Author : Jean-Michel Severino
Date : March 18, 2010
Hello to all,
I wanted to share with you a project that is particularly dear to me in this year 2010 that is marked by the 50th anniversary celebrations of African independence (symbolically, as this is an average). It is an essay entitled “Africa’s billions”, which I have written with my colleague Olivier Ray and that is published today in French by Odile Jacob (the English version is due to be published early next year).
This book was born out of amazement and arose from an encounter.
The amazement lay in the fact that we do not understand Africa, and that we are blind to the tremendous interplay of forces which give life to Africa. Is China’s arrival on the continent a good or a bad thing for Africans? Is sub-Saharan African over- or under-populated? Will the region be able to feed its fast-growing population? What are the effects of climate change to the south of the Sahara? Should we expect increasing outbreaks of civil war and wide-ranging genocide, like the one which tore apart Rwanda in 1994? Or is the peace process initiated at the turn of the new century likely to carry on in the long run? Should we fear hordes of African migrants? Or, on the contrary, is the economic growth of the last few years here to stay, turning Africa into the next emerging power? Does Africa have a place in a multipolar world?
Africa is the subject of countless works, but they speak of another place: historic Africa. Our key texts are now out of date, so much so that we are unable to make sense of the events that are transforming Africa before our very eyes. Two out of every three sub-Saharan Africans are under the age of twenty-five. Unlike our sclerotic European societies, the dynamic demographics of Africa are setting an unrelenting pace for change in the sub-Saharan region. In 1960, the Ivory Coast had a population density of just 11 people per square kilometre. That figure stands at 60 people today, and will rise to 110 by 2050. If France had experienced the same rate of population growth as the Ivory Coast between 1960 and 2005, today’s population of France would stand at 240 million – including 60 million foreigners!
Africa is experiencing vertiginous changes of scale and of direction. Given the speed and extent of those changes, we ought to be looking several miles ahead down the road to have a chance of following the right track. And yet, we are watching Africa hurtling along – in a rear-view mirror. We should not be surprised by our inability to follow its trajectory. There are profound differences between our view of Africa, one that has not changed since the last century, and the contemporary realities of the continent. Public debate has depicted sub-Saharan Africa as an accursed land that is marginalised and set apart from globalisation. The region is viewed as being worthy of compassion and evokes a charitable response at best. At worst, the region is viewed as a problem that needs to be contained. Its inhabitants face a dark future, one in which international solidarity, like a dose of pain-relieving medicine, does no more than attenuate suffering and reduce convulsions. Charity work has largely been sub-contracted to humanitarian and philanthropic organisations. Containment is carried out by UN bodies and by African states themselves. This view, whether it describes itself as charitable or “lucid”, is in line with the realities of an Africa that is emerging painfully from several decades of crisis. However, it ignores the upheavals affecting the continent, changes of which few grasp the extent or the opportunities today. Unsurprisingly, it is the "youngest" players of our global society - Chinese, Indians, Brazilians - who seize the opportunities of this incredible adventure. Is it known that since the turn of the century, African economies have experienced a rate of growth far higher than that experienced in Europe and the USA?
And yet, the time is not so distant when we felt we “knew” Africa, where our industrialised countries had identified “interests”. However, since the end of the Cold War, Europe has turned away from Africa: our large southern neighbour has fallen to the bottom of our list of public policies. The societies on the northern shores of the Mediterranean, especially their economic actors, largely turn their backs on Africa. At the start of the 21st century, Europe is abdicating its position whilst new actors on the stage of international relations take an interest in the changes affecting Africa and in their relations with the continent. We no longer have a strand of public thinking that is considered, coherent, and searching with respect to Africa. It is now time to get to know Africa afresh.
This book is an attempt at thinking through a subject that is at once complex and unsettled, one that challenges us to go beyond our standard reading grids. This thought process is based on a refusal to allow oneself to be trapped by past certainties. It relies on a process of observing changes that are happening before our very eyes. Finally, it locks on to the few landmarks that we have in the future. We already know that the population of the sub-continent will double in just a few decades. We also know a majority of the population will live in urban areas. The way in which Africans live, travel, define themselves, and interact with their environment will determine the path followed by their societies.
It is not a case of predicting if the Africa of tomorrow will develop “well” or “badly”, or to decide whether to praise to the skies or play the blame game. The pages of the book are not part of the sterile debate between “Afro-optimists” and “Afro-pessimists”, who have long monopolised discussion on the topic. The time has come to consider the consequences of these seismic changes for Africa, her neighbours, and the world at large. By examining the present and looking into the future, we can detect the strategic re-emergence of Africa, with all the risks and opportunities that the continent presents.
Africa is complex, and perhaps never more so than at the time of its metamorphosis. Any prospective analysis of a subject in flux is fated to deliver crude diagnoses and erroneous forecasts. We take on these inaccuracies and mistakes, convinced that complexity should not paralyse the thought process. It is important to be in phase with this moment in history in which we find ourselves, otherwise we risk having chaos on our doorstep, chaos that no humanitarian aid would be able to contain. Africa, with its 1.5 billion inhabitants, will soon make its presence felt in the globalisation game. If we do not come up with coherent, flexible policies, we run the risk of having Africa barging in on our internal politics. The changes affecting Africa mean that radical choices have to be made in the field of public policy.
We met Ibrahim in a taxi in Johannesburg. The drive from the airport to the city centre was long, and took us through heavy traffic. We sympathised with the driver, a Malian of about thirty. When asked about the reasons for his emigration to South Africa, he told us of his journey after leaving the village of his birth, in the north-east of the country. After several years of scarce rainfalls, cereals were in short supply on the market. Speculators quadrupled prices during the lean period between the end of the dry season and the beginning of the rainy season. Ibrahim’s father’s standing as one of the wealthiest men in the village counted for nothing: portions at mealtime began to shrink for Ibrahim as well as his six brothers and sisters. Unlike his cousins, Ibrahim refused to join the rebels, for he felt no anger towards the government. “What can the government do? It has no money in its coffers; it cannot even pay the village teacher.” Ibrahim’s story fitted: at the time, Mali was going through the lean years of structural adjustments*, and had borne the full force of the fall in cotton prices.
Ibrahim decided to leave, and began wandering through the principal cities of West Africa. He was in Abidjan when the crisis befell the Ivory Coast; it was not a good time to be a foreigner in that country. However, whereas his friends decided to set out on the long haul to Paris or London, Ibrahim decided to head South. He had heard of Mandela’s “New Africa”, bursting forth after the apartheid era. It was not immediately easy: Ibrahim found himself in a township, where he spent time doing odd jobs and living precariously. Ibrahim noticed that we were looking at the small rosary hanging from the rear-view mirror; he told us that he had changed religion. A small evangelical community in the township did a lot to help him when he first arrived. Money borrowed from churchgoers and from an American charitable organisation helped Ibrahim to set himself up in business. Today, he owns five taxis, each linked to the other four by a state-of-the art radio system. He was planning to buy a minivan to run a service between hotels and airports – “like the Chinese”, who have also entered the sector. Another few months and he should be able to give up driving and concentrate on managing his business from the small, fully equipped office that awaits him. What next? Ibrahim has big plans: he would like to get married and have children, but first he wants to move house: his priority is to leave the township and buy an apartment in the city center. And what about returning to Mali? His answer: “No. Africa is my country. I am at home here. What’s more, business is good in South Africa.” When questioned about the anti-immigrant violence that led to bloodshed in the townships during the winter of 2008, Ibrahim changed the subject.
To us, this seemed to be a tale of Africa in motion, an Africa that is anything but static, and not at all on the sidelines, perhaps even a tale of an Africa that works. The tale of a great migration, one that is unique in the history of the world. This book tries to tell the story of this African change, a change that is rich in opportunities and challenges of a new order. A metamorphosis that will affect the planet as a whole, and before which no human being can remain indifferent.
I hope that these initial thoughts will make you want to discover this book, and to join the discussions on Africa in the 21st century. We warmly invite you to discuss our intuitions, and share your own experience of Africa’s changing social, economic and political landscape, the challenges and hopes that it unleashes. You can do so here in the columns of ID4D and on the forum of the book’s website: www.letempsdelafrique.com.
Jean-Michel
Additional elements on this topic:
- Conference at the Collège de France: "L’Afrique milliardaire : défis et opportunités de la métamorphose africaine"
Click here to view more videos of the conference
- Rencontre Fnac - Le Monde : "Afrique, le temps du rebond?" 27 May 2010 (videos in French)
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Date : September 20, 2010 04:06
Je ne peux qu'avoir envie d'acheter votre livre. Votre point de vue a le mérite d'être novateur. Je ne fais pas partie de ces gens qui voient le monde et notamment l'Afrique comme un territoire à se partager.
Ce que je veux dire par là c'est que: bien sûr j'abonde dans votre sens, et nous sommes très nombreux à respecter l'Afrique et les Africains. Aussi je ne pense pas être défaitiste mais réaliste en disant que ceux qui veulent utiliser l'Afrique pour leurs propres intérêts sont beaucoup plus nombreux et beaucoup plus motivés (par leur intérêt personnel) que nous.
Alors oui je vais acheter votre livre, et ne pensez pas que je veuille décourager les initiatives, mais je pense que ceux qui peuvent le plus pour l'Afrique ce sont les Africains eux mêmes.
La plupart des Africains qui seraient inspirés par ce que j'imagine être votre livre n'auront malheureusement pas les moyens le l'acheter. Quand à ceux qui l'achèteront, ils sont certainement déjà acquis à votre, devrais-je dire à notre cause.
Comme je l'ai dit, même si j'ai l'air défaitiste je n'essaie que d'être réaliste. Et il est vrai que le changement qu'attend l'Afrique dans les 50 prochaines années dépasse notre entendement.
Alors merci d'éclairer ma petite lanterne.
Date : April 28, 2010 11:13
Firstly, thank you all for your enthusiastic comments. We are very grateful for them. I shall try to respond as best I can.
On the whole, I agree with Mrs. Elba Estrada; in fact, in the book, we discuss some of the public policy errors made regarding aid to Africa. I would, however, like to shade in somewhat your general perception of development aid. Far from being cohesive or monolithic, it is becoming increasingly highly heterogeneous and is using a multiplicity of channels. And although it can at times create dependence, its support in terms of economic growth does in fact allow recipient countries to emancipate themselves from future flows by creating the basis for their own tax systems.
In response to Omolara Duke’s comment on the perception of Africa, I would like to share our first impressions on how the book has been received, a month after publication. In truth, we were surprised to realize that a growing number of actors working on this continent agree on the changes we describe in the book – including on the economic front. A few years ago, talking like that of the risks and opportunities for African growth would not have been heard or would have been described as “Afro-optimistic.” Isn’t this a sign that the change in perception we were praying for is in fact in motion?
Thank you, Mr Mbende, for your very kind words. I want to come back on your comment on the importance of investment in productive sectors. I can only agree with you on this. Indeed, one of the objectives the Agence Française de Développement (French Development Agency) has focused on in recent years has been support for the private sector in Africa. In response to the President’s Cape Town Initiative announced in 2008 for supporting growth and employment in Africa, the Agency thereby committed itself to strengthening the tools made available to African businesses, such as loans, guarantees and equity participation. Proparco, AFD’s subsidiary for financing the private sector, tripled its capital, enabling activity promoting this sector to double in 2008. Other initiatives, such as the creation of the Fonds d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises d’Afrique (FISEA) [Investment and Support Fund for Businesses in Africa] or the establishment of a new guarantee fund (ARIZ 2) also support this process. However, as we explained in the forum on the book’s site, www.letempsdelafrique.com, renewed economic growth in no way presages the end of misery on the continent. The best proof of this is that Asia, which experienced several decades of strong economic growth, still has large areas of poverty. That is why financing access to essential services remains as legitimate as ever at the beginning of the 21st Century. It can be thought of as a kind of “global social security net,” supporting the countries that have not caught or have not yet succeeded in catching the train of growth.
In response to Mrs Choquette’s comment, I would say that the problems you raise as those we see on a daily basis in the countries in which we operate. Development organizations like AFD attempt to ease them as much as we can. Having spent nine years at the head of AFD, I can assure you that French bilateral aid is not given “blindly.” On the contrary! We select each project we finance with the minutest care and try to measure the concrete impact on local populations. Accordingly AFD’s commitments in 2009 will contribute to improving the supply of drinking water to almost 6.6 million people and to primary education for 1.8 million children. Confronted by the enormity of the challenges a changing Africa faces, I am convinced that we must avoid two common failings: thinking that aid can solve everything or, conversely, adopt the cynical view that aid is useless, indeed “fatal,” when realizing that utopian objectives have not been achieved. Although aid cannot do it all, what it does enable is crucial.
Finally, to respond to Antoine’s comment, I share your analysis on Chad. There is no doubt it is a “fragile” African country, in which a middle class is slow to emerge. However, if the bar we talk about in the book is more an exception than the rule, isn’t it in fact the best illustration of the extreme diversity there is in Africa, which you rightly mention? For us, the experience we had showed that, even in the poorest areas of one of the most fragile States on the continent, a tuned-in youth is dancing to the latest global rhythms. We will see each other soon; I look forward to continuing our conversation on all these issues.
Jean-Michel
Date : April 27, 2010 16:57
Tout d’abord, merci à tous pour vos commentaires enthousiastes. Nous y sommes très sensibles. Je vais essayer d’y répondre au mieux.
Je suis assez largement d’accord avec Madame Elba Estrada ; nous évoquons d’ailleurs dans l’ouvrage quelques-unes des erreurs de politique publique faites vis-à-vis de l’aide à l’Afrique. J’apporterais toutefois quelques nuances à propos de votre perception globalisante de l’aide au développement. Loin d’être unie ou monolithique, elle se caractérise de plus en plus par son extrême hétérogénéité, et la multiplication de ses canaux. Si elle peut parfois créer des situations de dépendance, ses appuis en matière de croissance économique permettent justement aux pays récipiendaires de s’émanciper des flux futurs en constituant les bases d’une fiscalité propre.
Pour répondre au commentaire de Omolara Duke sur la perception de l’Afrique, je voudrais partager nos premières impressions sur la réception de l’ouvrage, un mois après sa sortie. A vrai dire, nous avons été surpris de constater qu’un nombre croissant d’acteurs travaillant sur ce continent se rejoignent autour des mutations que nous décrivons dans le livre – y compris sur le plan économique. Il y a quelques années de cela, un tel discours sur les risques et les opportunités de la croissance africaine n’aurait pas été audible, ou aurait été qualifié « d’afro-optimiste ». N’est-ce pas le signe qu’un changement de perception que nous appelions de nos vœux est en marche ?
Merci Monsieur Mbende de vos mots si aimables. Je voulais rebondir sur votre commentaire à propos de l’importance de l’investissement vers les secteurs productifs. Je ne peux que rejoindre votre avis sur ce point. En effet, l’un des objectifs sur lesquels l’Agence Française de Développement a porté son attention ces dernières années a été l’accompagnement du secteur privé en Afrique. En réponse à l’initiative présidentielle du Cap annoncée en 2008 pour le soutien à la croissance et à l’emploi en Afrique, l’Agence s’est ainsi engagée dans un travail de renforcement des outils mis à disposition des entreprises africaines tels que les prêts, les garanties et les prises de participation. Proparco, la filiale de l’AFD consacrée au financement du secteur privé, a ainsi triplé son capital, permettant le doublement de l’activité en faveur de ce secteur en 2008. D’autres initiatives telles que la création du Fonds d’Investissement et de Soutien aux Entreprises d’Afrique (FISEA) ou la mise en place d’un nouveau fond de garantie (ARIZ 2) soutiennent également ce processus. Toutefois, comme nous l’expliquons sur le forum de site de l’ouvrage, www.letempsdelafrique.com, la croissance économique retrouvée n’annonce en rien la fin de la misère sur le continent. La meilleure preuve en est que l’Asie, qui a connu plusieurs décennies de croissance économique vigoureuse, compte encore de grandes zones de pauvreté. C’est pourquoi le financement de l’accès aux services essentiels garde toute sa légitimité en ce début de 21ème siècle. Il peut être conçu comme une forme de « filet de sécurité sociale mondial », qui soutiendrait les pays qui n’ont pas ou pas encore réussi à attraper le train de la croissance.
En réponse au commentaire de Madame Choquette, je dirais que les problèmes que vous soulevez sont ceux que nous constatons au quotidien dans nos pays d’intervention. Les organismes de développement comme l’AFD essaient d’y palier, à la mesure de leurs moyens. Ayant passé neuf années à la tête de l’AFD, je peux vous assurer que l’aide bilatérale française n’est pas versée « aveuglément ». Au contraire ! Nous sélectionnons chaque projet financé avec la plus minutieuse des attentions, et cherchons à mesurer l’impact concret pour les populations locales. Les engagements de l’AFD en 2009 contribueront ainsi à améliorer l’approvisionnement en eau potable de près de 6,6 millions de personnes, et à la scolarisation de 1,8 millions d’enfants dans le primaire. Face à l’ampleur des défis auxquels est confrontée l’Afrique en mutation, ma conviction est qu’il nous faut éviter deux travers fréquents : penser que l’aide peut tout résoudre, ou inversement basculer dans un discours cynique dans lequel l’aide serait inutile voire « fatale » en réalisant que des objectifs utopiques ne se sont pas réalisés. Si l’aide ne peut pas tout, ce qu’elle permet d’atteindre est crucial.
Enfin, pour répondre au commentaire d’Antoine, je partage ton analyse du Tchad. Il s’agit sans aucun doute d’un pays de l’Afrique « fragile », dont la classe moyenne tarde à émerger. Cependant, si le bar dont nous parlons dans le livre est plus une exception que la règle, n’est-il pas justement la meilleure illustration de l’extrême diversité africaine, que tu mentionnes à juste titre ? Pour nous cette expérience vécue montrait que, même au sein des quartiers les plus pauvres d’un des Etats les plus fragiles du continent, une jeunesse branchée danse sur les derniers rythmes du monde. Nous nous voyons bientôt ; j’aurai plaisir à poursuivre nos échanges sur tous ces sujets.
Jean-Michel
Date : April 19, 2010 16:13
Risques et opportunités
Jean-Michel Severino et Olivier Ray déploient toutes leurs verves littéraires et leurs expertises d’économistes du développement dans un livre regorgeant de données. Cet ouvrage pourrait s’intituler « Afrique : risques et opportunités » ; il n’est pas sans nous rappeler, en effet, les sommaires imposés des rapports des bailleurs de fonds. Reconnaissons cependant que peu de ces rapports citent Tolstoï et Malraux !
Ne boudons pas notre plaisir : un livre agréable à lire donc et tellement optimiste sur l’Afrique subsaharienne : enfin ! Oui, celle-ci se métamorphose, et les indicateurs démographiques, économiques et financiers sont encourageants. Ils ne surprendront pas ceux qui connaissent ces pays et qui savent que l’esprit d’entreprise y est extrêmement développé. Que ce soit au Tchad ou au Ghana, pour réparer un véhicule en pleine brousse, ou pour créer et gérer une entreprise dans des conditions logistiques et politiques très sensibles, les femmes et les hommes de ce continent sont admirables.
Mais le Tchad n’est pas le Ghana et c’est peut-être là que nous aurions souhaité un distinguo plus subtil entre ces multiples Afriques. L’exemple du « bar branché » de N’Djaména au chapitre 8 paraît particulièrement choquant lorsque l’on connaît ces quartiers. Il y règne de fait une grande pauvreté, décrite en détail, par exemple, dans la thèse de Yemadji N’Diekhor, géographe tchadien (1). Alors certes il y a des bars où l’on se distrait joyeusement à N’Djaména comme partout. Mais ce quartier, cette ville, ce pays, peut-être plus que d’autres, ne constituent pas encore, même en 2010, un « marché » viable. Le Ghana, qui a connu ces cinquante dernières années une histoire politique et économique totalement différente, semble effectivement beaucoup mieux parti aujourd’hui. Le Président Rawlings a en effet privilégié la satisfaction des besoins essentiels pendant plus de 15 ans dans un pays en paix : le Ghana peut maintenant connaître une forte croissance en s’appuyant sur des infrastructures eau et énergie durables. Les besoins et la demande pour ces deux pays sont donc différents et on ne peut les confondre.
L’objectif affiché de l’ouvrage est de promouvoir un partenariat renouvelé entre Europe et Afrique ; pour ce faire, deux fondamentaux devraient être rappelés :
La bonne gouvernance locale : les « bassins » de développement à privilégier sont des territoires locaux à l’échelle d’une commune au Sénégal ou d’un District au Kenya. Une gouvernance locale compétente et dotée de moyens y est indispensable. Pourquoi par exemple les banques internationales de développement, et en première ligne l’AFD, peinent-elles autant à appuyer par divers outils financiers - prêts « non-souverains », fonds de garantie - les collectivités territoriales et les organismes de la société civile, clés du développement local?
La satisfaction des besoins essentiels - éducation, eau et santé- : le livre s’attarde peu sur ce sujet ; leur satisfaction ne peut reposer sur le seul développement économique. Sur chaque territoire, en tenant compte de sa propre spécificité, il s’agit de trouver la bonne dose d’une aide extérieure nécessaire pour la satisfaction de ces besoins essentiels et, partant, la création de richesses endogènes qui permettront d’enclencher le cycle vertueux de la croissance durable.
Un meilleur avenir que celui auquel nous croyons communément est possible pour l’Afrique sub-saharienne. La solidarité entre Europe et Afrique est pour cela indispensable. Une attitude volontariste des gouvernants des banques de développement, dont l’AFD, est un indicateur important de confiance pour les populations de ces deux continents qui attendent que ceux-ci s’engagent plus pour un monde mieux régulé et plus solidaire.
Antoine Malafosse
Délégué Général
CCFD-Terre solidaire
(1)« L’eau et la vie urbaine à N’Djaména » thèse de doctorat, Institut de géographie tropicale, centre universitaire de Cocody, République de Côte d’Ivoire. 1996.
Date : April 13, 2010 09:04
Dear Jean-Michel,
Good day! First of all, I must congratulate for this thought provoking book review. Recently, I am trying to propagate the idea of Seed- a new alternative currency (for details kindly refer http://www.urgentevoke.com/profiles/blogs/seed-a-new-alternative). I believe it will open up a chain reaction for food sovereignty and yield many billions in Africa too. Eagerly waiting for your esteemed opinion.
With warm regards,
Sincerely yours,
Pradip Dey
Date : April 9, 2010 08:41
Dear Mr. Severino,
I appreciate the renewed interest on the african continent that you and others authors have shown recently.
Despite the adverse effects of the economic crisis, there is a visible trend of growth in the african continent. It represents hope for this part of the world which means success and failure at the same time. Hope because of its young population and the positive perspectives that the 1st-world countries and the so called emergent economies are putting on it, in terms of aid and FDI. But it is also the worst proof of the mistakes that the developed countries have made in the post-colonialist times.
Evidence shows that systematic aid given through governments or international institutions such as the World Bank have not only been innefective, but I would say that it has had a negative effect on the continents’ progress; although it has affected some countries more than others. The pattern of aid has created a two fold dependence: on the devoloped countries’side it has become the easiest way to relieve their sense of guilt, and has become a kind of business. From the African countries point of view, it has created an aid dependence in many african countries, not giving them the opportunity to become competitive.
However, the trend is changing and the EU and the US are actually negotiating trade agreements which would almost imply a total liberalization of the african products in those markets. This alternative, although egalitarian in its intention, won’t have benefitial consequences on african economies, at least in a close future. Intra-regional trade must be encouraged at african level. For this purpose, the EU could be a reference.
Also the monetary union that Europe has set up successfully could be a good example for the african economy. In order to become more competitive, the number of currencies must decrease significantly.
Corruption must also be rooted out the political system. The EU imposes hard conditions for these countries in terms of democratic standards and human rights compliance. Although good governance is believed to be the cornerstone of development, some asiatic examples of rapid economic growth show that this is not an essential condition. Economic growth fosters stability, and consequently general welfare as the chinese example shows. Precisely this country is investing a lot in Africa and somehow presents an alternative to the model of aid delivery led by the EU and the US. Its contribution is based on FDI and unconditioned aid (or at least another type of condition, less visible than the european one) whose benefits are felt more directly by african population. Is China in a better position to deliver effective aid then? Is it competing with the western (european) model, as in many other areas?
Africa has its own particularities and therefore should chose its own growth pattern.
In any case Africa has lots of potential to exploite and would play a crucial role in a multilateral world. Therefore developed countries have to give this continent the possibility to find and decide it by itself.
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Date : April 1, 2010 19:38
Enfin voilà ce que les Africains attendaient peut-être afin de savoir qu’ils peuvent eux-mêmes sortir des ténèbres !
Jean Michel ! Ce livre, sans nul doute retrace en projetant une lumière très dense aux Africains. Plein d’enseignements, il permettra aux intellectuels de notre continent de savoir qu’il n’y a rien de diabolique pour faire avancer ce bateau. Il suffit simplement d’avoir la volonté de progresser pour aller.
Oui il faut voir un bébé dans ses premiers mois, il ne peut pas marcher, il commence d’abord par ramper en marchant par quatre pattes, ensuite il commence par se mettre debout en s’appuyant ou s’accrochant à un objet et pour l’apprendre à marcher rapidement dans certaines familles son frère ou sœur lui prend l’une des mains en marchant devant lui par petits pas quelques séances après, il commence à le faire seul.
Les Africains depuis des décennies apprennent et je crois qu’il est temps qu’ils essaient de mettre en pratique tout ce qu’ils ont appris et voir comment gérer les insuffisances qui se présenteront c’est sur qu’il y’en aura, mais c’est comme disait l’autre que c’est en apprenant qu’on devient savant.
Date : March 31, 2010 19:39
To the author, I must sincerely thank you for been able to see Africa away from what is represented by international news media. I watch these stations daily really to catch up on the happens world wide and when Africa is shown I always wonder, is this all there is to Africa if only they know? As if such poverty does not exist in developed countries. This I have seen myself.
Africa is dynamic as you have righty mentioned, it is a continent waiting to burst open. Filled with riches beyond words. Its people, so thirsty for knowlegde and the need to excel. We know why we be seen to be clothed in poverty. Weak institutions, very weak ones. However parallel to these is a very vibrant private sector they are slowly but surely reinventing teh financial sector, telecommunications, educaton (private schools), international trade etc. I believe the strength of Africa would emerge from the private sector. The people have great ingenuity. Where an infrastructure is lacking they improvise. Our ability to survive is beyong words.
As you rightly mentioned, the Asian, that is the Indians and Lebanese have for decades come to Africa to make wealth and then they move to the developed countries. They know Africa holds the pot of gold. Now its the turn of the chinese.
Africa has a high number of its Diaspora also out of the continent, engaged in the all professions with the highest expertise possible. They are equipped and willing to pass on these skills. Some of them are waiting to come back home. Africa is evolving, if more people could look beyong the news media, they would probably see what you have seen.
Date : March 29, 2010 23:01
Cher jean michel,
j'ai terminé la lecture de votre excellent travail,un caviar en somme,je n'ai pas eu la chance de vous voir à bruxelles afin d'en discuter peut-être serais-je à vincennes le 5 avril?
Félicitations,je suis persuadé que ce chef d'oeuvre fera parler de lui comme celui de réné Dumont qui croyait l'afrique mal partie.
j'ai bien suivi votre passage sur france ô,j'ai retenu et suis d'avis avec vous qu'il vaudrait mieux apprendre à quelu'un à pêcher du poisson que de lui en donner tous les temps!
d'autre part que c'est le moment de s'orienter vers des investissements productifs(dans le secteur privé,infrastructures,bref ce qui contribue à créer des richesses) ce qui revient à donner aux finances publiques africaines et aux habitants de ce continent de se donner les moyens pour payer eux-même leurs services dont ils ont besoin(education ,santé,eau etc;;;).l'on evitera ainsi l'assistanat et l'on pendra un peu de distance vis à vis de l'action sociale.
Quant à ce qui concerne l'aide chinoise aux pays africains, je suis moins convaincu que vous,je reste dubitatif,l'avenir nous dira ,j'ai ma petite experience actuellement dans le domaine de l'audiovisuelle.
Une fois encore félicitations pour ce travail,j'espére avoir un jour l'honneur et le plaisir de faire votre connaissance et bien des encouragements à Monsieur Olivier ray
Sam Mbende
Homme de culture
Date : March 29, 2010 15:38
Cher Jean Michel
Je vous remercie pour un tel point de vue sur l'Afrique
je suis de la COTE D'IVOIRE et je me rends compte qu'apres ces 50 ans d'independance nos pays africain ne m'heritent vraiment pas d'etre cités dans le développement social du monde d'aujourd'hui tant à l'incapacite mirobolente de nos dirigeants. La COTE D'IVOIRE est un tres bel exemple de cet échec
Merci pour votre contribution au débat sur le développement économique
Bien à vous
Date : March 28, 2010 13:33
Africa's past and present experience, with European involvement in the region, has been to the best knowledge of most on the continent---negative. The relationships between Europe and Africa, unlike the region's emerging ties with Asia--which are based on pragmatic and mutual interests---have always been structurally skewed, towards the dominance one entity by the other.
The new and emergent Africa, is brave, focused and fully aware of the challenges facing the region and how to deal with them. What Africa needs--as the story above illustrates--is investment in the ideals, aspirations and energies of her people--especially the youth and women. The young African of today, is innovative, enterprising and forward looking. The youth know what is good for them and this explains the exponential growth in the adoption of new ICT technologies in the region.
To help promote these young entrepreneurs and enterprises---I propose that an internet based e-bank of enterprising development and small business ideas and projects--submitted by young people and communities in the region be created. A volunteer panel of development and business experts based in Africa and globally, would annually review and select the most viable project ideas for support by Wiling contributors (corporations, foundations and individuals) from developed countries and Africa itself.
Corporations that make the most Africa, contribute the least to the continent's development. Such an initiative would lobby for substantial contributions form MNC'S based in Africa. This approach would democratize the access to development aid by enterprising communities, and individuals as opposed to the prevailing opaque and highly subjective--individual donor to recipient approach. Thank you all.
Date : March 22, 2010 18:18
Cher Jean-Michel,
J'ail lu votre article avec beaucoup d'interet. Je vais d'ailleurs acheter votre livre, que j'aurais personnellement aime ecrire. Je suis presidente d'une petite ASBL au Senegal et nous tentons tant bien que mal d'ameliorer la qualite de vie des habitants d'un petit village de brousse, a leur demande et avec l'assentiment des autorites de la communaute rurale dont ce village depend. C'est donc main dans la main que nous essayons de developper ce projet commun. Je dois avouer que ce n'est pas facile.
Ce village est confronte, comme tant d'autres a:
1. Un manque d’eau qui demeure le facteur limitant au développement rural pendant les mois que dure la saison sèche. La construction d’un bassin de rétention d’eau d’une contenance d’un million de litres permettrait aux villageois (180 familles) d’assurer leurs besoins quotidiens en eau, de faire de la culture maraîchère, d’irriguer leurs champs et de nourrir le bétail. Cela leur permettrait d’alimenter leur famille plus décemment et leur assurerait des rentrées financières par la vente de leurs produits.
2. Une scolarité interrompue par manque de moyens financiers. Le village dispose d’une école primaire de cinq classes (250 élèves). Les cours y sont dispensés par des enseignants volontaires qui dorment dans leur classe par manque de logement. Les enfants qui atteignent le secondaire doivent s’expatrier vers les villes pour poursuivre leurs études, ce qui est pratiquement impossible pour tous par manque d’argent. Résultat : ils doivent abandonner l’école. Une ecole secondaire dans le village permettrait aux enfants de poursuivre leurs etudes.
3. L’agriculture sous-équipée. Le village est exclusivement composé d’agriculteurs et d’éleveurs qui n’ont que très peu d’équipements pour labourer leurs champs et procéder aux récoltes. De plus, ils sont confrontés à une longue sécheresse. Dans l'impossibilité de faire vivre les familles du fait de leurs maigres récoltes ou des bêtes qui meurent par manque d’eau, une frange importante de cette population est condamnée à l'exode vers les villes surpeuplées, voire même jusqu’à nos portes après un long périple souvent meurtrier. Des équipements adéquats leurs permettraient de travailler moins durement pour un meilleur rendement.
4. Le manque de communication. Le village, par sa situation géographique, se situe à l’intérieur des terres, loin des zones urbaines. Le centre médical le plus proche se situe à 15km du centre du village. Les habitants, du moins ceux qui ont les moyens d’avoir un cheval, se déplacent à cheval ou en charrette. Les routes en terre sont souvent impraticables durant la saison des pluies, ce qui isole le village et rend tout approvisionnement impossible. Les soins médicaux sont également rendus inaccessibles. Les cas d’urgence, pour les personnes âgées, les enfants qui se blessent ou les femmes enceinte par exemple sont très difficilement administrés du fait qu’il est impossible pour les villageois d’effectuer 30 km en charrette, à travers pistes à l’allure qu’il faudrait pour traiter ce genre de cas.
Nous estimons a moins de €100,000 la construction d'un bassin d'eau et l'amenagement d'une ecole secondaire qui permettrait a tous les habitants d'etre autonomes et de vivre decemment. Est-ce vraiment une somme enorme? Et si on repercutait ces actions dans d'autres villages?
Ce qui me desole et m'etourdit le plus est de voir toutes ces sommes folles que nos pays versent aveuglement et qui atteignent rarement les populations necessiteuses. Y aurait-il une entente non dite afin de maintenir toutes ces populations dans cet etat primitif?
Aujourd'hui, c'est la journee de l'eau!
Date : March 22, 2010 07:13
To Mr Severino and participants in FORUM
Many persons ask me “Why you active in the Information area: national and, regional and global information?”
One of the reasons is: I see in television very poor African country : died by disease, by hungry and low education level and bad cultural habits “
I read that “many Consultants work in Africa .The International Aids to Africa is so big “
I agree with you that “one of the reasons is the way to invest to Africa? “ How it could be better.
After war 32 years (because of Natural resources and Petrol) Vietnam became WTO member and members of other International organizations.
This is a change for us to study and turn the way for investment.
Information is the way for self training and regular the human behaviors.
This is the reason I spend money, time for taking information from Regional, Global area to our society.
We have to be active in the development process; do not wait only the help from out side .This is the experience we see from Africa.
Active and more active.
Very good study the development of Africa and avoid the mistakes.
We request the investors to Vietnam use in this Forum for discussion: We will inform to you necessary requirements and our dream .The Investment will be benefit for both you and us .The investment will be suitable.
Thank you.
Date : March 21, 2010 23:02
Dear Jean-Michel,
Thank you for this profound and inspiring review of the book. My contribution to this debate is another tale of Africa in motion, of the young Africa in motion, the story of Romano, 24, a dweller of Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum. In January 2008, when Kenya precipitated into unprecedented post-electoral violence, Romano saved his life, but his shelter was incinerated. Romano is a talented and charming orator as well as an excellent writer, under the rusty roof of his new house, you can always find a second-hand Oxford English Dictionary recently consulted next to one of his handwritten compositions. Since 2008, while continuing his studies, Romano has employed his skills, facilitating workshops on conflict handling and peace dialogue, to set up a community-based organisation called CFSDA (Community Free of Substance and Drug Abuse) which, among other things, trains other young slum-dwellers on Hiv/Aids prevention. Today, CFSDA takes dozens of young Kenyans away from idleness and drugs, but Romano’s real dream is to make a change in his rural hometown, the village of Malaba, Teso District, in Western Kenya. His idea is to create an IT centre, a “cyber centre” as people call it there, with four or five computers, a connection to the internet, and IT trainers. When I went up country with him, we estimated that the whole project would cost around 10,000 euros (including purchasing a venue, 5 computers, a printer, a power generator, a photocopier machine, paper, pens and promotional T-shirts). What I could offer to this idea is a bunch of young active Europeans, who through facebook and gmail, are IT experts from cradle. Romano’s idea is per se revolutionary if we consider the background. In July 2009, an event I would define “historic” unfolded, the first broadband internet cable was laid across the Indian Ocean connecting Kenya (and Africa as a whole) to the world. This presents revolutionary economic perspectives for the English speaking youth of Kenya. From 2002 to 2007 the number of internet users per 100 people in sub-saharian Africa went from 1 to a modest 4 (compared to 64 in developed regions), this could change drastically if affordable and reliable access to the net became a reality. Kenyans have shown a high preparedness to employ at its best another recent innovation, mobile phones, by developing the world’s most advanced system of phone banking, Mpesa. The idea of transferring your money, getting your wage, or make any kind of transaction via your mobile phone is something unthinkable back in Europe.
My appeal to the author of this book and to all readers of this blog is a simple one. How could young people get the material support for such an initiative? What course of action do you recommend? Private donors? A call for proposals? Or an institution or organisation to which we could present this project idea? We welcome any advice.
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