The import of the US-Africa summit should not be misread
What you need to know:
- The process of ensuring economic development is hard and there’s no short cut to it.
- It is clear to me that diplomats from the United States are aware that the theme of "Africa Rising" is overstated.
- Feting leaders of most of the countries of the continent was as good as seeing Africa’s leaders stepping out into Washington, DC, with confidence was gratifying.
The majority of press reports, public commentary and discussions in the media regarding the two-day conference that the United States hosted for African heads of state this week dwelt on the contrast between the host country and China.
Starting from the correct view that African presidents have been invited and attended conferences in China and India within the last half decade, it is assumed that the United States is the copy cat of the economic and political connections that has China built in Africa while the United States was preoccupied elsewhere.
A more jingoistic interpretation of this event is that Africa has finally found its rightful place, and is the centre of attention among competing countries. As a result, the United States is taking its place in the queue and the invitation to African heads of state was a matter of when, not if. Stated differently, the world needs Africa now.
Both assertions, on the motives of the United States in hosting African countries on one side and that Africa has reached some level of developmental cruise control on the other, are not only untrue but also motivated by dangerous self-deception.
Let's start with the idea that the United States was compelled to host the leaders of Africa in the quest to close the gap with China for investment and political influence in Africa.
Both countries have had a long presence and relations with the African continent for most of the post-independence period. Neither the United States nor China would assume that any country, however large and economically developed, would unilaterally drag individual countries in Africa away from poverty and into middle-income status to begin with. The process of ensuring economic development is hard and there’s no short cut to it.
'AFRICA RISING' OVERSTATED
The fact is that many African countries, Kenya included, are just too far behind for any single nation to ensure their prosperity.
So the pundits who seem convinced that individual nations could play China against the United States and benefit from that are mistaken. The world economy is far too competitive today for any country’s fortunes to be determined by a single partner.
Selected speakers during sessions made fewer generalizations, and were alert to the diversity of countries of Africa. While no guest deserved to have the uncomfortable news smeared in his face, it is clear to me that diplomats from the United States are aware that the theme of 'Africa Rising' is overstated.
African countries are represented among the fastest growing economies, but some of the countries with the worst indicators are found in every region of Africa too.
Feting leaders of most of the countries of the continent was as good as seeing Africa’s leaders stepping out into Washington, DC, with confidence was gratifying. What citizens of the continent should not lose sight of however, is that it is unlikely that many countries in the continent will be flying high in the next decade.
DIMMED PROMISE
The continent is a mixed bag of countries doing well, but none are pulling off miracles yet. Co-existing with the select runners is a number that are jogging on the spot, or even making backward steps. This is not the time for hubris and backslapping.
While the euphoria of a successful week is still in the air, one hopes that the leaders of Africa took mental notes of the opportunities before them. While there will be many more invites by leaders from different parts of the world, their focus should mainly be what on makes one country so distinct and indispensable to world affairs.
Added to this is the need for each of the presidents to consider that in ten years, the real story about Africa’s transformation will be clearer. The promise for some will have dimmed considerably.
Their responsibility is to ask whether the country that they proudly represented will be among the few that become the stars of the next summit.
It’s clear that not all will have escaped poverty and joined a different development orbit. That means that the continent must stop believing its own hype about individual countries having become indispensable to either the United States or China.
Kwame Owino is the chief executive officer of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA-Kenya), a public policy think tank based in Nairobi. Twitter: @IEAKwame
