Africans Need to Look Inward to Address the Continent’s Problems
| George Ayittey |
WASHINGTON, October 3, 2006 — "African solutions for African problems." That phrase sums up the prescription Ghanaian-born economist George Ayittey believes can form the basis for promoting development on the African continent.
Speaking at a seminar for the fall 2006 International Reporting Project Fellows and students at The Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Ayittey gave an impassioned lecture on the failure of African leaders to build democratic, prosperous societies in the decades since they gained independence. He said many governments in Africa are governments in name only. Instead of working for the well being of their people, many are actually simply "vampire states," governments that have been "hijacked" by a small group of powerful people for their own personal gain.
Ayittey, the “Distinguished Economist in Residence” at American University and President of the Free Africa Foundation in Washington, D.C., criticized the international community for continuing to make faulty assumptions on how to approach Africa's poverty and lack of development. He argued that many well-intentioned advocates for Africa have focused their energies on external forces as opposed to internal forces. The “externalists,” as Ayittey called them, blame Africa's poverty predominantly on slavery, colonialism, imperialism, and the West. Because they fear being labeled racist, the proponents of this view refuse to place the blame on the corrupt regimes that wield power in the majority of African countries.
While he recognized the role of external forces in contributing to Africa's poverty, Ayittey argued that those who relied solely on external explanations effectively absolve African leaders of their responsibilities. "Americans criticize George Bush all the time for his failed policies. I'm not ashamed to criticize African leaders when I see failed policies."
Ayittey, the author of several books on Africa, also said African leaders’ tendencies to import socialist and statist ideologies after independence prevented Africa from developing its own indigenous institutions and traditions of consensus, traditions he maintains would provide a more equitable and sustainable path to political and economic development. He offered some stark figures on the political state of the continent. There are only 16 countries out of 54 that could be considered democratic in Africa; only eight countries that have a free and independent media.
Ayittey was also critical of Africa's dependence on donor aid money. Instead of asking for billions of dollars of international donor aid funds every year, the continent should be using its own resources to create economic growth and prosperity for its people. He said the continent is flush with oil, diamonds, gold and many other valuable natural resources. But because of power and politics, the people never see the benefits. If managed effectively, Ayittey argued, Africa could be free from aid entirely.
He also criticized Western aid as an ineffective solution to a chronic problem. "Africa's begging bowl leaks terribly," Ayittey said. While the continent receives $20 billion in donor aid every year, it costs about that same amount to import food because African countries can no longer produce enough to feed themselves.
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