The Fetters of African Growth

The Fetters of African Growth

Many people, governments, charity organizations and sundry have for a long time tried with little tangible success though, to jump start the sleeping giant that is Africa. This I call a sleeping giant for that is exactly what it has turned out to be, what! With the huge untapped human and natural resources that are only available in the continent and nowhere else in the world. From the recent discoveries of large resources of fossil fuels in the great lakes region; natural gas in Tanzania, oil in Kenya, South Sudan, Somalia, DR Congo, Uganda, coal in Kenya, gold in Tanzania etc, the list is inexhaustible. The vast tourist attraction sites and wildlife. Combined with the huge trained and untrained human resource both abroad and at home, I believe we can awaken up this giant by igniting every sector from irrigate-able farmlands, untapped natural minerals and fossil fuels, flowing rivers with great hydro-electric energy potential, geothermal green energy, solar energy that is available all the year round name them! We have to put an impetus into this growth agenda, more like igniting a hot air balloon. Yet this is the wish and desire, hope of all. Some even go the hard next step of implementing the set goals and vision. But to a great extend the rest & best has never taken off the ground. Why so? One would ask.

I will tell you why. Many a time we have always attributed- incorrectly though- all the setbacks and troubles of Africa on the bad governance we receive from our skewed, good for nothing, greedy, self seeking politicians. In so much as this is true to a greater extent and occurs over vast territories, it’s not entirely the sole cause of the growth failure syndrome we languish in generation after the other. To me depending on the politics of a state to determine other growth sectors is a gross mistake that needs serious reconsideration. Many well off people in Africa who didn’t get their wealth through political favors and handouts- and they are legion- rarely care of the politics of the day. They continue growing their empires, exploiting the loopholes available and with the huge financial support of the banking system, they access desired credit and grow and grow and grow again! By this I wish to unpeg the tenet, mistakenly believed, that all our problems are a product of our skewed politics and tie it heavily on three aspects.

The first and most non influential is the cultural social life Africans live. Most Africans spend a lot of their time on substance abuse and prostitution. Though not in all parts, but it squarely affects all, negatively though, on the brain power and efficiency of the key economy would-be drivers who wallow in the substance consumption dens and brothels at the expense of a huge development energy system that if put to use, would be of great productivity. No wonder many tourists troop to Africa for ‘holiday’ since they find cheap substance and sex with little fetter legislation. This is a factor that has slowed down and almost put a halt to development in many areas of this continent. The second aspect I point a stern finger to is neo capitalism. This was a good idea at some point in human history, but only in well developed states like Europe where u find the near equality or the lack of disparity between the damn rich and the damn poor. Capitalism works well is stable societies with systems and laws that are almost against any reproach from any member of the society notwithstanding their current standing in the same. It’s a terrible dilapidating instead of ameliorating idea that ought to be done away with pronto!, especially in our fledging nations. Capitalism is what makes the rich richer, and the poor damned by poverty to the grave. This is very manifest in Kenya and its one of the root causes of the instability we witness here, due to the resentment that is deeply rooted -though often ignored- in the denizens for over half a century. A balanced system like that applied in Tanzania is ensuring that there are structures in place that don’t deter or stop the upcoming small trader from perfecting and growing his trade and hence the witnessed growth and improvement of lives and economies of the countrymen of that state. In Tanzania, they embraced socialism first, then capitalism but not to its entirerity. That hybrid system has proved over time to be the best environment to bring in a young economy. It is government, organization and individual business friendly and a great ingredient for growth. I recommend that African states examine it and seriously consider aping it with adjustments of course where applicable.

The last aspect with a greater magnitude of sway on growth in Africa is access to credit. This is the cancer that bites Africa like no other. Many foreign banks made incursions into this continent decades ago and have continued to have a great impact on the way our young economies are run and perform. Banking policies have ensured that there is more for them and less for their customers and have put in place stifling conditions to those wishing to access credit to my great chagrin. Credit is what drives economies and the huge multinationals we see flourish everywhere in the world. None could be what they are today without outside funding. To the surprise of everyone with sound knowledge of business management, banks finance huge businesses easily than they do to small upcoming ones. I know of innovative young people with great potential and noble ideas that have remained on paper for lack of funding in Africa. This is the crux of the whole jumble. We have denied our young people credit to finance their ideas and industrialize our rural economies by applying credit conditions that are akin to prison sentences. The paradox is that the same banks and financial institutions finance ideas in the west! Now you see my point. If our governments and indigenous banks could change the mode of credit access for the youth, we will be on the verge of achieving our vision 2015 believe me. For we have many endowed young people wasting away with their ideas alike for lack of access to even the start up credit. Halo, is anyone out there in the loaning institution’s boardrooms listening?!

Amaheno Jumbah

Bungoma County