AlterNet: Africans Can Do it for Ourselves

Another view from Kenya, from the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, Wnagari Maathia

AlterNet: Africans Can Do it for Ourselves: "There is a lot of poverty in Africa. Yet Africa is not a poor continent. It is endowed with human beings, sunshine, oil, precious stones, forests, water, wildlife, soil, land and agricultural products. So what is the problem?

First, many African people lack knowledge, skills and tools to add value to their raw materials so that they can take more processed goods into the local and international markets, where they would negotiate better prices and better rules for trade. In such situations, Africans find themselves locked out of productive, rewarding economic activities that would provide them with the regular income they need to sustain themselves.

They are either unemployed or underemployed — and they are certainly underpaid. They may wish to secure a well-paid job, but if they do not have the tools, nobody will hire them. Neither will they be able to take care of their housing, healthcare, education, nutrition, and other family and personal needs....

The G8 countries' cancellation of the debts of the eighteen HIPC countries is welcome, but I urge that other countries in Africa also be considered. They may be able to make debt repayments, but they do so at the expense of education and healthcare, thus sacrificing the realization of the Millennium Development Goals.

The British prime minister, Tony Blair, and his Commission for Africainitiative, deserve great credit. I hope that other G8 countries will support his and his finance minister Gordon Brown's recommendations, especially in the area of debt, doubling of financial assistance and better terms of trade.

It is understandable that governments may sometimes wish to give conditional aid. But a patronizing approach to sovereign states undermines their authority, and the respect and trust they can receive from their people. An improvement of governance in Africa means that it would be more appropriate to give aid that is not tied so as to allow governments to address priorities identified by them and their citizens.

Second, there is economic injustice, which must be addressed not only by the rich industrialized countries, but also by African leaders. Africans have been poorly governed. This misgovernment continues to allow the exploitation of resources in Africa, without much benefit to African citizens."