Opinion
Why is Africa Still Held in Contempt?
In the past the ethnic organization also helped us in breeding strong people by encouraging exogamous marriages – not marrying within your clan. Some of these are still relevant. They should be modernized and used. In our recent IGAD Communiqué in Addis, we strongly denounced the bankruptcy of sectarianism. It is the cause of suffering of the people in many African countries – South Sudan, Central African Republic (CAR), Rwanda and Burundi in the past, as well as Uganda in the past.
In Africa we have been asleep on the question of infrastructure – especially electricity, roads, ports, rail infrastructure, ICT and piped water, at least for the towns. Without good infrastructure, the economy cannot grow and socio – economic transformation cannot take place. Why? This is because the costs of doing business in the economy will remain high and, therefore, profitability for companies will be impossible. In some cases, even costly infrastructure is not available.
There is a good measurement I like to use. This is Kwh per capita. If you look at the Internet, you will find that the Kwh per capita for the USA is 14,000 while some of the African countries have as low as 8. How can Africa grow if we do not solve this problem? Instead, of addressing the problem of infrastructure, you find that the African elite is demanding for higher wages.
Since much of the locally generated revenue goes into wages and corruption, infrastructure development is left for the so called “donors”. The “donors” are not and have never been seriously interested in African infrastructure. Since independence in the 1960s, I have not seen a single railway project these donors have supported in the part of Africa near Uganda. Yet everybody knows that the railway is the second cheapest mode of transport after water transport.
A business cannot sustainably produce if somebody does not buy what that business produces. Therefore, the market is the greatest stimulus for production. Yet colonialism had ensured that Africa was balkanized into 54 countries, many of them small. The North American continent has got only 3 countries: the USA, Canada and Mexico. Yet Africa has got 54 states. It was, therefore, correct that our leaders, after independence, saw this danger and in 1980 launched the Lagos Action Plan to integrate all the African countries into regional blocs: ECOWAS, COMESA, EAC, SADC, Central African Market, etc. Eventually, we hope to form the common market of the whole of Africa. This is moving in the right direction.
The mistake of continuing to export raw-materials is a type of modern slavery for Africa. I always use the example of Coffee. When we export one kilogram of coffee beans, we may earn US$1. The same kilogram of coffee processed by Nestle in London will bring the British in UK, US$15. That is why I always say that Uganda and by extension Africa has been aiding the UK with, at least, US$10 in every kilogram of coffee. This is apart from the jobs that we export – the jobs for roasting, the jobs for grinding and packing the processed coffee. What is true of coffee is true of cotton, wood products, minerals, petroleum etc.
The problem of ideological disorientation sometimes leads to the criminalization of the State. Especially the soldiers engage in extra-judicial killings with impunity. This is most dangerous. If the State does not punish the state agents that kill people, rape women, poach animals in the National Parks, the State may, eventually, splinter. The state agents must be wholly accountable, especially for murder. Without doing this, the administration and the State lose legitimacy even if they are elected initially.
When we succeed in eliminating the 10 strategic bottlenecks, many of the African countries will be in good shape. That, however, will leave one strategic challenge – that of strategic security. You saw from the beginning of this piece that we were able to regain our independence partly because of the support of the socialist Bloc i.e. The former Soviet Union and China. As you can see these are very powerful countries – big land area, big populations and are technologically capable. However, they cannot always be there for us. As they develop, their priorities change. During the anti-colonial struggle, they acted as our strategic rear. Who is our strategic rear now? We should have used the freedom of Independence to create that strategic base of our own through political integration. That is why in East Africa we are always working for the Political federation of East Africa. Some of the countries in the world are publically saying that they want to achieve superiority on land, in the air, at sea and in space – the so called four dimensional superiority. Where does that leave us? That is why we must create our own “centers of gravity”. The Federation of East Africa has been the aim of the patriots in that part of Africa led by the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere. It would be one such center of gravity.
I cannot end this message without mentioning the need for one African language. As I told you, there are 4 linguistic groups in Africa. These groups are also linked. Fortunately, our people on the East African Coast have distilled an ethno-agnostic language known as KiSwahili. This language is not as rich in vocabulary as some of the interior dialects. However, its structure can be used very effectively if it is impregnated with many of the words from all parts of Africa. We would, then, have one of the richest languages on earth. Up to now, KiSwahili does not have, for instance, one word for national anthem. They use two words. “wimbo wa taifa”. In our Luo dialects in Uganda, however, we have the word, Lubaala – meaning anthem. It can be incorporated in Swahili.The potential for Africa is huge. The opportunities are plenty. The future is ours if we sort out what needs to be done. Africa should not continue to tempt the greedy by being weak. Unsurprisingly, here on earth wolves still eat lambs.
Yoweri K. Museveni is the President of the Republic of Uganda
