Recently, another African leader (this time my own president, Cyril Ramaphosa,) called for international measures to soften the current debt crisis confronting poor countries in Africa and beyond. None of these measures are outrageous. Considering that seven out of the top 10 fastest-growing economies in 2020 are African, it doesn’t even need to be seen as measures to help Africa – it could be framed as measures to support global growth.
Cobus van Staden, Senior China-Africa researcher, South African Institute of International Affairs
And yet, judging by the anemic international response to the debt crisis so far, they’re almost sure to be ignored. ‘Ignore’ might be an oversimplification. There are so many actors with contradictory agendas involved in the current debt crisis that even if they were paying attention, trying to coordinate all of them is a significant challenge.
But that’s of course if someone’s trying. The debt crisis is the global financial equivalent of a glitch in the matrix revealing a reality that’s been hiding in plain sight. One such reality is that the debt relief efforts have been fatally biased in favour of creditors, and against debtor countries. Another revealed truth is that it’s pretty easy for the creditors to ignore an African president.
Which then raises the more fundamental question: How long can African leaders keep saying the same thing? Will Ramaphosa’s calm, polite reasoning bring the continent any results, and if not, what’s next? What will it look like when African leaders start actively poking at global north pressure points? For example, what if suddenly some gatekeeper somewhere on the continent is made to step aside, and the little boats crossing the Mediterranean increase tenfold, hundredfold, thousandfold?
I can see how tumbling a region into misery could strike creditors as a regrettable evil in pursuit of a bigger goal (“It’s essential to stop Special Drawing Rights benefiting China and Iran,” say, or “The confidentiality of Chinese lending is paramount,” or “But what about moral hazard?”). But to assume that the misery will stay neatly contained to the continent is naive.
It will be like global warming: not one big problem, just thousands of big, medium and small ones coming at you for years and years and years. More migrants arriving in Italy and Greece. More attacks on American soldiers. More blocked UN resolutions. More kidnappings of Chinese workers. More takeovers of oil installations and mines. More piracy of passing ships.
Africa is a very generous continent. It always shares what it has (frequently under duress.) What it could’ve shared was global economic growth. But now, what it will share (and keep sharing) will be misery. And that misery will keep traveling. All the way north
Cobus van Staden is Senior China-Africa researcher, South African Institute of International Affairs
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The tragic events impacting the continent bear witness to a deep-seated leadership crisis. African leaders with the wherewithal to rise to the challenges of our times must step into the arena and enact radical change. On 6 November, Paul Biya celebrated the 38th anniversary of his first election as president of Cameroon. His supporters were decidedly enthusiastic about the event, while his opponents, both in the media and in the general public, openly expressed their anger at an event which for many people marks the start of the country’s downward spiral.
Yann Gwet, a Cameroonian essayist
I’m on the side of those who feel the Biya era has been to Cameroon’s detriment. But the Cameroonian President’s political track record wasn’t on my mind on 6 November. Sooner or later, he’ll be replaced and a new era will begin. But will President Biya’s successor, whoever he or she may be, be up to the challenges of our times?
This question applies beyond Cameroon’s borders. The latest news out of Africa is particularly grim, with the continent experiencing everything from an economic crisis to political repression, civil unrest, terrorism, armed conflict, mass killings, etc.
These tragic events bear witness to a deep-seated leadership crisis impacting the entire continent. What’s more, they give us pause to reflect on how we should go about changing our countries and also on what kind of leaders will be able to prioritise Africa’s pressing need for radical change.
Anti-corruption crusaders
Corruption is something I hear other Africans complain about time and time again. It’s pervasive, often accepted and always has disastrous consequences for our economies, the cohesion of our communities and the social contract on which our societies are built. In her book Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous, the Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala tells the story of her mother’s 2012 kidnapping.
The abductors took the trouble to confirm that their victim was indeed “the mother of the finance minister” before shoving her into their car, and told her son, tasked with the negotiations, that they would free his mother if Okonjo-Iweala publicly announced her resignation as well as her return to the United States, a country she had recently left after accepting a job in Nigeria. When the kidnappers realised that the finance minister had no intention of yielding to their extortion stunt, they demanded a ransom instead.
In the end, they released her mother, who told investigators that she had heard the perpetrators say they had targeted her because her daughter had “refused to pay oil importers” during a campaign to clean up the Nigerian oil sector, a segment of the economy plagued by endemic corruption. The rest of the book recounts a long list of direct threats, attempts at intimidation and pressure directed at a minister “guilty” of leading a war against corruption.
The courage of conviction
The book reveals the exorbitant cost of implementing major reforms in Africa. It also serves as a reminder that courage is the essence of leadership – the courage to act, as illustrated by Okonjo-Iweala’s experience, but also the courage of one’s conviction and vision.
When Singapore won its independence, it would have been easy for its leader, the renowned Lee Kuan Yew, to yield to the demands of the Chinese community. It wanted its language, spoken by 80% of the population at the time, to have a special status. Many of our African leaders would have given in to the siren song of tribalism so as to reap its political dividends, but the same can’t be said for the former leader of Singapore.
Aware of the importance of equality in a multiethnic society and the need to unite diverse communities and preserve his country’s chances of success in a changing world, this descendant of Chinese immigrants asserted – despite pressure from his own community – that all of Singapore’s official languages (Tamil, Malay, Chinese and English) would enjoy an equal status, and he gradually supported English as the lingua franca.
It’s hard to say where these kinds of leaders find their courage. It’s equally hard to know whether the virtue of courage can be taught or cultivated. There is an abundance of theories, but it’s clear that the courage to act, against all odds, comes from having strong convictions.
If an individual is not firmly convinced of both the rightness and the absolute necessity of the cause to which he or she is committed, then it’s impossible to show the necessary courage in the face of inevitable adversity.
Change the world
While the source of courage may be up for debate, things are less hazy for convictions, or what some used to call ideology. Thanks to a certain experience of the world, a relationship to ideas and a particular temperament, some of us develop strong convictions, embrace a vision of the world and demonstrate a willingness to defend it.
Those of our leaders who, in the words of Karl Marx, want to “change” the world rather than just “interpret [it] differently” are those whose courage is underpinned by a politically infused vision of Africa’s future and the certainty that Africans deserve and can do better, and that they must assert their right to better leadership.
Ghana’s former president Jerry Rawlings, who passed away in November, was an exceptional leader in many ways. To be sure, he wasn’t perfect, but on top of being a soldier and a true revolutionary, he was a moralist (like any true revolutionary).
In his view, nothing justified letting evil flourish. It had to be eradicated, even if that meant resorting to violence, which was seen as legitimate so long as it was being carried out in the interest of the greater good. Obviously, this dialectic of good versus evil isn’t well suited for managing our inevitably complex human societies, but it provides the fuel needed to bring down fundamentally corrupt and unjust systems. Ghana’s late former president left us at a time of history-making change. The liberal international order created in the wake of the Second World War is drawing to an end.
In a sense, things are going back to the way they were in the 19th century, in that we’re seeing a gradual return to the bygone era of great empires and great clashes: a world governed by “might makes right”, unilateralism and realpolitik. The world that’s slipping away was generally in our favour, whereas the one that’s on the horizon will be hostile to us. As the French poet Paul Valéry once wrote: “We are entering the future backwards.”
However, very often in history, tragic periods pave the way for great destinies. Hopefully we will witness the rise to power of African leaders who are up to the challenges of our times – times that call for moralists rather than relativists, sophisticated revolutionaries rather than reform-minded technocrats and people with a sense of history rather than people with business acumen.
Yann Gwet, a Cameroonian essayist is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris, he lives and works in Rwanda.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The tragic events impacting the continent bear witness to a deep-seated leadership crisis. African leaders with the wherewithal to rise to the challenges of our times must step into the arena and enact radical change. On 6 November, Paul Biya celebrated the 38th anniversary of his first election as president of Cameroon. His supporters were decidedly enthusiastic about the event, while his opponents, both in the media and in the general public, openly expressed their anger at an event which for many people marks the start of the country’s downward spiral.
Yann Gwet, a Cameroonian essayist
I’m on the side of those who feel the Biya era has been to Cameroon’s detriment. But the Cameroonian President’s political track record wasn’t on my mind on 6 November. Sooner or later, he’ll be replaced and a new era will begin. But will President Biya’s successor, whoever he or she may be, be up to the challenges of our times?
This question applies beyond Cameroon’s borders. The latest news out of Africa is particularly grim, with the continent experiencing everything from an economic crisis to political repression, civil unrest, terrorism, armed conflict, mass killings, etc.
These tragic events bear witness to a deep-seated leadership crisis impacting the entire continent. What’s more, they give us pause to reflect on how we should go about changing our countries and also on what kind of leaders will be able to prioritise Africa’s pressing need for radical change.
Anti-corruption crusaders
Corruption is something I hear other Africans complain about time and time again. It’s pervasive, often accepted and always has disastrous consequences for our economies, the cohesion of our communities and the social contract on which our societies are built. In her book Fighting Corruption Is Dangerous, the Nigerian economist Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala tells the story of her mother’s 2012 kidnapping.
The abductors took the trouble to confirm that their victim was indeed “the mother of the finance minister” before shoving her into their car, and told her son, tasked with the negotiations, that they would free his mother if Okonjo-Iweala publicly announced her resignation as well as her return to the United States, a country she had recently left after accepting a job in Nigeria. When the kidnappers realised that the finance minister had no intention of yielding to their extortion stunt, they demanded a ransom instead.
In the end, they released her mother, who told investigators that she had heard the perpetrators say they had targeted her because her daughter had “refused to pay oil importers” during a campaign to clean up the Nigerian oil sector, a segment of the economy plagued by endemic corruption. The rest of the book recounts a long list of direct threats, attempts at intimidation and pressure directed at a minister “guilty” of leading a war against corruption.
The courage of conviction
The book reveals the exorbitant cost of implementing major reforms in Africa. It also serves as a reminder that courage is the essence of leadership – the courage to act, as illustrated by Okonjo-Iweala’s experience, but also the courage of one’s conviction and vision.
When Singapore won its independence, it would have been easy for its leader, the renowned Lee Kuan Yew, to yield to the demands of the Chinese community. It wanted its language, spoken by 80% of the population at the time, to have a special status. Many of our African leaders would have given in to the siren song of tribalism so as to reap its political dividends, but the same can’t be said for the former leader of Singapore.
Aware of the importance of equality in a multiethnic society and the need to unite diverse communities and preserve his country’s chances of success in a changing world, this descendant of Chinese immigrants asserted – despite pressure from his own community – that all of Singapore’s official languages (Tamil, Malay, Chinese and English) would enjoy an equal status, and he gradually supported English as the lingua franca.
It’s hard to say where these kinds of leaders find their courage. It’s equally hard to know whether the virtue of courage can be taught or cultivated. There is an abundance of theories, but it’s clear that the courage to act, against all odds, comes from having strong convictions.
If an individual is not firmly convinced of both the rightness and the absolute necessity of the cause to which he or she is committed, then it’s impossible to show the necessary courage in the face of inevitable adversity.
Change the world
While the source of courage may be up for debate, things are less hazy for convictions, or what some used to call ideology. Thanks to a certain experience of the world, a relationship to ideas and a particular temperament, some of us develop strong convictions, embrace a vision of the world and demonstrate a willingness to defend it.
Those of our leaders who, in the words of Karl Marx, want to “change” the world rather than just “interpret [it] differently” are those whose courage is underpinned by a politically infused vision of Africa’s future and the certainty that Africans deserve and can do better, and that they must assert their right to better leadership.
Ghana’s former president Jerry Rawlings, who passed away in November, was an exceptional leader in many ways. To be sure, he wasn’t perfect, but on top of being a soldier and a true revolutionary, he was a moralist (like any true revolutionary).
In his view, nothing justified letting evil flourish. It had to be eradicated, even if that meant resorting to violence, which was seen as legitimate so long as it was being carried out in the interest of the greater good. Obviously, this dialectic of good versus evil isn’t well suited for managing our inevitably complex human societies, but it provides the fuel needed to bring down fundamentally corrupt and unjust systems. Ghana’s late former president left us at a time of history-making change. The liberal international order created in the wake of the Second World War is drawing to an end.
In a sense, things are going back to the way they were in the 19th century, in that we’re seeing a gradual return to the bygone era of great empires and great clashes: a world governed by “might makes right”, unilateralism and realpolitik. The world that’s slipping away was generally in our favour, whereas the one that’s on the horizon will be hostile to us. As the French poet Paul Valéry once wrote: “We are entering the future backwards.”
However, very often in history, tragic periods pave the way for great destinies. Hopefully we will witness the rise to power of African leaders who are up to the challenges of our times – times that call for moralists rather than relativists, sophisticated revolutionaries rather than reform-minded technocrats and people with a sense of history rather than people with business acumen.
Yann Gwet, a Cameroonian essayist is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris, he lives and works in Rwanda.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Leaders of all categories from across the African continent have converged in Accra, Ghana under the aegis of the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) for the maiden edition of the Kofi Annan Peace and Security (KAPS) Forum aimed at facilitating discussions on evolving trends in peace and security in Africa. The forum was organized to honour the sterling achievements of H.E. the late Kofi Annan and to immortalize his memory.
Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC)
Themed ‘Peace Operations in the Context of Violent Extremism in Africa’, the forum was held under the Distinguished patronage of H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana and the Chairmanship of H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Head of the UN Office for West Africa and Sahel (UNOWAS).
Those attending the event are seven former African Heads of State namely; H.E. Pierre Buyoya, Former President of Burundi and AU High Representative to Mali and Sahel (MISAHEL), H.E Catharine Samba-Panza, Former President of Central African Republic, H.E. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Former President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, H.E. Dr Ernest Bai Koroma, Former President of Sierra Leone, Professor Amos Claudius Sawyer, Former President of Liberia, H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo, Former President of Nigeria and H.E. John Dramani Mahama, Former President of Ghana.
Addressing the delegates at the opening ceremony, the Commandant of KAIPTC, Air Vice Marshall Griffiths S. Evans who sharing the rationale behind the forum said that it seeks to provide a platform for robust engagement on critical peace and security issues affecting the African continent. “Our actions are guided by our mission to foster peace and stability through the provision of a globally-recognized capacity and policy support for all actors on African peace and security issues”, he stated. In his address, the President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, identified key interventions which can be implemented to tackle violent extremism. According to him, “it is important that we promote and develop, on the continent, a system and culture of accountable governance, free of corruption, whereby our people are governed in accordance with the rule of law, respect for individual liberties and human rights, and the principles of democratic accountability”, he stressed.
Throwing more light on Ghana’s counter terrorism policy to combat violent extremism, he pointed out that “our Counter Terrorism Policy seeks to prevent acts of terrorism in the country. The Counter Terrorism Policy has led to the setting up of a Counter Terrorism Unit, within the National Security Council Secretariat, to lead and co-ordinate our efforts in the fight. Ghana has adopted a well-coordinated Inter Agency Approach, which encourages the timely sharing of information and intelligence, operational coordination and joint strategy formulation, and has proved essential towards ensuring the efficient execution of the country’s Counter Terrorism Policy”, he explained.
The Kofi Annan Forum brought together over two hundred high-level delegates and diplomats from governmental and intergovernmental organizations (including the African Union and its Regional Economic Communities, United Nations and European Union). Security professionals and representatives from policy and research think tanks, development partners, training institutions and civil society groups were all present to participate in the dialogues.
The forum also seeks to deepen the collaboration between KAIPTC and international organisations such as the United Nations, African Union, Regional Economic Communities, Governments, development partners, civil society organisations and the business community.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.
