In a stinging critique of the British government’s Commission for Africa (CFA) initiative, the NGO Action Aid cautions Prime Minister Tony Blair that the first step in supporting Africa’s development “must be to do it no harm”.
The NGO acknowledges Blair’s “good intentions”, but derides United Kingdom policy and practice: “Conflict continues to be fuelled by arms exports from British companies. Agricultural exports from the UK are still dumped on African markets with detrimental impact on African producers and exporters … UK carbon emissions contribute to climate change that cause natural disasters across the region.”
Blair takes over the G8 chair in July to add to his European Union presidency. The last time Blair held the G8 chair and championed Africa’s cause, the continent was seen as a basket case and a begging bowl. Seven years on, the African Union has been launched; the New Partnership for Africa’s Development has garnered significant acclaim as an African-driven recovery plan and through it the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) provides a benchmark for good governance. With all their imperfections, these institutions offer a credible institutional framework and hope with which Africa can fight its way out of grinding poverty, underdevelopment and dictatorships with dignity and map a path towards sustainable development.
But William Kalema, chairperson of the Uganda Investment Authority and CFA commissioner, believes that Africa’s long-term challenge is to improve its investment climate.
The fact that only 24 countries have agreed to institute peer review should not be a drawback. “The fact that many are holding back means their own self analysis tells them that they have a long way to go. Internally, Africans have set high standards. The most important thing is that the APRM is done very well and becomes a genuine stamp of approval. We must not make it cheap,” he said in London last week.
Kalema compares the APRM to a rating agency, like Moodys, and notes that the willingness to change is what is important.
Africa needs know-how, market access and investment to stem capital flight. But Kalema notes that Africans lack faith in the long-term future of their countries. They are saving and investing in London or New York. Africa has the highest percentage of nationals with assets held abroad.
Building private sector confidence, according to Kalema, is a key area for the commission: “They [multinationals] are telling us they deal with customs, with land titles, the court system. Some of them are banks and know where some of the money goes.
“We are not talking to people who are strangers to Africa. They have some of the highest rates of return from Africa. They have plans for expansion but the economy has to be functioning. They want to be part of the growth picture, but certain conditions must be in place for that to happen. And they will do the rest,” he said.
But multinationals are not always honest brokers on the continent. In recognition of this, the CFA has proposed to fully endorse the Extractive Industries Transparency Index to “separate the good from the bad”, it says in its report to be launched on March 11. Improved service delivery plans, particularly in the health and education sectors, will be reflected in the report.
The CFA will have to address the prickly issue of the “brain drain” from Africa. But Kalema is radically opposed to compensation for the loss of doctors, nurses and teachers to the developed world. “African governments should not think it owns its citizens. Africa must not be a place people run away from. If service delivery is good, fewer people will leave. They don’t just leave for financial reasons alone. They leave because they are totally depressed when they go to work and see people dying and they can’t help them. That’s what we want to change.”
The expectations on Africa to accelerate change should be encouraged with incremental rewards for progress made. This will encourage more strident steps by governments towards using resources to plough back into delivery on the Millennium Development Goals, of which halving poverty by 2015 is the cornerstone.
The causes of underdevelopment are many and varied: based in history and geography, corruption and weak governance, a heavy disease burden, conflict and changing climate, Africa’s problems have constituted a complex set of barriers to development that it cannot tackle on its own. The CFA is not a panacea to all these ills, but is a vehicle to pressure Blair to get the EU and G8 to move on trade reform, debt relief and development aid.
Nazeem Dramat was a guest of the Commission for Africa in London