Ayo Sogunro ― On Ineffectual Buffoons

(AyoSogunro.com)

Nigeria’s social media is not necessarily the brightest platform for intellectual engagement. This may sound like an insult, but it is not. This realisation is why I have, for some time now, been quietly sipping my tea and reserving my opinions on public issues for my barber. Yet, in the last few hours, the latest twitter “debate” has filtered to me in the form of friends and acquaintances pressuring me to share my thoughts on a no-holds-barred article by The Economist which, in a very amusing—if tragic—statement referred to former President Jonathan as an “ineffectual buffoon”.

My instinctive reaction is that the person whose unplanned shops are being demolished in Lagos markets doesn’t care what anyone calls President Jonathan. There are more pressing issues that affect Nigerians on a daily basis—under the current administration—and anyone who has time to seriously debate Jonathan’s character these days has either eaten yams to satisfaction or knows where the next plate of jollof rice is coming from.

Read the full article HERE.

Zitha Mokomane ― Family Change and Child Well-Being in Africa

Socioeconomic changes in Africa make it difficult for parents to provide the attention that their children need.

 

(Institute for Family Studies)

In the absence of comprehensive social protection and social security systems in many African countries, the family continues to be the main source of aid and solace in times of need, such as during illness, unemployment, bereavement, and in old age. Another critical function of the family is that of childcare. From the time a baby is born, female members of the extended family—mothers, sisters, and aunts, including those on the father’s side—typically assist in caring for the baby and the nursing mother, a practice that lessens the emotional and physical burdens on new mothers. As is widely documented, African grandparents also play a critical role during the later years of childrearing and socialization.

However, as many African countries continue to undergo significant socioeconomic changes that lead to union instability, economic fragility, and debilitating poverty, families there increasingly face circumstances that make it difficult for parents to provide the attention and affection that their children require to develop and thrive.

Read the full article HERE.

Chiyembekezo Lyson ― Fixing the Poverty Challenge in Africa: One tested solution

We can start small scale businesses that do not require much capital. Even if it means saving for some time, it is worth it. We can start small, using the readily available means around us, and with time, our businesses can grow.

 

 

via Africa Liberty:

Africa’s unemployment rate is on the rise. Most employees, both in the public and private sectors, are not satisfied with what their jobs are paying them. As a result, protests and strikes are becoming the norm of the day.

The unemployed are protesting against governments for not creating jobs. As the employed are striking, demanding salary increments from their respective employers so as to meet the high costs of living and sustain their families.

Although this is the situation on the ground, universities are producing thousands of graduates every year. Mostly, these graduates are either adding to the number of the unemployed, or to the group of unsatisfied employees. Politicians, on the other hand, are taking advantage of the situation by coming up with promises to curb this problem, only to change the tune after getting voted into power. This has left the African continent to continue sailing in abject poverty. Despite receiving massive amounts of aid for decades, Africa’s economic status is worsening.

As much as we may need our poverty situation to transform, we cannot expect our governments to bring the change. And it is obvious that most of the aid money does not benefit the poor, making aid not to be the solution either. Therefore, since our governments are disappointing us, the employers are struggling to raise salaries, and foreign aid is hurting us, what can be the way out of poverty?

It is unmistakably clear that the hope for Africa’s economy lies in entrepreneurship. Venturing into entrepreneurship has proved to be the most powerful tool to poverty alleviation so far. Some may argue that not all of us can be entrepreneurs; people still have to work for others. While this is very true, it is also evident that even when you are employed, you feel some sense of being economically independent when you at least run some small scale businesses that add to your income.

Read the full article HERE.

Raynard Jackson ― Obama's Continued Disdain for Africa

Raynard Jackson (moderate Republican political consultant) has major issues with the Obama administration's Africa policy.
 

 

He writes: "In June of 2013 Obama tried to lecture Senegalese President, Macky Sall in front of his own people on accepting homosexuality in his country.  Before his trip to Africa, Obama was sternly warned by many, “do not talk about homosexuality in Africa.”

 

But as is his habit, Obama never misses an opportunity to lecture and talk down to Blacks in the U.S. and Africans abroad.  To his credit, President Sall quickly chastised Obama with these words, “We are still not ready to decriminalize homosexuality…This doesn’t not mean we are homophobic.”

 

In 2014, during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, Obama again lectured Africa on the need to accept homosexuality and under his administration they even took it a step further. 

 

For the first time in the history of the U.S., Hillary Clinton made a country’s promotion of homosexuality a criteria in whether the U.S. would continue to extend foreign aid.  This was a tectonic shift in our foreign policy and should have no place in our relations with other sovereign countries.

 

I am very proud that almost without exception African leaders have told America and the rest of the Western world to “keep your money and foreign aid, we will not sacrifice our culture and values for your help.” 

 

So, with this as a backdrop, I was more than stunned at the blatant disrespect Obama and his administration continues to show towards Africa; specifically in the case of South Sudan.

 

Sentletse Diakanyo — The African youth should fulfil their mission

Sentletse Diakanyo (South African Libertarian), on the role Africa's youth must play in the future of continent.

  

"One of the founding fathers of the African National Congress, Pixley ka Seme, stood at Columbia University, in 1906, to deliver his speech: “the Regeneration of Africa”. He said:

“The brighter day is rising upon Africa…Yes the regeneration of Africa belongs to this new and powerful period. The African people…possess a common fundamental sentiment which is everywhere manifest, crystallizing itself into one common controlling idea…The regeneration of Africa means that a new and unique civilization is soon to be added to the world.”

Many other eminent scholars and leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, W.E.B. Du Bois, Chiekh Anta Diop, Julius Nyerere, Sekou Toure, Kenneth Kaunda and Thabo Mbeki also called for the rebirth of Africa. A century has passed since ka Seme made an impassioned plea for the renewal of the continent. Despite the recurrent echoes of such ideals by aforementioned Africans, the lack of progress has been astounding.

Africa can no longer effectively use its colonial history as a plausible defence against lack of social and economic progress. That former colonial masters may continue to exert particular influence over their former subjects in one form or another is perhaps only a reflection on the deficiency of credible leadership in some parts of Africa. Kleptomania has largely been the curse afflicting large parts of mineral rich economies in the continent. African leaders live in obscene opulence while their people suffer."

 - See more at: http://www.thoughtleader.co.za/sentletsediakanyo/2011/02/28/the-african-youth-should-fulfil-their-mission/

George Ayittey: The Failure of African Socialism

 George Ayittey is a Ghanian economist and the founder and president of the Free Africa Foundation. He also taught economics at American University and is an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

Japheth J. Omojuwa – Technology... Africa's Binding Agent

Why Technology? Africa is changing. Governments will speak of reforms and policies, corporations will speak of crucial investments and trade agreements, writers will speak of the influence of China's need for commodities, others will speak of the rise of Brazil, Russia, India, and China and their increasing trade deals with the continent. All of these have been crucial to Africa's newfound fortunes, but this African vehicle of economic transformation would not be complete without technology.

Technology is arguably the most important factor in Africa's changing socio-economic realities. Technology is one thematic area that binds all the others. Technology is helping millions of Africans connect to virtual classrooms around the world; it is bringing classrooms from all over the globe into the palms of millions of Africans and bridging the gap between ignorance and knowledge across board. Agriculture on the continent could be a $2 trillion trade by 2020 if technology continues to drive the process. Farmers are being connected with extension workers and markets via their mobile phones through short message service (SMS).

Because of technology, entrepreneurship is proving to be a more effective pull for African unity than all the political rhetoric of the last half-century. Without necessarily crossing borders, African entrepreneurs are starting and closing deals with mobile internet banking providing channels of payments across borders. Technology has done a lot in driving the Africa renaissance. Much of these have happened without a unique plan. Technology can do a lot more on this continent. Our focus on Technology in SHAPE Africa 2014 is not so much for what it has done on the continent but for what more opportunities are possible with advancement in technology.

 

Peter Yakobe ― Malawi The Poorest Country In Africa: What’s The Problem?

A few days ago most Malawians were shocked to read the latest World Bank ranking that Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. Personally I wasn’t surprised because that’s the way it is supposed to be according to how Malawi’s current reality. Many people in the country received it as a bad news and some were surprised. The story of Malawi is very sad indeed, yes we are a peaceful country. We rejoice that we have never faced a civil war. We rejoice that we live in peace and harmony, but our people are still living on less than a dollar a day. Our people still cannot access good medical attention. Our graduates are still in the streets hunting for jobs.

Every year the citizens of Malawi wait for the government to provide different subsidies. We demand subsidies in Agriculture, we demand subsidies for fuel, we demand subsidies for electricity, iron sheets, we demand subsidy in almost everything. This has created too much dependency on government. Too much dependency has lowered the creativity of many people in this country. Every year people want to receive subsidies even when they have enough money that can meet their needs.

Read more: http://www.africanliberty.org/malawi-the-poorest-country-in-africa-whats-the-problem-peter-yakobe/

Nicola A. Menzie — Zambia: the Fate of Families and Children With No Access to Clean Water

Nicola A. Menzie is a reporter for Christianpost.com, a leading news site that attracts at least 5 million unique visitors monthly, and also host for the website’s “CP Newsroom”.

(Christian Post) 

Mira Buumba, 55, could have died. Or so it seemed when she became severely ill from a bout of diarrhea. Unable to take care of herself, much less do common household chores, Buumba's grandchildren had to skip school to help take care of her. Neither Ms. Buumba nor her family had any idea what had made her so gravely ill, further complicating the situation. They did not realize, until later, that the cause of her sickness was the very water that her family and neighbors had been using everyday to cook, clean and keep themselves hydrated.

"If you saw her photo you would be shocked," World Vision Zambia Communications Officer Collins Kaumba, serving as a guide and translator, said relating her previous condition.

But Ms. Buumba was not the only one who had fallen sick, experienced discomfort, or, in the case of one of her grandchildren, suffered a strange eye infection because of the water they were drinking.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/sickness-discomfort-and-death-the-fate-of-families-and-children-with-no-access-to-clean-water-cp-in-zambia-part-1-137585/#yVif6Ob56EOWCPGe.99

John Burnett ― China Beating U.S. in Race to Invest in Africa

John Burnett is a financial services executive with over 20 years of experience in risk management, operations, governance and compliance at some of the world’s top financial services and business information companies, such as Citi, McGraw-Hill Financial, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley. In 2013 he was the New York City Republican candidate for New York City Comptroller. 

(U.S. News & World Report)

Once a largely neglected region of the world, sub-Saharan Africa has quietly become the center of a struggle for influence between what are arguably the world’s chief powers: China and the United States. 

There is no overstating the stakes, given the abundant natural resources Africa has to sustain the needs of growing economies throughout the world, including metals like bauxite, used for its aluminum; platinum, used in catalytic converters, lab equipment and dentistry tools; and nickel, used in batteries, magnets and stainless steel. 

Yet in a deep and troubling sense, the United States is trailing China, whose economic ties in Africa are deep.

Read more: http://www.usnews.com/opinion/economic-intelligence/2015/03/24/china-beating-us-in-race-to-invest-in-africa

Chofor Che ― The Future of E-commerce in Africa

Chofor Che is an associate of Africanliberty.org, a collaboration between the Atlas Economic Research Foundation and Imani (Ghana), an African libertarian focused program

In the 24th of May to the 5th of June 2015, Tunisia will be hosting a conference on the importance of the internet, especially in doing business in Africa. It happens that Africa especially states in the Central African region have not adequately taken advantage of opportunities offered to them by the internet especially in e commerce and doing business online. Why is Africa still lagging behind in the e commerce sector? Is it a problem of inadequacy of legislation governing the sector? Is it a problem of inadequate infrastructure? Is it a problem of the actors involved in the sector? 

A report was aired over the TV channel, Africa 24 on the 6th of March 2015 during which the Director of the group named World Wide Worx attested that poor infrastructure remains a disturbing factor contributing to the continent’s lagging behind in the e commerce sector. According to Director General of Jumia, Nigeria, Fatoumatou Bah of Sengal, distribution of internet devices remains low, thus those in need of the services which will make them partake actively in e commerce do not have access to these facilities. According to Fatoumatou, there is just 40 percent penetration access to internet in Kenya. In the whole of Africa the penetration is just 7 percent.

Read more at https://choforche.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/the-future-of-e-commerce-in-africa-by-chofor-che/

(Randian) Dr. Anne Wortham: Afro-Centrism, Euorpean Individualism and African Collectivity

Randian means pertaining to the writer Ayn Rand, who created objectivism, a philosophy that asserted that “the proper moral purpose of one’s life is the pursuit of one’s own happiness (or rational self-interest),” among other tenets.

Andrew M. Mwenda — What can YOU do for YOUR country?

Andrew Mwenda, a Ugandan libertarian  journalist and founder of The Independent, argues in his latest piece that "we should stop complaining about what our country has failed to do and ask what we can do".

Why we should stop complaining about what our country has failed to do and ask what we can do - See more at: http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/9732-what-can-you-do-for-your-country#sthash.tnUjWZ5v.dpuf

Andrew Mwenda is a Ugandan journalist, founder and owner of The Independent, a current affairs newsmagazine. He was previously the political editor of The Daily Monitor, a Ugandan daily newspaper and was the presenter of Andrew Mwenda Live on the KFM Radio in Kampala, Uganda's capital.

It is very hard to get things done, even at the smallest level. But it is very easy to sit and complain about things. Reading social media, one gets the sense that we have increasingly become a complaining nation, not a doing nation. Everywhere complaints abound of our failing healthcare and education system, of corruption and abuse of office. But one hardly reads a story of what those complaining are doing to change the situation. Are we waiting for intervention from God?

Two caveats: First, complaining is okay if you are doing something about the problem. As Kwame Nkrumah said, “organise, don’t agonise”. Second, accusing our elites of turning Uganda into a complaining nation may be an unfair indictment of our people since social media may not represent the majority of our citizens. It is possible that those who keep complaining on social media are idle (which is another way of saying they are doing nothing). So they have a lot of time at their hands to complain. By implication this means that people who are busy doing things don’t have time to quarrel, heckle, complain, and insult others on social media.

So it was with great inspiration that I read an article in Daily Monitor of January 28, 2015 by Silver Mwesigwa, the speaker of Isingiro district council. Mwesigwa, a holder of a masters’ degree was working with an international NGO and earning good money. He is widely travelled across Africa and the world. But each time he went to his home village, he was saddened at how bad public services were. In 2011 the district had produced only two students in First Grade; most pupils were failing PLE, if they had not dropped out of school. The local health center had little or no drugs while medical personnel were reporting for work late, if at all. There was no clean water.

Like most Ugandans, Mwesigwa could have taken to social and other media to complain about the sorry state of his home district. He would have denounced President Yoweri Museveni and his NRM for their corruption and incompetence. And at one point he did. But none of this would have solved the problems of his community. So he asked himself: what can I do about it? He decided to enter politics and use it as a vehicle for progress. He joined FDC and hit the villages to mobilise people for change.

- See more at: http://www.independent.co.ug/the-last-word/the-last-word/9732-what-can-you-do-for-your-country#sthash.tnUjWZ5v.dpuf

This African Country Was Once the World’s Third Poorest. Here’s How It Turned Things Around.

 Botswana embraced democracy, free markets and the rule of law. In other words, economic freedom.

Botswana, buried in the heart of Southern Africa, is a success story that could be a model for the rest of the continent—and the rest of the developing world. | http://dailysign.al/1yzuZAJ

Hakizimana on the Cultural Effects of Corruption

Lydie Hakizimana of Rwanda describes the effects of corruption on the human spirit. The problem of corruption extends beyond dollars and cents. It crushes the entrepreneurial spirit of a people.

 

Andrew Mwenda ― Inside Africa’s major contradiction

Why African elites sound angry and frustrated though continent’s economies grow faster than rest of the world

Andrew Mwenda is a Ugandan journalist, founder and owner of The Independent

Over the last decade and a half, Sub Sahara African economies have been growing fast and creating prosperity for many. Today, our continent is exporting and importing more and our governments, investors, and consumers are spending in per capita terms. Yet many African elites, especially the chattering classes on social media, sound angrier and frustrated.

This is partly because growth and the accompanying increase in personal incomes, comes with rapid urbanisation and expansion of education.

As I have written in this column before, urbanisation and education are liberating influences. They expose people to the world, expand their horizons, and grow their ambitions.   The effects of growth, therefore, are first felt in cities and among the educated. Cities offer opportunities for trade, jobs, and a good life. This pulls more people to partake of the opportunities. However, the rate at which people migrate to cities is always faster than the rate at which the economy creates opportunities.

The initial resulting mismatch between growth in aspirations and growth in available opportunities creates social frustration.

Read complete article here

Quote of the Day

"The Carthaginians also say they trade with a race of men who live in a part of Libya (Africa) beyond the Pillars of Hercules (Straits of Gibraltar). On reaching this country, they unload their goods, arrange them tidily along the beach, and then, returning to their boats, raise a smoke. Seeing the smoke, the natives come down to the beach, place on the ground a certain quantity of gold in exchange for the goods, and go off again to a distance. The Carthaginians then come ashore and take a look at the gold; if they think it represents a fair price for their wares, they collect it and go away; if, on the other hand, it seems too little, they go back aboard and wait, and the natives come and add to the gold until they are satisfied. There is perfect honesty on both sides; the Carthaginians never touch the gold until it equals in value what they have offered for sale, and the natives never touch the goods until the gold has been taken away."

Herodotus of Halicarnassus (about 430 B.C.)