Tampa — Acceptance speech by Professor Ibrahim A. Gambari, CFR, OCRT, at the University Of South Florida Commencement Ceremonies, on accepting the Global Leadership Award
President Judy Genshaft, Faculty and Staff of USF and of Patel College of Global Sustainability, Distinguished Guests,Ladies and Gentlemen.
1. I am hugely honoured and immensely proud to accept the Global Leadership Award conferred on me by the great University of South Florida at this year's commencement.
2. It is an honour done not only to me but to the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development of which I am Chairman and Founder, Nigeria my country and Africa, the continent of my birth.
3. Permit me, therefore, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, to say a few words about Savannah Centre, Nigeria and Africa. Savannah Centre is a think-tank/NGO, a Centre of excellence in promoting the nexus between peace, democracy and development not only in Nigeria but West Africa and the continent as a whole. As two former Secretaries-General of the United Nations, Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Anan – both of them Africans, articulated in their Seminal Reports, there can be no development without peace, no durable peace without sustainable development and neither peace nor development without democracy and respect for human rights.
4. Nigeria is Africa's largest democracy; its most populous country (with over 180 million people) and boast of having the biggest economy in the continent. Despite a number of challenges especially the scourge of terrorism and of official corruption, the impact of falling oil prices, the country is gradually coming out of recession, the military capacity of Boko Haram is now decimated, the fight against corruption is being waged relentlessly and its democracy is maturing. Under the principled, courageous and incorruptible leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria is gradually regaining its statue in Africa and in the world.
5. With regards o the African condition, the first decade of independence for most African countries (1960-1970) was one largely of hopes, excitements and great expectations. The expectations were that self-governance would produce good governance and that independence would usher in economic growth, higher standards of living and over-all development. Unfortunately, in the almost two succeeding decades, disillusionment soon followed as African countries experienced military coup d'etats, poor governance, civil wars, low commodity prices, unfavourable external terms of trade, growing external debt, drought and famine, HIV/AIDS pandemic. Indeed, for the two decades following Africa's decolonization, the continent was in the media almost exclusively for the wrong reasons.
6. For decades, international financial experts and development practitioners designed and attempted to apply different concepts in efforts to develop Africa's markets and open them to the global market. However, contrary to their predictions and hopes, Africa continued to suffer from stagnant economic growth, coupled with high unemployment and inflationary pressure. This period may be characterized as one of "Afro-pessimism". As an illustration, there was a screaming caption of the cover page in an edition of the Economist magazine titled "Africa: the Hopeless Continent".
7. However, with the end of the Cold War and the global pressures for open societies, demand for human rights and democratization, Africa was entering, in the following two decades, a new phase of political maturity and development. This period witnessed the end of colonialism and Apartheid in Africa and, in most countries, the transition from military rule and one-party state structures to civilian, multi-party democracies.
8. Coincidentally, the first decade of the new Millennium also marked the turn for Africa's economic woes. Africa witnessed an upturn in economic growth that is far more than a passing phenomenon. From 2002-2010, its average growth rate was above 5%; some countries even showed double digit growth. According to a most recent study by the World Bank, over-all, the region is forecast to grow at more than 5% on average over the 2013-2015 periods . In 2010, ten of the 15 fastest growing economies in the world were African and the projection is that seven of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world in the next five years will be African.
9. Initially, Africa's growth boom was caused by rising commodity prices. Africa is estimated to have about 12% of the world's oil and about 40% of the world's gold reserves, as well as vast arable land and forest resources. However, while African countries were also affected by the world economic and financial crisis in 2008, they were quick in bouncing back and returning to their pre-crisis growth rates. Africa's middle class is gaining ground. Today, spending in African households is more than in India and Russia, with Lagos being a larger consumer market than Mumbai. The rule of law and respect for private property rights is spreading along with improvements in the financial sector. The telecommunications revolution in Africa and its IT innovations have equally made a great contribution to growth and development in Africa. For example, in 2011, Africa became the largest mobile phone market in the world, following Asia, with about 620 million connections. In 2011, FDI grew by 27% making Africa's global share of global investments to almost 25%. These changes have lifted Africa out of an era of Afro-pessimism to a new era of Afro-enthusiasm.
10 Yet, multiple challenges remain which threaten to undermine the progress already achieved. These include the scourge of terrorist activities like Boko Haram in Nigeria and from Mali in the Sahel to Somalia in the Horn of Africa; continuing violent conflicts and insecurity in some other countries and regions in Africa: environmental degradation threatening the supplies for millions of people more; poverty and unequal distribution of wealth; food insecurity; weak governance systems, youth unemployment, disparities in gender and political and economic governance. African leaders have, however, recognized and repeatedly stressed the urgent need to resolve these issues and advance in efforts in peace and security, environment, food security, peer review mechanism, etc, so as to bring lasting peace and sustainable prosperity for all the people of Africa.
11. These challenges, however, also carry potentials, not only for Africa but for the United Nations and the world as a whole. Global efforts to contain transnational security threats or alleviate the impacts of climate change, can only be successful if Africa is fully included in the planning and implementation of strategies to overcome these challenges. Addressing the root causes of people converging toward terrorist activities in Africa will have a great impact on the security and stability in Europe and the United States, for example. In this regard, Africa cannot and should not be viewed only as the recipient of a strategy or aid; rather the continent has to be involved in and should be recognized as contributing to the search for and implementation of solutions to global problems. Only then will global political and financial institutions (the UN, World Bank/IMF) and the rest of the world, partnering with Africa, be able to address and ultimately overcome these continuing challenges. There are signs that this is happening as the United Nations, the European Union are actively seeking out and engaging African leaders and the African Union to jointly address the pressing issues of migration to Europe and together with United States on terrorism, peace and security issues as common concerns.
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12. I wish to end with the enormous opportunities for sustainable development provided by women in Africa as well as its youthful populations. Africa remains the only continent with a significantly growing youth. In less than three generations, 41 per cent of the world's youth will be Africans. It has also been estimated that by 2035, the continent will have the world's largest workforce with over half of the population currently under the age of 20. The energy, the resourcefulness and enthusiasm of the young people and African women have the real potential to lift the continent towards increasing socio-economic development and for this bilateral and multi-lateral partnership with the rest of the world.
I thank you for listening.
