Monthly Archives: December 2007

global warming, africa cannot afford passivism

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Climate change is increasingly becoming an issue in African states as more and more of them get exposed to the effects of global warming – the glaciers are disappearing from the top of Mt. Kirinyaga (Mt. Kenya) and Mt. Kilimanjaro and the sea level off Africa’s coasts continues to rise. On this issue, African countries like most developing countries, find themselves between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand there is a need to cut green house gas emissions in order to avoid the catastrophic consequences that will befall the planet, but on the other hand these same countries need to industrialise using cheap means that may not necessarily be green. Green technology in its current rudimentary state simply cannot power industries.

Global warming is real, but at the same time it would be morally unacceptable to continue delaying poor countries’ development by forcing them to go green in this stage of their economic development. For instance countries in Africa contribute only 2.5% of the total global green house gas emissions. Currently green energy is expensive and cannot be used in an industrial scale. This does not give poor countries a carte blanche to pollute as much as they want as they continue to industrialise. Industrialisation should go on under strict regulation in order to keep the pollution levels to a minimum.

Africa also needs to seriously plan for the consequences of having a warmer planet. Some countries like Niger and the Central African Republic have made great strides in trying to stop the spread of the Sahara by having successful tree growing programmes even with their rather meagre resources. The AU should learn from these two countries and take up a leading role in campaigning for a green (or just about as green as can be done) industrial revolution on the continent, devoid of the wastefulness that continues to characterize modern living in cities around the world. The Kofi Anan headed Alliance for Green Revolution, I believe, is a step in the right direction and will play a vital role in providing food security for the continent’s peoples when the going gets tough due to global warming induced famines.

Climate change is a global problem and needs to be tackled through a coordinated effort by all players – underdeveloped and developed alike. Indeed it is the developing countries that should be most voluble in this campaign because as the earth warms up and the frequency of droughts increase, the hardest hit will not be the owners fossil energy guzzlers in the developed countries but hapless farmers somewhere in the global south countryside who have never owned a motor car or a CFC emitting gadget.

the AU – EU summit, focusing on the essentials

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Following the Berlin conference circa 1884-5, Europe has always felt obligated to care about matters African – be it during the colonial period or in the post colonial era. This historical accident resulted in an Afro-European relationship that has mostly been characterised by tension and mistrust.

But things are changing. These days the two peoples talk of a “constructive engagement” and a cessation of paternalistic lecturing by the (former) colonialists. Although some leaders of Europe still suffer from what a Zimbabwean daily calls “an apparently incurable colonial master hangover,” most of them have moved on and come to see African countries as sovereignties that deserve to be treated with respect.

It is under this new arrangement that the EU-AU summit is being held in Lisbon, Portugal. Although the summit has been marred by a lot of controversy – from Mugabe’s attendance to Brown being accused of sending a junior cabinet member to the summit simply because she is black – it still has potential to provide the framework for a more productive relationship between the two continents based on trade and exchange of ideas.

Brussels has realised that its aid to Africa – sometimes due to guilt, but mostly because of humanitarian concern – is not sustainable in the long run. It has dawned on the EU that investment in African economies and allowing freer trade is the only way that is going to alleviate poverty in Africa and make the EU competitive against the Chinese and the Americans who have significantly increased their respective trade involvements with Africa over the last few years.

My hope is that the summit will focus on trade (making it fairer and easier) and good governance. With regard to trade, the EU should commit to reducing all non-tariff barriers to trade with the continent – from the controversial agricultural subsidies to the rather tasteless “place of origin” labels insisted upon by some pesky pressure groups. On matters to do with government, Brussels (and especially Sarkozy’s men) should send a clear message that they will not prop up leaders who do nothing but steal from and oppress their people. They should do this openly and explicitly. Previously, Europe has shied away from direct criticism in fear of the African leaders playing the race and neo-colonialism cards. But these sorts of Africans are a tiny left over of the immediate post-colonial period. Majority of Africans would welcome such criticism and even offer support it if indeed it is good natured rectitude.

So on the whole, the success of the Lisbon Summit will depend on the attending leaders’ commitment to addressing the issues that are most relevant to the average farmer in the African countryside: fair trade and good governance.

of teddy bears and Bashir’s pardon

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So in the last few days there has been uproar in Europe over the ludicrous jailing of a British teacher in Sudan because she let her young students christen a teddy bear Mohamed ……. really Sudan, really? Luckily for the poor well-meaning lady the international attention that was generated by her arrest and the resultant embarrassment to the Sudanese top brass made the Bashir government decide to pardon her and have her taken back to the UK.

This got me thinking, it is apparent – at least after this incident – that Bashir cares about what people outside Northern Sudan (East of Darfur) and China think of him. Just like embarrassment was used to put some sense into his administration about this teddy bear incident may be the international community can embarrass him with different kinds of stories about Darfur. Stories with a human face.

A lot of the stories coming out of Darfur have mostly included blanket reports on atrocities and numbers of those dead and displaced but we have not yet had a well publicised story of a poor woman, named say Aisha, who may have been raped, had a village razed to the ground and then left to die by the Janjaweed but who mysteriously survived. May be after Bashir sees these human stories he might just be persuaded into accepting the fact that Darfur needs more attention than it is getting right now from Khartoum.

As the world continues to call him names and antagonise him, Bashir might be growing even thicker skin and plugging his ears. What he can’t ignore, it seems, is an assault on his pride and his basic human sensibilities.

I have focussed on Bashir but this could apply to all those involved in the atrocities in Darfur, including the men bearing the red flag from the East.

the african eu summit, what will come out of it

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I am not a fan of talk shops. That said, I am still very open to discussions in summits like the upcoming African-EU summit. The summit is intended to discuss trade relations between the two continents. Europe, having realised that China is fast taking up its position as the “Chief bank roller” on the continent is trying to make amends.

Another issue that will cloud the summit is the situation in Zimbabwe. Now that Rob is attending the summit and Brown chose to make a big deal of it, it has taken center stage and will definitely form part of the discussion – thereby taking vital time and resources away from pan-continental issues that could be more beneficial to a great number of Africans. Zim is in dire straits. But the more press we give Rob the bigger his head gets. He should be cut off and denied an audience, after which Mbeki should oust him and give Zim back to Zimbabweans.

Back to the summit, I think as the EU strategises on how to help the continent, it should move away from the previous peace meal deals that are not sustainable. Instead, there should be a genuine focus on industries that add value on African products before they are exported instead of wasting too much time on the issue of agricultural subsidies. The African delegation should also remind the Northerners not to be too pesky about the origin of flowers and fruits – as long as these items are fresh and edible and not growth through conscript labor.

On the whole, I hope that the summit goers know that we are in the 21st century – the age of broadband – and so they should strategize on ways of making Africans sufficiently well off soonest possible so that they can also get to enjoy the fruits of these wonderful times.

the lion meets the panda: China in Africa

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So the Chinese, with their increasing hunger for raw materials, have been scouring the African continent looking for all manner of trade partnerships – all in an attempt to secure the supply of the essentials needed to fuel the East Asian monolith’s fast growth.

A stroll through many an African capital – at least in the East of the continent – will reveal a number of things Chinese. You won’t miss the Chinese workers laying out fiber optic cables or paving roads or even selling food in a Chinese restaurant. After years of living worlds apart, the lion and the panda have decided to become bosom buddies.

But is the relationship symmetrical? Can the panda and the lion cohabit in a sustainable and mutually beneficial manner? Many people have complained that the coming of the Chinese to the African continent will only serve to exacerbate the continent’s position as a mere source of raw materials. I beg to differ. This stance assumes that Africans and their leaders do not know what is good for themselves and are easily fooled – in the past by the Europeans and now by the Chinese.

The Africa that Europe encountered back in the nineteenth century is very different from the one that the Chinese are engaging with today. Furthermore, the Chinese are not here to merely take away things the way Western Europe did, they pay for the stuff they take. They may not pay well enough but the point is that they pay, plus there is no hand-chopping bula matari or a pontificating Smith Hempstone. On top of that the Chinese have created numerous jobs for the local people, be it in manual construction work or in higher level management and consultancy.

As the West continues to shy away from Africa because of the continent’s lack of or perceived lack of democratic institutions, the Chinese are taking advantage of the situation and reaping the benefits. The Africans are benefiting too.

It is high time the rest of the world took the pragmatic approach that China and increasingly India have taken in their relationship with Africa. Democracy and good institutions can only be supported by good economic outcomes and vise versa (Read scholars like Dahl, Moore, Przeworski, etc). The deepening of democratic beliefs and practices necessarily require economic development. Democracy’s proselytizers in Washington and Brussels should be informed that their lectures on liberties and human rights that are not backed by cranes, computers and jobs are akin to playing guitar to a goat.

So overall, I think that the new-found friendship between the lion and the panda is, at the macro level, a good thing. Darfur and other atrocities may tarnish this relationship but down the road we shall someday look back and with hindsight appreciate China’s contribution to Africa’s economic take-off. A word of caution for the panda though, the lion may seem lazy and unconcerned in the heat of the Savannah, but never take him for granted. He can pounce without warning and has the habit of switching lionesses with wanton abandon.

Here begins an era…

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dear reader, thanks for stopping by. After having roamed many sites and registering a bunch of blogs I have decided to settle down with wordpress. I look forward to providing you with information that will be entertaining and informative with a touch of light Kenyan humour (yes we spell humor with a u, get used to it)

looking forward to interacting with you all,

me