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Africa: Politicians Hold Keys to Unlock Continent's Potential
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
ANALYSIS
7 June 2008
Posted to the web 9 June 2008
Dianna Games
AFRICAN leaders who put in guest appearances at the World Economic Forum last week were models of decorum. The presidents from SA, Burundi, Malawi, Kenya and Ghana all painted a positive picture of the continent's future.
There is general agreement that Africa is going in the right direction. With some exceptions, economic growth is on an upward trajectory. Yet all the talk, positive as it is, is largely about potential, rather than realisation of opportunities. The politicians keep telling us that potential needs to be unlocked. Ironically, they are often the ones standing between the key and the latch.
The quality of political leadership in Africa was raised at last week's forum. Leaders were accused of a damaging "conspiracy of silence" about critical problems affecting the development of the continent.
Of course, their failure to tackle the Zimbabwe problem was lurking, as usual, beneath the surface of such comments — and it was hard to avoid, with daily newspaper headlines highlighting the spiral of violence across the border.
In fact, the conspiracy of silence has been so pervasive that it was startling to hear Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga's harsh words about the inability of Africa to deal with the Zimbabwe problem.
President Thabo Mbeki, though, ran true to form, citing Zimbabwe in passing while focusing instead on the distant problems of Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Somalia.
The power of the private sector to help development by unlocking this massive potential in Africa was a central theme in last week's debates.
Many of the blockages to progress were attributed to governments' tendency to be protectionist and interventionist, often in the name of defending the poor.
Although regulation is necessary and welcome, it can be constricting to business if overly rigorous — as is often the case in Africa.
The reality is that more than 80% of poverty reduction in Africa in the past 30 years is directly attributable to economic growth. And this has been driven mainly by the private sector, not governments.
Even at the lowest level of the economic pyramid, business solutions are a way of unlocking growth. Even the smallest business proposition has potential and often just needs a modicum of support.
Social development, too, can be about business. For example, small community projects to sell water, mosquito nets or energy solutions are not just about making money; they are about making projects sustainable — something philanthropy has had less success in doing.
Major emphasis was, rightfully, placed on education at the forum. Without it, there can be no future. But even as education budgets increase, questions have to be raised about the quality of education. Poor policies mean lost generations.
Having a classroom and a teacher is just part of the solution. It is not even enough to have computers; children need access to the internet.
Yet governments are hampering the delivery of greater information and communications technology access and making it expensive for the private sector to provide. It is still seen as a luxury, not a right.
Schools are the one place where the greatest intervention for Africa's future can be made. The youth have the potential to do all the good things we have failed to do. But it is not enough to assume they will be a force for positive change. There must be a concerted effort to harness this resource wisely.
The high cost of doing business in African countries is a disincentive to investment, which is sorely needed in just about every sector in every country. These costs are inextricably linked to government policy and behaviour; which undermines the talk about public-private partnerships.
Governments tend to believe many of their problems are revenue issues. Yet what is missing is smart and strategic spending directed at clearing the way for business to drive the growth that eradicates poverty. That is the partnership business is really looking for.
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Games is director of Africa@Work, an African consulting firm.
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