Serious individuals needed to actualise Africa we want dream

Agenda 2063 seeks to achieve 'The Africa We Want' that is integrated, prosperous and peaceful, and also democratic and efficacious in international relations. But we won’t get this Africa we want until we have 'The Africans We Want' who can create and achieve it. Targeted social-political processes need to be deployed to generate a critical mass of the Africans we want in order to quickly reach a tipping point for transformation into the Africa we want.

Role models will help to inspire young people grow up to be like them. Such role models should be forthcoming and widely known. There already is a good catchment area, but which needs refinement of criteria to avoid ridiculous cases, namely, Nobel laureates and lists of innovators, game-changers and most influential Africans.

Laudable initiatives by the likes of Tony Elumelu to instil entrepreneurship in young people and Chief Obasanjo on leadership training could also support this process. However, coherent continental and regional systems for achieving “The Africans We Want” as an evidence-based strategic objective are still lacking.  

Curriculum reforms 

We need, but must go beyond, curriculum reforms designed to put our youths and mid-career professionals through growth and preparatory phases that build and equip them with intellectual and social faculties. This will help them to thrive in the fourth industrial revolution that has earnestly arrived, and to be proactive citizens of the world without the apathy and sloth that kills life.

We need, but must go beyond, moral exhortations for good character built on courage, motivation, prudence, fair play, moderation, and care for the lot of humankind. We know that what is ingrained in children up to the age of 12 years by parents can be permanent, but that dramatic conversions can happen that overhaul lifestyles, belief systems and life values.

The one thing very much needed is a coherent philosophy and world outlook that provides a bedrock for the social-political fabric that produces the African we want - young, middle-aged and old. Designing such a system would take a multi-disciplinary approach. Agenda 2063 is implemented progressively through 10-year action plans and flagship projects.

The Sustainable Development Goals under the United Nations Agenda 2030 reflect a new pact between humankind and nature, and what humankind has learnt over the millennia as documented in philosophy and science.

Namely, humankind is family through similarity, enlightened self-interest and regional and global interconnectivity; that we care for one another as inherently wired in our DNA and as a matter of right and wrong, and that our planet is a unique phenomenon and for now is our beautiful and only viable home.

Diplomatic agency

Through effective diplomatic agency, Africa proactively assisted the formulation of the SDGs, based on Agenda 2063. The African missions in New York deserve a pat on the back for defending humankind.

Threats to Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 include corruption as well as a host of other matters such as climate change, wars and conflict, non-implementation of instruments and programmes, and inadequate financial and human resources - all of which need priority attention. 

Africa has rightly identified corruption as a priority area that deserves urgent and targeted attention - and adopted it as the African theme for this year. Corruption costs Africa at least $100 billion a year, and illicit financial flows amount to over $50 billion a year. In light of resource gaps, such as $45 billion annually for infrastructure, tackling corruption is critical.

We know what works in fighting corruption. Botswana and Seychelles, which are less corrupt than Spain, have some good practices. Cape Verde, Namibia and Rwanda have undertaken effective reforms and measures that also provide lessons and good practices. These countries are now less corrupt than Hungary, Greece and Italy.

Critical success factors include determined political leadership, anti-corruption laws and dedicated institutions, dedicated courts, due implementation of laws and policies, compliance with international instruments such as the Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative, enforcement of leadership codes and mainstreaming anti-corruption across the public sector.

But actual implementation of such good practices and lessons remains a huge challenge. However, it is already possible, with some due diligence, to identify persons of integrity who could fittingly hold certain public offices.

Surveys by the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa have established that governments face some of the following constraints in their efforts to implement their obligations and agreed programmes: limited political leadership and ownership, human and financial resource constraints, incoherence and disconnects between relevant government ministries and departments, limited ownership and understanding by relevant stakeholders and users, ad hoc and on-and-off approaches that undermine continuity and momentum required for sustainability, and so on. These factors require attention.

Africa is not short of visions and knows what it wants. The existential question is: how come we don’t do that which we know we ought to do for our own good? For instance, we know of the malaise of corruption, yet it is prevalent in our midst. Let there be clear methods, tools and institutions for generating 'The African We Want.'

Mr Mangeni is the director of Trade and Customs at the Comesa Secretariat; fmangeni@comesa.int