Reasons Africa should smile

France's President Emmanuel Macron (in suit) with the country's troops in the Sahel region in Gao, Mali on May 19, 2017. PHOTO | CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON | AFP

What you need to know:

  • That Africa’s challenges are not intractable has become apparent, particularly considering the effusion of promises of mutually beneficial cooperation by the global community.
  • These pledges have been made at different forums, raising the continent’s visibility in the global arena.

As the world marked Africa Day on Thursday, there were others who rightfully decried the fact that the continent still faced many challenges.

That painful fact notwithstanding, there are many reasons Africa should smile for a change instead of sinking deeper into hopelessness.

The fact that Africa’s challenges are not intractable has become apparent, particularly considering the effusion of promises of mutually beneficial cooperation by the global community.

These promises have been made at different forums, raising the continent’s visibility in the global arena.

The result is that Africa’s voice is being increasingly heard and its perspectives taken into consideration, however reluctantly in certain quarters.

The continent’s rising profile was certain with the announcement early in the week that Ethiopia’s former foreign minister Tedros Adhanom would head the World Health Organization.

The 52-year-old Adhanom beat Briton David Nabarro in the third round of voting.

He joins a list of eminent Africans who have held top positions at the global organisation, including former UN secretaries general Kofi Anan and Boutrous Boutrous Ghali.

Another notable event was the state visit to Mali by new French President Emmanuel Macron and a promised one to Egypt by his US counterpart Donald Trump.

TRULY APPRECIATES

That heads should make a beeline to Africa at such early stages of their leadership confirms the fact that the Western world truly appreciates the importance of the continent in the world’s economic, security and political agenda.

As for the global forums at which Africa has been represented, the latest was the 43rd G7 summit on Friday and yesterday in Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

The important event in the calendar of the Western world brought together leaders of top industrialised democracies, namely the US, Canada, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.

Participants deliberated on such agenda as global economy, security, immigration, climate change among many.

Unlike in the past when Africa was left out of such gatherings, the continent was this year represented by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, President Beji Caid Essebsi of Tunisia and Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta.

Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari was also invited.

Despite the continent having only recently emerged from its wilderness, African leaders at the summit rubbed shoulders and exchanged views with the likes of Trump and Japanese premier Shinzo Abe, hopefully to the benefit of all.

Other leaders they interacted with were German Chancellor Angela Merkel and prime ministers Theresa May of Britain, Justin Trudeau of Canada and Italy’s Paolo Gentiloni. Also at the summit was Macron.

NOT INVOLVED

Interestingly, global giants Russia and China, with which Africa also has close relations, were not invited to the meeting.

Their absence was a clear reflection of the international geopolitical tightrope Africa has to walk as an adversarial developed world increasingly opens out towards the continent.

That aside, the continent’s presence was also felt during the 52nd African Development Bank meeting in New Delhi, India on Wednesday, hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

During the conference, India and Japan launched the Asian Africa Growth Corridor or AAGC, which was described as a vision document aimed at linking the two continents through multiple sectors.

As a mark of its importance for Africa, the plan is expected to “explore joint initiatives in skills, health infrastructure, manufacturing and connectivity”.

Such programmes will, hopefully, bolster Africa’s future positioning within the global community and bear fruit, thus enhancing the continent’s socio-economic transformation, this time as an equal partner in bilateral cooperation.

Other countries, including Germany and France, made specific commitments to African development.

That does not, however, automatically gainsay the fact that Africa has been shortchanged in the past, and expecting an immediate transformation into a modern-day El Dorado is simply naïve.

Clearly, a lot of in-house work remains to be done if Africa is to sustain its much-cited “arising”.