ADF III Online Debate Summary
As participants to ADF III gathered in Addis Ababa to deliberate on the future of the African Union and the pros and cons of regional integration, a parallel meeting happening virtually swelled their numbers. The two internet debates – running simultaneously – began on 19th February and will continue until 15 March. The participants are drawn from all over Africa and the Diaspora. The discussions are rich, varied and often extremely pragmatic. This first summary is on the economic policies for accelerating regional development. Summaries on the other areas under discussion will be available in the coming days on the ADF III site. A full report will be available on the ADF III site at the end of the conference.
Economic Policies for Accelerating Regional Integration
‘What does it take for countries like Lesotho, Swaziland, the Sudan or Mozambique to develop economically since this is obviously the panacea of deficiencies in any nation?’ asked a participant -from Johannesburg. Do we have the capacity to free ourselves from ‘investments’ from the so-called developed countries? What does Lesotho have to do to develop the level of a Switzerland or a Singapore?
‘So how does one design infrastructure?’ asks a participant from the US. Is it done with the participation and cooperation of the people (and/or countries)? Or is it imposed? Who will volunteer to be a ‘loser’ in order to advance the economic ‘good’ of the continent? Will Malawi accept, for example, that SADC resources, to which they’re contributing, should be put into building a tobacco factory in Mozambique, leaving them as raw material producers? These are some of the difficult questions that need to be considered carefully in this planning stage.
Who is going to put their money into long-term infrastructural development in Africa?
This issue was described by one of the keynote speakers, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, as the Achilles heel of the African Union objective. Many participants felt that the financing for regional integration would need to come from Africa’s own resources. Countries in regional economic communities will need to foot the bill for making their regional economic communities (RECs) more efficient and operational.
Prioritising regional integration at national level will require that national resources be allocated through budgets. For example, resources for improving road transport networks should include a percentage for regional road infrastructure.
In all of the media of the industrial countries, Africa is referred to a dying continent. Which businessman from these regional would seriously invest in such a continent? At the same time, export of ready-made products to Africa increases every year. So let’s call ‘a spade a spade’ said a Ghanaian living Germany. Africa should only allow ready-made foreign goods into Africa only when producers also have production factories in Africa. Let’s apply our own rules of origin!
How?
More capital leaves Africa than any of the more developed regions of the world. If there is a concerted commitment on the part of the African leaders to seek the repatriation of that capital and put it into producing a conducive environment for the private sector – this includes governance and security – then Africa will become a more attractive place for private investment.
African countries cannot control capital flight on their own. A suggestion from a Nigerian living in Ohio is that an international law be enacted (and enforced in the International Criminal Court) to prevent the illegal movement of money and to oversee it repatriation. This would go a long way towards promoting accountability and transparency at all levels. If Western countries were to stop providing a haven for these funds in their banks, adds a participant from the West African Monetary Institute, the incentive to steal by some African leaders and unscrupulous businessmen would be considerable reduced.
Corruption is the other side of the capital flight coin. Corruption and non-predictability regarding laws and procedures makes the continent even more unattractive. Accountable systems of governance and law enforcement need to be put in place to curb this haemorrhagic factor.
Above all, concludes the participant from WAMI in Ghana, for the whole of Africa, the creation of larger regional markets beyond the narrow and fragmented confines of national markets that exist now through regional cooperation and integration is the only way Africa can survive in this globalised world.
Regional versus national economic development
An expert on Airports and Airport Economics and Development from Senegal says that studies have demonstrated the impossibility of our so-called nation-states succeeding as economic units and confirm the necessity of our developing into regional bodies.
Currently, all our facilities are still designed around our colonial masters, our air traffic, sea traffic and telecommunication links are to increase contact with London, Paris or Lisbon rather than each other, further ensuring the subservience of our nation states and economies. We need to counter these centuries old orientation and pool resources together. He suggests that Airports and Aviation may be the tool to further our collective aim to integrate regionally.
Another participant from the UK suggests that economic integration is done best when countries study their comparative advantage and develop it in way that is complementary to other economic activities in the region. For example, a study looking at Benin and Nigeria showed that Benin’s current strength seems to be in the service sector like tourism, insurance and banking. Manufacturing advantages are in light or technical production, for example computer software, processed food, pharmaceuticals or textiles.
By comparison, Nigeria, with its massive population and resources, and its domestic market makes it a regional economic superpower and thus a very attractive market for the production or sale of most goods. With huge manufacturing advantages – shipbuilding and petroleum refining and particularly automobile production – the more technological industries become much less appealing, with, for example, the fall or computer software production particularly marked.
The opportunity presented is for Benin to export services and light technology to Nigeria and import cars and use Nigeria’s heavy industry capacity in a trading arrangement. It’s a win win solution.
Development assistance alias life support?
Other regions of the world were not built by development assistance alone. Aid was used to kick start the process and not made into a life-support system as we have done in Africa. The bulk of financing for integration must come from the private sector and from private capital. Unfortunately, private capital only goes where it has confidence and knows it is safe, where returns can be assured, repatriation of profits is allowed and where predictability in the political and regulatory environment is stable.
‘Forgive all past debt’ says a participant from the US, ‘remove trade barriers, then never give Africa another penny, crumb of food, clothes or aid!’ This will free up much needed capital and foreign exchange, allowing countries to develop agriculture, industry and underwrite democracy.
Can it be done?
Yes! Says a participant writing from Greece. The potential is there, the zeal is there. What is lacking is practical effectiveness. Greece is country where their only and basic sources of income are fruit and tourism, yet the people live better than 95% in any African country and that is due to the rationalisation of their wealth. Let us not deceive ourselves, our development depends solely on us, we cannot afford to rely on others.
Africa must stop believing that investment only comes for the West. True investment must be placed in the African people by their systems of government. Africa must invest in itself.
Walk before we run?
Africa is not ready for grandiose ideas and ideologies. We have a situation where we are incapable of basic governance. We are not able to feed and house ourselves adequately. We lack basic understanding of the civil democratic process. A participant from the UK suggests that Africa should first concentrate on having properly constituted civil and local services within individual states. The reality is that 90% of African countries do not have civil and local service infrastructure to administer the changes need. Nevertheless, the provision of basic social services does not always require foreign handouts. We need to know how to implement the policies that bring about social change in housing, health and education. We need to be trained n the proper governance of our individual states. We need to be able to run smaller states (countries) before we can be trusted to run bigger ones (continents).
‘Until African houses get their houses in order’, says a Zimbabwean participant, any efforts to create a representative body for the continent will continue to give leaders another excuse to leave behind ailing economies, internal conflicts and suffering populations for expensive summits where they drain the national coffers and devise schemes to keep each other in power.
An issue of governance
What worries participants is that since the African Union was launched, no attempt has been made to involve the ordinary grassroots African in issues that affects their very lives. This highlights the critical issue of leadership.
Leadership is one of the primary obstacles to unity at national and regional level. The leaders of tomorrow in Africa will need to be re-educated to the fact that in a democratic society elected office is not a birthright. There should be transparence in the performance of their duties. The will need to accept the fact that they are there to serve the people of their country and not an opportunity to enrich themselves. This is the only way to develop their countries and Africa.
For integration to work and the AU to become a force to contend with, African leaders must be willing to give up power in free elections ….no other way!