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Debt Cancellation
Derick Odemba
June 15, 2005

Millions of people in 18 poorest countries woke up to the good news of debt cancellation a few days ago. Out of these only 4 countries are outside the African continent. Certainly the efforts of Tony Blair's campaign as well as debt relief advocates in Africa and other developing countries seem to have borne fruit. However it was an embarrassing moment for Africa. Embarrassing because it demonstrated clearly that Africa is not capable of dealing with its own problems of poverty eradication. It poured cold water on such African initiatives as the much talked about NEPAD.

While the debt relief is not bad, it alone cannot and will not alleviate poverty in Africa unless and until the fundamental causes of these great levels of poverty are addressed by Africa and her development partners. These among other things include:

Unfair trade practices by the west
While African countries are being pressurized to open their markets for goods from the west, the west especially Europe has continued to put trade barriers and restrictions that lock out African products from entering their markets. More often that African countries only export their products to the west as raw materials rather than finished products thus fetching very low prices.

Unfavourable and harmful policies by IMF and World Bank
These institutions controlled by the rich countries mainly from the west have not had Africa friendly policies.. Conditions such as putting pressure on governments from poor countries to remove subsidies for agriculture while their western counterparts continue to heavily provide subsidies to their farmers have put African countries at greater disadvantage , pushing many people to hunger and unemployment as agricultural sector collapses. Besides, unrealistic aid conditions that do not take into account the realities of development problems in these countries has only compounded the problem. It is high time Africa had representation in these bodies to ensure that their interests are taken into account when formulating and implementing policies.

Corruption
Corruption is a serious impediment to development in Africa. Debt relief notwithstanding, no real gains can be made unless this scourge is dealt with decisively and conclusively by African governments. But while African governments are to blame for this ill, some of her development partners mainly in the west also stand accused. Some companies from these countries have been accomplice in corrupt deals with corrupt governments and corrupt leaders in Africa .Some of the deals have seen some countries lose huge amounts of money that could be used to turn their economies around. Our development partners must be genuinely willing to play their part in the fight against corruption in Africa by reprimanding their companies that engage in corrupt practices abroad. They must be seen to be cooperating with African governments in their efforts to recover money kept in their countries by past corrupt governments or leaders. Frustrations of the Nigerian governments by the Swiss government in their attempt to recovers millions of dollars stashed away by former dictator Sani Abach is a case in point.

Africa is rich and does not need to beg to provide a decent living for her people. Good governance, transparency and accountability coupled with strict fiscal discipline by African governments is the way forward if Africa is to get herself out of the dungeons of poverty and redeem her image severely tainted by endemic corruption, endless wars, hunger, diseases and most recently the debt cancellation.

I am not against the debt cancellation for the African countries as such. My only problem with it is that it ridicules the African continent and people, deprives her of her dignity and continues to perpetuate patronage of Africa by the west.

And if one may ask: Does the debt cancellation mean anything to the millions of ordinary African men and women, youth and children living on less 1 USD a day? Will it translate into better and affordable health care and education? Will there be increased food production? Will the general living conditions change favourably for these downtrodden ordinary Africans? OR Will our corrupt political class take advantage to line their pockets even more? Your guess is as good as mine.

Dear brothers and sisters we have the resources here in Africa, we are intelligent and hardworking people. All we need to do as a continent is engage in a serious discourse aimed at coming up with practical solutions for the socio-economic and political problems of Africa. The process must not exclude our brothers and sisters in the diaspora. They have a potential to give a huge contribution towards alleviating poverty in Africa. Of course we will also need support from our development partners from the more developed countries but we still must stay in control of the process.

It is time for action, not the rhetoric that we are often treated to in the endless and expensive conferences by our leaders across the continent.

But we cannot leave it to governments alone. The civil society, private sector, professionals and all other sectors of our society all have a crucial role to play in helping Africa reclaim her rightful position in the global arena.

*Derick Odemba is a Volunteer, ICT trainer and Advisor in Mozambique. He can be contacted by e-mail at dodemba@yahoo.com

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