due.That access has ended and they are the casualties of a new dispensation. Whatever the failures and shortcomings of President Kibaki, he has identified the international political reality that followed in the wake of the economic changes taking place throughout the continent.From Johannesburg to Juba, from Lagos to Lusaka, something dramatic is afoot. Fuelled by new oil finds, funded by cheap loans from China, and by returning capital from the diaspora, Africa’s landscape is being transformed.But it is more than new shopping malls and office blocks, paved roads and new ports, skyscrapers and airport terminals.Governance is improving. The military stay in the barracks — or are shunned when they venture out — and human rights are higher on the agenda.And arguably most important of all for a region that seemed to have lost confidence, there is a surge of creativity: novelists and artists, film-makers and musicians, all are part of the African dawn.

The new Africa is looking for new friends. And this involves finding new partners, forging new relationships, seeking fresh starts. I don’t just mean deals with China, or India, Russia or Brazil. The courtship embraces Turkey and Singapore, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia and Japan .The consequences of this have yet to dawn on the indignant European ambassadors in Nairobi, for they are stuck in the past, trapped in old habits.And the old ties that used to bind are withering on the vine. Business leaders who once made their career in Africa now regard Lagos or Luanda as hardship posts, to be endured not enjoyed.Academics who once spent their professional lives researching the continent and working in its universities now struggle to find funds for African studies.Fewer journalists are now  on the continent, and rewritten news agency accounts have taken the place of dispatches from the front line, while former colonial civil servants have taken their knowledge to the grave.And diplomats who once saw Africa as a posting that would benefit their ambitions and further their careers, have long seen the region as out of the mainstream of world affairs.This is not to suggest that there was a golden era of western engagement. The more one learns about the colonial period the greater the scepticism about its benefits; but at least there was reasonably informed knowledge about the continent, its risks and its opportunities.But as Africa entered the economic and political crisis that reached its nadir in the 1980s, the Western business community effectively began to withdraw. The region was in effect left in the hands of the IMF and the World Bank, who all too often administered medicine that was too strong for a weak patient.Africa’s recovery from this grim period amounts to the most exciting change since the end of colonial rule, with implications for Europe that could hardly be more profound.Some 50 years ago, the late Harold MacMillan, the British prime minister, warned white South African parliamentarians sitting in Cape Town that apartheid South Africa would sooner or later feel the impact of a wind of change that was blowing through the continent.

Today, Europe’s leaders are missing the chance to initiate debate about the significance of events which, in their own way, are part of a different but equally powerful wind of change, felt from Cape to Cairo.Alas, this all seems to be lost on Europe’s diplomats in Nairobi. They stand on their dignity, behind the times and out of touch, and missing opportunities instead of leading the way. President Kibaki has issued far more than a snub. It is a wake-up call to the West.  Africa is on the move. Will Europe respond — or will it be left behind?


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February 5, 2011

Dear Al Jazeera By KonWomyn

Dear Al Jazeera,

I have decided to write this letter to you as you’ve been the channel I watch the most for informative coverage on events in the Middle East and North Africa. In many ways your coverage has been amazing and I sincerely applaud the unbelievably brave efforts of your journalists who had to work under very difficult conditions to cover events in North Africa. However I now write to you with concern at international media’s coverage of events in Libya, particularly concerning ‘African mercenaries’. I honestly don’t have a problem with the term ‘African mercenaries’ because this is how Libyans probably refer to Black non-Libyans, but what bugs me is the way some of your tv anchors and field journalists continue to push this meme on air. For example on Sunday the anchor on Al Jazeera English, David (I didn’t get his last name, he was an older man with an English accent hosting the news around 6 p.m GMT) said ‘mercenaries are coming from Africa’ …and yet Libya is in Africa. And despite the fact that the Al Jazeera website had an excellent Features article, ‘In Search of an African Revolution’ on Monday (21 Feb) addressing this very issue.

Elsewhere, other Al Jazeera and international journalists who although tweeting in their personal capacity, tweet the news and again they repeat this ‘mercenaries are coming from Africa’ line. One has to wonder whether we’re looking at the same map when we speak of Africa or is this some journo code-speak ordinary people are not privy to?Rumors have also been doing the rounds about these ‘African mercenaries’ and it seems that they are most likely from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia and Guinea. Not the Congo, not Somalia and not Zimbabwe as some wild speculations claimed. Yes, there was no plane full of soldiers dispatched from Harare to Tripoli at 1 a.m on Sunday morning – any well-educated Zimbabwean could have told these international journalists tweeting in their personal capacity that this ‘witness account’, as dubbed by Al Jazeera, was untrue. Of course AJE is only the messenger so you can’t be blamed for what you can’t verify and I don’t blame you. But since this is an open letter I may as well post some advice for other inquiring minds who’ll stumble on my blog. For starters soldiers are not mercenaries, our history of mercenaries is mainly from the apartheid era, Mozambique’s civil war and the Angolan war when White South Africans and White Zimbabweans (some of them were former Rhodesian soldiers) would use Zimbabwe as temporary base but they did not operate in Zimbabwe. Secondly today in Zimbabwe we have thugs (don’t often use guns but often beat and rape) not mercenaries (skilled hit-men like Simon Mann (Equatorial Guinea plot)) that are busy with their own electoral campaign of violence, thirdly our thugs have no knowledge of Libyan terrain and finally Zimbabwe doesn’t speak French, but no amount of @’ing international journos on twitter could kill this rumor. But as untruths die in time, I sincerely hope that this untruth will die sooner rather than later.(Checkout David Smith’s column in the Guardian UK)

Anyway about these mercenaries and Al Jazeera’s role in coverage.There have also been suggestions that it is likely the ‘African mercenaries’ are from Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Tunisia and Guinea. I’d like to know you why an investigative journalist couldn’t be dispatched to these countries to find out how the mercenaries work – surely Chad, Tunisia and Niger are not as hostile to international journalists as Mummar Gadaffi’s Libya. If not, a Chadian Ambassador or Activist could be invited onto Al Jazeera to share their view. How can the story of mercenaries be reported to the exclusion of Chad, yet Chad is the French and Arabic speaking nation where some of these hitmen are allegedly coming from?

It bears repeating that Chad is an Arab African nation. It is Libya’s neighbor. As your coverage is mainly centered on the ‘Arab World’ its tempting to think that Chad is perhaps not Arab enough that it should be spoken of and not spoken to in news reports and analyses. I appreciate that this is a fast-developing story and there are many angles to cover, but the impact of events in Libya on security and political relations between these two countries cannot be so insignificant that it’s not worthy of mention, can it? At the very least one would think, Idriss Debymust be having sleepless nights while the Arabs next door are revolting. He could very well be the next Arab dictator to go. Does the Chadian government not have an opinion on the fact that the Brotherly Leader, King of Kings of Africa is using Africans to kill North Africans? Oops I’m sorry, I meant Chadians to murder Libyans? And Niger? Is it too poor to mention? 0.12% of the people speak Arabic if that helps. UNHCR is becoming increasingly concerned at the displacement and violence experienced by foreigners living in Libya, including the other one million plus legal and illegal migrants from different parts of Africa other than Egypt. In the interests of humanity, its only fair and right that Al Jazeera to report on the fate of these people as well as they have reported Egyptian, Turkish and Italian migrants returning from Libya. There are another other one million plus legal and illegal migrants from different parts of Africa other than Egypt. What is their fate? Surely their welfare is important enough to be covered by the media?

This isn’t just an Arab story, its an African story and it’s a World story too. It must be told as such, with its multi-layered, complex, tragic and heartwarming narratives including the all too-often forgotten voices of poor migrants and refugees of all hues, tongues, nationalities and faiths.

Al Jazeera’s code of ethics states that the organisation aims to:

1. Adhere to the journalistic values of honesty, courage, fairness, balance, independence, credibility and diversity, giving no priority to commercial or political over professional consideration.
2. Endeavour to get to the truth and declare it in our dispatches, programmes and news bulletins unequivocally in a manner which leaves no doubt about its validity and accuracy.

To me, this suggests that Al Jazeera strives to be impartial, give a voice to the voiceless and empower people to hold their governments and institutions to account. As the media organisation is becoming a leading player in international affairs, Al Jazeera has the chance to re-shape political and social discourses of our time, it has the potential to shift the centers of power from the traditionally empowered to the historically marginalized. Given that Al Jazeera wields this potential influence to enable a plurality of voices to speak, as a viewer, I don’t understand why the Libyan Uprising being covered from a largely singular perspective. I feel that the story is still told from a West v Middle East perspective. Granted it is thankfully being told from the Middle Eastern side, but the speakers still remain the same. You promise to uphold ‘fairness, balance’ so it’s fair to ask when will other voices be invited to speak on this matter? Here’s a suggestion, just for a day, in between field reports, you could have ongoing satellite conversations with diplomats from the UN, AU and Arab League battling it out with Libyan activists and bloggers who want to know where the real help is for Libya is, rather than going through a never-ending list of London and Washington’s political and financial experts. I think that would be an ‘unequivocal’ display of ‘fair and balanced’ ethics, non?

If the Arab League, the EU and United Nations are being interrogated for their role in stopping the carnage in Libya, then the AU should be in the spotlight too. Its shameful that they have been silent on this issue and yet they, under Article 4 of the Constitutive Act, have a humanitarian responsibility to intervene in the affairs of a member state of the African Union when a crime against humanity is committed. Its funny but sad and infuriating that Al Jazeera spends more time discussing what the Arab League must, can or will do yet it can only issue condemnations and suspensions of Libya. None of these things will stop the carnage. The African Union has a peace keeping force that could help Lybia, that is why John Kerry of the Obama administration suggested this tonight (at about 7 p.m GMT 22 Feb), but the Al Jazeera anchor and Libyan analyst in the studio glossed over this and went back to discussing the Arab League and UN. The news broadcast then switched to gathering views from around the world and South America, North America and Europe all had opinions. Nothing from Africa. Nothing from Asia. I laughed out loud, but inside I died a little and hurt a bit. Is the Africa beneath the Sahara that irrelevant? Have African leaders, diplomats and UN representatives not been asked? Perhaps your Africa news desk is aware that there African Heads of Missions (AU) might be meeting in South Africa today. If its taking place it would be great if one of your correspondents in S.A could ask senior AU figures about the possibility of sending Lybia some of the peacekeeping troops that are largely funded by Gadaffi? This is Libya’s security investment so the AU should be pressured to get in there and save Libyans from the terror of this mad man and his sons. Please don’t let the AU escape from responsibility because it doesn’t fit the ‘Arab World Revolutions’ narrative. Right now Libyan lives matter more than pondering about ‘new pan-Arab uprisings’ and decoding Hillary Clinton and William Hague’s diplo-speak.

I honestly don’t mean to offend, but I’m a frustrated viewer who enjoys Al Jazeera’s coverage and believes that the network has the ability to be the champion of the people. All people. As an African I was raised to see to the Continent as a whole with all its differences and contradictions, not to the exclusion of others. Sub-Saharan Africa may be the North’s poorer half, but we matter too. In solidarity, the Lybian, Egyptian and Tunisian struggles are mine too as a young-ish person who lives under an oppressive regime. Including the Sub-Saharan Africans in this conversation would only further the North Africans cause as both the AU like the Arab League is a mixed club of despots and liberals all of whom have a case to answer to oppressed peoples on the whole Continent.

You can see a slightly longer version of this letter posted on my blog. A number of people have read it, shared it on twitter and some people, North Africans included, have commented on the post. I have also shared it on Twitter and have gotten a positive response thus far. I hope that despite, my cheekiness you will address my concerns. You may perhaps take comfort in knowing that I’m not singling out Al Jazeera, it’s an across the board progressive media non-engagement with Africa as a whole and I will be writing open letters to the few revolutionary-inclined print media organisations that I’ve relied on for coverage as well.

I look forward to receiving a response from you regarding the concerns I have raised.

Thank you for reading my letter.

Yours Sincerely

A. Viewer

Follow the author on twitter .http://twitter.com/KonWomyn

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October 26, 2010

Africa:Resilient GDP growth

Eric Kibe, portfolio manager of the Sanlam African Frontier Markets Fund outlines SIM Africa’s case for investment opportunity in Sub-Sahara Africa.

  • Despite a relatively volatile political and economic history, Sub-Sahara Africa has emerged from the global financial crisis in a more stable macro-economic position than many developed economies.
  • Governance improvements, championed by the IMF and World Bank in the 1990′s, the democratisation process and sound macro-economic policies allowed Sub-Sahara Africa to enter the recent economic crisis with relatively low debt, and saw resilient GDP growth throughout the period.
  • Sub-Sahara African investment opportunity extends beyond natural resources, with internal growth looking increasingly promising.
  • Urbanisation, the rising middle class, rapid growth of retail and FMCG industry sectors, increasing intra-regional trade and the growth of telecoms, have all added to the positive outlook for African frontier markets.

Nairobi, 5 October 2010: Africa has traditionally been perceived as an insecure investment case, more closely associated with political risk, with the assumption being that its only prospects are in the commodities that fuel the growth of emerging markets such as India and China. However, Sub-Sahara Africa is showing apparent signs of opportunity, with its own internal growth drivers creating a dynamic that goes beyond natural resources. Despite the adversities the region has faced in previous decades, it is outperforming many developed economies.

Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) limped out of the 1970s with its economies struggling under the strains created by the two oil crises of that decade. The second oil shock of 1979 pushed the region into the 1980s, and into a period described as Africa’s lost decade. The ensuing economic crisis resulted in social unrest in many SSA countries, led to political instability and necessitated heavy borrowing. Their debt was exacerbated by the collapse of commodity prices through the 1980s as this further worsened their terms of trade.

The 1990s brought more painful transition, this time from chill winds of change in the form of liberalisation and structural adjustment across the continent. These programmes, championed by the IMF and World Bank, imposed austerity, budget and tax reform, institutional reorganisation and enhancement as necessary planks of reform. In addition to these governance improvements, the democratisation process, that created more transparent politics, improved SSA economic growth rates. Averaging in excess of 6 percent, this growth surpassed those of the G7 and the Central and Eastern European (CEE) economies, and coupled with these relatively strong macroeconomic fundamentals paved the way for resilient GDP growth throughout the recent financial and economic crisis.

It is against this background that the African opportunity stands out in contrast to the challenges facing several developed economies. The growth headwinds facing the G7 and the CEE countries include fiscal austerity, public finance reform and stronger regulation. In several parts of SSA however, having adapted to these principles, governments came into the crisis with relatively low debt levels, and with public spending capacity to compensate for the private sector’s slowdown. A considerable proportion of this spending, which also manifested in widened fiscal deficits, was on infrastructure and other public goods, while the private sector’s spending was observed in imports of capital and intermediate goods and explains a large percentage of the SSA countries’ current account deficits.

The African frontier markets were however crushed by the global financial meltdown. Through 2008 to the end of 2009, the MSCI EFM Africa ex ZA index lost 42.8 percent, while the MSCI EM and the MSCI World indices were down 26.5 and 20.6 percent, respectively. After lagging the global and emerging markets recovery in 2009, the African frontier markets have this year outperformed, with the MSCI EFM Africa ex ZA posting 5 percent YTD to August. The post-crisis rebound in SSA GDP growth illustrates the necessary growth environment to support strengthening corporate fundamentals, with such fundamentals suggesting a positive outlook for returns from the African frontier markets.

As attention turns to emerging market equities, and with the consensus that these will outperform developed markets, a sharper segmentation also suggests that the African frontier markets can potentially deliver sustained outperformance over the broader emerging market asset class. Following the dot com market shake-out, from January 2003 to August 2010, the MSCI World benchmark rose 40.8 percent compared with 234.0 percent of the MSCI EM. In the same period the African frontier markets’ cumulative return was 363.1 percent.

Kenya’s recently released 2009 census results showed that two-thirds of its population lives in an urban environment, while the UNDP estimates that 35% of SSA’s population is under the age of 15. Other statistics point to 70% of the SSA’s population being under 30 years of age. Though relatively small, the young, brand conscious middle class is expanding and the rapid growth of the formal retail and the FMCG industries all indicate investment prospect. Urbanisation and infrastructure development have created greater scope for agri-business players to reap more from the value chain, with conservative commercial banks innovating new ways to tap into the population, a large percentage of which still remains unbanked.

Domestic and regional champions with world-class capabilities have emerged in the SSA private and listed environment to promote greater levels of trade within and between the continent’s trading blocks. This intra-regional trade was crucial in shielding SSA from the full force of the global economic slowdown. As these regional markets develop and deepen, companies see their revenues and profitability expanding on the back of stronger volumes at relatively rich margins. The growth of mobile telecoms has allowed commerce to flourish in rural Africa, spreading and empowering distribution networks for firms, while the bandwidth revolution is driving convergence of mobile telecoms, banking, and IT, as businesses find new home-grown models.

Africa however is not one homogenous country and contradictions abound and challenges endure. Equity markets reflect the peculiarities of the countries in which they operate, with relatively poor liquidity in many markets giving rise to amplified price movements. Most markets are characterised by a high proportion of retail investors, and this increases the degree of unpredictability and instability. Therefore, local knowledge and networks are vital.

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July 22, 2008

Problem Of Peace (Kenya)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8sK-epEAy0%5D

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