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Connecting To Advance
A category focusing on the issues that plaque that African continent. All you need to know about poverty, malaria, HIV/AID, african stereotypes, africans struggle in the west, bad leadership at home
The Islamist group al-Shabab has barred men and women from shaking hands in public in Jowhar district of Somalia.
In addition, men and women who are not related are barred from walking together or chatting in public.
Under the law, offenders will be subjected to public flogging as required by Sharia law.
It is said that if you do not define yourself, others will define you. You can let others define you, which is the easier way or forge ahead and make your own path. I make a call for us to redefine Africa in our own terms.
Africa is depicted in the western media as a continent synonymous with genocide, disease, corruption, poverty, ignorance, deprivation, banditry, brigandage, slaughter fields, child soldiers, gang-raped girls, harassed mothers and wasted children. The continent is even at times referred to as the ‘dark’ continent. Surely, we are plagued by some of these challenges but those should not define the continent and its people.
Today, such one-size-fit-all portrayal of Africa is irresponsible. Some countries and sub-regions have made significant strides in every facet of life. Despite a few aberrations, democracy is strengthening in several countries, while some economies are projected to see the fastest growth among economies in the years ahead. We may just cross our hands and complain about the unfair African stereotypes or each of us can decide to embark on his or her own mission to shape the ending of the story, the beginning of which is beyond our control.
I do not think it is going to be easy to expunge the current Western mindset on the African continent and people. I however believe that it is worth trying. Every African has a role to play in reversing this mindset. There has to be a gracious but aggressive challenge when people are caught on the wrong side of the facts. My goal is to arm our readers with the facts and figures to confront people who intentionally or out of honest ignorance get it wrong on Africa.
Very often, we hear Africa being portrayed as a country that is in a civil war. I personally feel upset when I hear people depict Africa as a jungle with women walking on streets with naked chest, every child starving, and scattered villages with schools held under trees. Perception becomes a reality, at least in the mind, if it is not confronted. It is for this reason that I call upon all readers to fight this unfair stereotyping. We are generally meek people, but our meekness should not be mistaken for a weakness.
I have listed below some facts about Africa that are easily missed and sometimes dishonestly covered up.
Knowledge is power. These are the weapons that I use to fight the stereotypes. You are welcome to add them to your arsenal. It is time to uncover the Africa they do not report.
Thanks for reading.
The African growth model based solely on foreign aid has so far not delivered the promises it was hoped to deliver. Actually, it has done more harm than good.
One will agree with me that foreign aid has served to promote oppressive regimes rather the everyday African people. Politicians in the category of Sani Abacha of Nigeria and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire/Congo eventually stacked the money in foreign banks which is then loaned back to Africa. Others do it in mild way by using the money to feed their cronies and families and have enough to send even children of their friends to world-class universities abroad. Opening markets to African goods and services will not solve the entire problem but at least leave some power in the hands of the ordinary people.
I believe, however, that it is time for us to begin to look at a different growth model for the African economy that depends less on foreign aid. This new model in my opinion should be based on open markets where African goods and services have free access to western markets. Growth in China, and to some extend India, have largely been dependent on the access of goods and services from these geographical regions into the western markets.
When we talk about goods and services, most readers will ask ‘what can Africa deliver? Well, it’s actually a lot. I’m not talking about Kenya or Senegal exporting cell phones and laptops to the US next year. But what about a system that makes it attractive for the US manufacturer to import raw materials from the African farmers, if that is what we bring to the market at this period in time.
Let us consider some figures. In 2001, the US approved about $4 Billion in subsidies to nearly 25,000 cotton growers in the US for cotton crop that was worth only $3 Billion at the world marker price. Other figures I came across pointed out that a single cotton grower in a mid-western US state received $6 million in subsidies, which is larger than the combined annual earnings of 25,000 cotton farmers in Mali. (For your information, the $4 Billion government subsidy is also more than one third what the US spends on the nearly 1 billion people on the African continent).
This policy makes it unattractive for manufactures to import raw materials from Africa and other developing countries
This system is being perpetrated not only by the US but also by the European Union and China, which is destroying the livelihood of countries like Mali, Senegal, Chad, and Benin which are all major cotton producing countries. A recent study by UNCTAD-India pointed out that if the US were to do away with some of these subsidies, farm output will decline by nearly 40%. Although we would pay more at the grocery story in the US, it will spur up more imports from Africa and other developing regions which will generate enough foreign exchange the fund their community development activities.
This is not advocating for a loss-loss situation for the US and Europe. In fact, it’s more than a win-win case. Western countries have more to gain than lose.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) were enacted to do just this. AGOA provides duty-free access to the U.S. market for a wide range of products from eligible African countries, while spurring African governments to make their countries attractive to U.S. investment. I think this is the type of initiative that needs an injection of momentum and expansion
Most of us were raised in cultures where being a macho, higly educated and of good social status were vital if one wanted to get a woman’s attention. Even though good looks and status in society are still important, research shows that it is a kind heart that softens the heart of a woman.
Psychologists have discovered that a woman is likey to open her heart to the man who shows kindness and generosity to other people.
The data shows that men who have “altruistic interests”, such as working for a charity, or helping the needy were regarded as “significantly more desirable.”.
This was the result of a series of test involving 150 female undergraduates at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. The women shown a set of fictional dating adverts, each including a man’s photo and a brief description.
The researchers maniputed the wording such than some men appeared more “altruistic” while others appeared “neutral”. Majority of the women found the guy who was ‘beneficient’ and ‘unselfish’ more attractive. Again, the women showed strong preference for relationships with the nice men in the study.
This suggests that women are attracted to generosity, and that kindness and gentleness serves a purpose in mate selection.
Being devoted to good causes in life pays; even it doesn’t make make a man a preferred candidate for a marriage, he may at least be able to secure the spot for that dream date.
Women in Uganda have protested against their breasts being checked for bombs at entry points to public places.
The protest comes after a directive from the police demanding that womens’ bras should be checked thoroughly. They argue that terrorists are now manufacturing suicide bombs similar to bras.
Uganda police counter terrorism expert, Lodovick Awita while addressing public places operators in Kampala said “Terrorits are devising new methods of attack to beat the tight security measures. They are now making suicide bomb vests similar to bras. We therefore appeal to security personnel to check women’s bras.”
Anger
But women in Uganda have not taken the information lightly. “That is tatamount to abusing our privacy. Why should they touch our breasts simply because they claim they are checking for bombs. Breasts are among the most private parts of women and should no be touched by anyone,” said women’s activist Salama Namuddu during a press interview in Kampala today.
Namuddu believes that instead of giving security personnel a valid pretext to touch women’s breasts, the police should rather place metal detectors at all entry points to public places.
According to her “In this modern world there are gadgets which can be used to detect bombs rather than physical checking of individuals. They can use metal and bomb detectors.”
A women’s rights advocate, Beatrice Akie, has also spoken against the directive. “If they insist on checking us with their hands we will demonstrate against it” says Beatrice.
But whilst Namaddu argues that modern gadgets should be used, Beatrice Akie She explains that although women should be thoroughly checked for security reasons, it should be done in a way that does not abuse their rights, like the use of scanners.
Uganda is under threats of attacks by Al Shabab who accuse it for taking its troops Somalia for peacekeeping missions.
Clement Afforo
Recently I was flipping between several of the major TV news networks who were reporting a variety of stories about Africa. All were focusing exclusively on war and famine.
Come to think of it, that’s about all you ever see the major networks say about Africa. They rarely if ever report on African sporting events, positive government activities, or even normal African life.
Anyone who thinks about this predicament for even a moment would realize Africa is a huge continent made up of a wide variety of countries, regions, and peoples. Africa is about as diverse a place as you could ever imagine. While some areas are sadly embroiled in horrific problems, other regions are peaceful, pleasant, and offer their citizens a very rich life.
One thing most Americans never have the opportunity to learn about is Africa’s wide offering of quality TV programs. Watching African TV can be a real eye-opener. They include soaps and dramatic series, side-splitting comedies, and a wide range of news and sports coverage.
Realize that these programs reflect the values, sensibilities, and every day experiences of people who live in Africa. If you have little experience with African culture, watching these programs can really teach you about this fascinating part of the world. You’ll gain insights into a side of the world you may not have known existed.
Thanks largely to a growing number of African immigrants in the United States who want to see the programs they watched in Africa, African-produced programs are finding their way to cable TV channels here. On any given evening you can watch popular series like “Things We Do For Love,” “Sun City,” and the hit comedy “Taxi Driver.”
Recently, the African TV Network I founded several years ago announced plans to expand program offerings to cable channels in the Baltimore and Washington DC areas. This will make African programming available to large audiences of African immigrants, African-Americans, Caribean communities, and others who are eager to have access to these programs.
As with any new TV programming that appeals to a previously neglected audience, African programming lets advertisers reach a very large and active viewing audience that was not available before with standard TV programming. African programming is a win-win for both viewers and businesses.
Clement Afforo is founder of the African TV Network, now supplying African programs to the Baltimore and Washington DC areas. For more information on programs and advertising opportunities, see the site http://www.africantvnetwork.com.
K. Amponsah-Manager
On December 14 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN agency which over ten years ago started a campaign to cut the number of malaria cases and deaths in half by 2010, reported that Malaria is fast declining in countries where it had been endemic. The report was surprisingly optimistic that we could have a malaria-free world by 2015!
The progress on the malaria front did not come by wishful thinking; it was the result of pragmatic efforts on the part of governments and various organizations. In the past three years alone, 578 million people at risk of malaria have been provided with insecticide-treated mosquito nets. Another 75 million have benefited from indoor residual spraying, the report said.
While such a report gladdens our hearts, it should also remind us of the twin brother HIV/AIDS.
Significant efforts have been expended in combating the spread of HIV with some results to show already. However, it is believed that what has been achieved is minimal compared to what is possible if the energy already spent was used to do the right thing most of the time.
There is the popular notion that HIV is caused by people doing stupid things, and some even think it is a curse for our disobedience of natural laws. Surely, there are some who are living with the virus as a result of doing stupid things, but that is just part of the story. In any case, such perception does nothing to save the millions who continue to contract the virus each year. Some of them are our brothers, sisters, uncles, and our teachers.
Rather than perpetuating the stigma associated with AIDS, I will suggest it is time we spend that energy to discuss how to curtail the rate of spread of the killer and save lives of mothers, fathers, and infants, some of whom have to live with the parasite for no fault of theirs.
There are practical ways that work and those are what we need to focus on. I’ll mention only two here for the sake of space.
Case 1: Sharing needles by drug users: The consequences of the use of illicit drugs on the health of our citizens and the effect it has on our economies and health care system are well known. The practice can therefore never be condoned or encouraged
But the reality is that people will continue to abuse drugs. Several studies have established that the sharing of needles by drug users is a significant avenue for contracting the HIV.
The approach here has to be two fold. The first is a continued education on the consequences of sharing needles which I believe is already well known. The second I think should be an effort on the parts of governments and foundations to consider providing accessible avenues by which the addicts can obtain clean needled when the lust for the substance is uncontrollable. They will continue to use the drugs anyway, but why should we look on while such acts continue to overburden the already stressed health and economic structures and continue to add to the AIDS statistics.
Case 2: Laboratory and epidemiologic studies have shown that even though condoms are not 100% HIV/AIDS-proof, the use of condoms in sexual intercourse reduces the risks of HIV infection significantly. We would wish that people will abstain from sex until they’re in a committed relationship, but the reality is that this approach will not work for all. The truth is that HIV is acquired by having unprotected sex with someone carrying the virus, and not just by having sex.
The massive campaign to encourage the provision and use of mosquito nets is yielding results with the possibility that we could have a world without malaria in less than a decade. It’s time to do same for AIDS.
The campaign to encourage people to stay away from sex until marriage or until they’re in a committed relationship should continue. However, this weapon will work for only a fraction of the population. It is time to be practical and tell people in a plain language that if you cannot abstain, then they should simply cover it.
Even though, it may be appear rather radical, I may suggest that Governments, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) and foundations working on HIV/AIDS in Africa should consider making condoms (both male and female condoms) available for free to prostitutes (at least, until a solution is found to the problem of prostitution).
Given the choice, I’ll rather opt to use our scarce national resources to do that which will produce tangible and measurable results.
To the toddler taking care of a sick single HIV/AIDS parent, the issue here is not just statistics, it is life.
Let us learn from the anti-malaria campaign.
You may also like this ‘Why African women are embracing the female condom’
(To learn more on Condoms and HIV, click here)
As the preliminaries for the 2012 US presidential election approaches and with several presidential elections taking place in Africa next year, it is a worthwhile engagement to examine the first African leader of the United States in relation to the great potentials of Africans in general. For it is still the case that Barack Obama emerging as the President of the United States of America in 2009, remains, to a large extent, a ‘mystery in disguise’ to millions of people – particularly black people in general regardless of our nationality, location, religion, interests or status in life.
An article in the Economist described the Obama phenomenon as ”GLOBAMAISATION’‘. According to the author, Tunde Oseni, ‘‘Globamaisation is both an idea and a process. As an idea, it refers to a set of principles that in a developed and deepened democracy, like the United States, the lines between politics, culture, color, creed and history are happily collapsing. As a process, ‘‘Globamaisation’ is the beginning of a new dawn whereby techno-democratic forces will drive silent revolutions across the globe.’’
An inference from the concept on Obama above clearly indicates that the world is gradually moving towards a position where individuals with potent capacity and will power can actualize their dreams and aspirations in life regardless of race, skin color, language and other relevant factors. Obama, in his book, THE AUDACITY OF HOPE, fervently addresses issues of his life. Despite all the challenges and difficulties he encountered while growing up; Obama believed that the fruit of the years of struggle laid in making his dreams come true. That is the reason why Obama, in a ‘deepened democratic’ system as the U.S, won the prestigious position of Presidency.
That this is a spectacular achievement derived largely from sheer determination need not be mentioned. What needs to be considered is whether the platform that was provided for him can be replicated elsewhere, particularly Africa. The first thing to say is that Obama’s intellectual potential indicates that Africans are as equally gifted as any other race and that humans in general, regardless of race or creed, have incredible reasoning ability. The significant difference between continents, countries and cities, however, contribute in enhancing this attribute. This question of nurture over nature applies deeply in Africa as many factors such as corruption and all elements of avarice negatively impact on people – particularly young children and adults. The depletion of resources through greed and the consequent mountainous struggle to attain a better life, particularly in comparison to what similar struggle can deliver in Western countries; have resulted in many not believing in the African continent or themselves.
My view is that Obama has successfully set the pace for Africans to aspire to positions which decades and centuries ago were never believed to be achieved by Blacks. However, if African governments can eradicate corruption, attempt to invest consistently in world class education systems, infrastructures and healthcare provision, they will reduce the present gap between ‘‘nurture and nature’’ in the development of human capabilities and provide the platform for unborn Africans to compete successfully on the global stage. That is when the Obama in all Africans can be seen in all spheres of life all over the world.
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