The Challenge for Africa (36 page)

AFRICA IS A PARADOX
. It is one of the richest continents on the planet, endowed with oil, precious stones and metals, forests, water, wildlife, soil, land, agricultural products, and millions of people. Yet most Africans remain poor. Unable to add value to raw materials so they can sell processed goods in local and international markets and negotiate better prices along with better trade rules, they are trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty.

In addition, when international debts are not canceled, when trade barriers are raised, or when foreign assistance is given to governments who do not dispense it to their people responsibly; and when political leaders fail to invest in their citizens, do not protect their interests, and do not model service for the common good, the conditions are set for the under-development that has held back Africa.

In any examination of the challenges of Africa, one natural resource often goes underappreciated: Africans themselves. As I have said, the disempowerment of ordinary people, especially at the grassroots, underlies Africa's gravest problems. In all of their incredible diversity, Africans share common bonds that tie them together and that they must cherish in their communities, nations, regions, and across the continent. It is fundamental that Africa's leaders create the conditions under which their peoples gain confidence, dignity, and a sense of self-worth—with the citizens themselves actively participating in this effort.

As in other regions of the world, the base of African society is the family. A critical element in promoting and sustaining development in Africa is to keep African families intact. Achieving this will involve what we might call the “reintroduction” of the African man to his family. Since the earliest days of slavery, through colonialism and beyond, virtually the entire economic system of sub-Saharan Africa has depended on uprooting the African man and forcing him explicitly or by default to seek employment away from his home. Men have gone to work on commercial farms they didn't own; they have gone down mines and into quarries often at considerable distances from their families.

From the perspective of the colonial administration, separating men from their families may not only have been a necessary evil for the provision of labor, but it was also testament to the colonial administration's insensitivity to the African man's need to provide emotional and physical security to his family. This practice of sending civil servants to work away from their families was extended to teachers and even the clergy, and continues to this day. Yet the purposes for which the system was created by the colonial administration are no longer relevant to the African government. Even as the integrity of the settlers' family was given priority—the white man was supposed to be virtuous and responsible to his wife and children—that of the native Africans was undermined. Either through economic policies or administrative fiat, the colonial powers created conditions under which it was almost guaranteed that African men would be irresponsible toward, and increasingly removed from, their families. They could neither parent nor provide security for their children.

Such decisions, made out of convenience and opportunism
on the part of the colonizers, and accepted out of need and insecurity on the part of the African man, have had long-term negative consequences that may not have been considered at the time. Even today, geographically separated from their families and only able to visit occasionally during the year, many men throughout Africa have been unable to be effective partners in their marriages, parent their children adequately, and be part of the extended family. Indeed, the whole concept of extended family in Africa is rapidly being lost, as many Africans adopt the model of the western nuclear family. Cases of women-headed households and single parenthood have not only greatly increased, but it is also socially acceptable for women to raise families alone and give their last names to their children. A challenge for Africa is that the nuclear family on the continent is often dysfunctional, because the man is so often separated from his wife and children or, as is increasingly the case, absent from the outset.

A further threat to the extended family is that it was to a large extent sustained by aspects of indigenous cultures—the ceremonies, songs, and stories. With the loss of that culture, the extended family has also been uprooted and replaced by, for instance, membership in churches or mosques, and newer organizations and societies generally associated with houses of worship.

The physical separation of men from their families has led to other pressures, in both the family unit and societies at large. For instance, women have been forced to labor long hours in fields or offices,
and
look after their children, leaving many exhausted. Many men have spent so much time working in urban centers that they have developed independent lives away from their families. When they visit (or leave their jobs and retire), they are unable to adjust to the new environment away from the comforts and familiarity of urban life: they are psychologically separated from their wives, their children, or
other relatives, and are often unable to cope in the unfamiliar surroundings, where they have nothing to do or no clear role. Away from home, many men become lonely, and may seek comfort with other women, including prostitutes, from whom they might contract a sexually transmitted infection, such as HIV, that they risk spreading when they return to their wives.
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What can African governments do to address the deeply entrenched labor system that has led to this state of affairs? Surely, one approach could be that governments appreciate the role of the family and work to create a society that provides men with employment opportunities where their families are, or allows parents who have to move for their jobs to bring their families with them. In this way, a century-old pattern of partnerless migrant labor across Africa could come to an end.

To me, the absence of men within their families is a major contributor to the lack of dynamism that is evident in many African societies, particularly in rural areas. These disrupted families make children more vulnerable. One of the most devastating experiences for any African—especially those who are parents themselves—is to see street children or child soldiers; or youth addicted to drugs, engaged in prostitution, afflicted with HIV/AIDS; or young men and women languishing in a state of alienation or torpor. Where men do not take their family responsibilities seriously, how can a strong society be created or raise secure and confident children?

This is why I believe passionately that African governments and individuals also must demonstrate the value of, and love and care for, Africa's children—by making every effort to provide young people with a good education, available opportunities, and encouragement so they can develop skills along with their talents that are modeled by their parents, elders, and leaders.

Babies with distended bellies and children wielding guns or high on drugs are all symptoms of a disintegrating society—
and intact families are a means of remedying the fissures. By “reintroducing” men to their families, I do not mean reverting to the norms of a traditional, patriarchal society, even if that were possible. Instead, I am suggesting that in modern Africa what is needed is genuine partnership in raising and parenting children in an atmosphere where gender equity is respected, and men and women share responsibilities fairly. To a degree, this is now occurring with younger, upscale couples—who can afford conveniences and are dividing more of the housework and child rearing—although women are still doing more than their share. If African parents fail to prepare the next generation, what is all the work in their lifetimes for? It will be in vain.

The dislocation of the African family is writ large in the emigration of Africans overseas. Leaders in Africa need to ask themselves why they cannot make the continent more hospitable so citizens do not risk life and limb to flee their nations. They must take an honest look at the fact that some of their most promising men and women are being lured away to Europe, North America, or elsewhere because of greater professional and financial opportunities, improved security, and a better quality of life.

Many other Africans are running from a rich continent only to live hand-to-mouth elsewhere, where the costs of living are often higher and life faster and more competitive, doing menial work even when they have been trained in professions. This situation can only wreak havoc on the African psyche. If one espouses the principles of human rights and freedom of movement, then one cannot blame individuals for wanting to seek their fortune or professional development anywhere: in their own country, elsewhere on the continent, or overseas.

On the other hand, it is worth asking why the World Bank and, more pointedly, donor countries would be giving or lending Africa funds to improve its medical facilities and universities to train personnel, only for the donor governments to then lure these newly trained individuals away. Of course, this flight is not only an African phenomenon; many people from other continents are knocking at the doors of the rich countries in Europe and North America for the same reasons. Since some of these nations were the colonial administrators of many African nation-states and because they speak the same languages and have adopted the culture, many Africans feel more at home in these countries than elsewhere. Lower population growth in developed countries also means that there are employment opportunities for immigrants who will take the jobs that the more privileged locals do not wish to do.

This state of affairs is a continuation of the dynamic whereby the industrialized world provides Africa with assistance on the one hand and removes its natural capital on the other. Unless African governments are sufficiently wise, or committed to changing the rules of the game, the contest will remain one-sided. The only solution, as I see it, is to improve the quality of life and governance in Africa so people can enjoy basic freedoms. Is it too much to ask for someone to have a decent house, be able to send their children to good schools, and have access to preventative and curative health care? Or to live on a safe street where public transportation works, and walk along paved paths on roads lined with plants and flowers and where there is no dust or mountains of trash?

Another facet of leadership that would be welcome from African governments would be to deepen and strengthen relationships with those who
do
leave Africa. Every African outside the continent should be considered an ambassador for it. Many emigrate and make great successes of themselves, demonstrating the potential they would have had if the opportunities
available to them in their adopted countries were open to them at home. But there are others who carry with them what might be called the burden of Africa—the perception that the continent is dysfunctional and that Africans, compared to peoples of other regions, are backward and unable to take advantage of the opportunities available.

Africans abroad often begin to accept the perceptions that they see reflected in many of the images of Africa they encounter. They become unable to overcome the challenges they may meet: discrimination, lack of acceptance, the quick judgment, and no allowance for any errors. If an African makes a mistake, the risk for him or her is that others will think,
Well, what else do you expect?
These prejudices can become overwhelming, and the immigrant can fail, further entrenching an already skeptical view of Africans in other regions.

While it is true that Africans don't have the latitude to make mistakes, sometimes, it seems to me, they give the world too many reasons not to give them the space to do so. Heads of state, politicians, businesspeople, those working in civil society, and ordinary Africans surely must be able to raise the bar for themselves—not primarily in order to persuade the rest of the world that they don't always have to operate below par, but for their own sense of self.

There ought to be a collective effort, particularly through the embassies of African states, to provide systems and institutions to support Africans outside of the continent, so they can adjust successfully to their new environment. The government of India has done this with their own diaspora. It has a ministry for expatriate Indians (or NRIs), which helps them get travel documents easily and supports them culturally and economically so that they may succeed and reinvest part of the money they make outside the country in India. It would be a very positive step if African governments were similarly conscious of
the fact that African emigrants face challenges and help them to become good ambassadors—and thereby proactively shape (rather than have shaped) the image of Africans abroad.

Certainly, Africans abroad are doing their part. Between 2000 and 2003, remittances to Africa as a whole ($17 billion a year) outpaced average annual foreign direct investment ($15 billion). The estimated 3.6 million sub-Saharan Africans living in the diaspora also increased their remittances, from $1.8 billion in 1990 to $6 billion in 2003.
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By 2007, this figure had doubled to $12 billion.
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Remittances are invaluable additions to family income, and are more likely to reach poor households than aid or indirect government spending; they also bolster national income.
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The fast pace of the increase in remittances in recent years exemplifies the burgeoning wealth of the African diaspora. While they have yet to see success along the lines of NRIs, many of whom have thrived overseas and brought expertise back to India, Africa could in the future likewise lure back its professionals, carrying their exposure, skills, and experiences with them. One practical way of achieving this would be to give Africans dual citizenship with conditions that give them confidence and a sense of security. This would assure Africans that, should they ever want or need to return home, they would be able to. There needs to be one place in the world where it is okay to be an African—and that is Africa.