When it comes to development policies, alongside all the statistics of hunger and need, and the totals of dollars spent, it must be remembered that what matters most is that the neediest individuals urgently find tangible, sustainable solutions. Though this is often the hardest thing to quantify, it is the only thing that truly counts.
Whilst it is informative and credible to measure progress through the condition of our economies and the strength of our currencies, we must also not neglect to concentrate on how well each of our countries takes care of its people. For the state of a nation is not just how strong the economy is doing, or how strong the currency is.
The state of a nation is about how well the people are doing. Are they able to live with dignity, able to feed their children, able to meet their basic needs, able to access and create employment, education, health care? The wealth of a nation is measured by the health of its people: only when we achieve this can humanity dare claim to be truly civilised.
Current policies that exacerbate the inequalities between rich and poor, across most nations of the world, and between regions of the planet, are dangerously destabilising -- in economic terms, in social terms, in human terms. Development programmes are most effective and sustainable when intended recipients are fully included -- respected, heard, involved -- at every stage from inception and planning to delivery, and when adequate attention is paid to the realities on the ground. Policies that propagate conflicts, confrontation, as well as marginalization have a sell-by date beyond which people will revolt with dire consequences to
political and economic stability.
African grassroots communities should be mobilised to participate in their own development as change agents, and development programmes should base themselves on the aspirations of the people. But generally, there is lack of sufficient knowledge base in the grassroots sector.
The overwhelming majority of grassroots people, 61 percent, are rural, engaged in subsistence agriculture. Women's critical roles in agricultural production, and especially in subsistence agriculture, as well as in livestock raising and food processing are notable. We, therefore, need to ask ourselves what social infrastructure do these rural masses need to achieve development? What economic infrastructure do they need to achieve development? What human capital do they need to achieve development? And who will provide the investment resources to address these development needs?
The so called informal sector is what makes African formal economies tick and "surge". Without it these economies would flounder. The grassroots people are "the tellers and cashiers of Africa's wealth". It is everyone's business to ensure that the majority of African populations are not left behind. There is need to build a dynamic relationship between the state, business and the citizen; to define a common goal that puts people first and to determine what that entails in reality. As an African proverb says, "If you walk close enough to a river, you can hear the crab cough". In similar vein, government ought to be close to their citizens in order to create space for the realisation of their dreams.
Addressing the aspirations of young people is key to unlocking Africa's moment. Youth are dynamic, energetic and creative. Young people in Africa want opportunities to make a decent and enjoyable living. They have a different focus. They have ideas for the development of products, services that work for them and have the potential to contribute to the economy as workers and as entrepreneurs. They want to shape their own future.
Through technological connection, young people have freed themselves from the constraints of geography and are beginning to overcome time. Africa's virtual future is freeing itself from its physical constraints -- connectivity is happening in Africa despite its having only four percent of the world's electricity. It is spreading fast, whether or not factories are built or youth find jobs. New cultures are being formed online and on the street. Recent events in North Africa have shown us that we cannot ignore the needs of young people, who can be impatient when their aspirations are not met.
The African moment will materialise when a continent-wide movement -- similar to that seen during the struggles for liberation -- involving political leaders, business and the citizenry at large, engages in collective effort to ensure that every African has a source of income, a roof over their heads, access to quality education and health care, and the capabilities and means to pursue their dreams in a peaceful environment.
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An agenda for a people-centred movement that enables Africa rapidly to achieve its development potential in the future entails building a coalition of the willing and directing our advocacy strategies towards development with a human face. As an African proverb goes, "Tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today".
Archbishop Ndungane is president and founder of African Monitor, a not-for-profit independent continental body that works to monitor development commitments and delivery for evidence-based advocacy. This article is excerpted and adapted from an address to an African Monitor meeting on "What is not being talked about at the World Economic Forum on Africa," held on the margins of the 2011 forum.
