In Africa, public bodies stubbornly sit on life-saving data

What you need to know:

  • It is usually difficult to read African facial expressions, but some things are simply unmistakable, and disinterest is high on the list.
  • Perhaps AU should spend some of the money used in such meetings to do feasibility studies for projects which, if constructed, would have a tremendous impact on the goal of integration.
  • It is perhaps important to know that open data analytics and visualisation are far more important than simply ruffling governments.

I came to Ethiopia this week to participate at the Data Revolution workshop taking place at the Economic Commission of Africa headquarters in Addis Ababa between March 26 and 30, 2015.

After registration, I drifted into an Africa Committee of Experts (ACE) meeting, another conference taking place here to discuss Agenda 2063, a blueprint that is supposed to guide the African Union (AU) towards prosperity and a realisation of an enduring pan-African vision of unity. 

The first speaker was introducing the January 2015 resolutions by the AU Summit, the highest decision making organ of the Union. What struck me was not the beautiful goals our leaders expect to achieve, but the lack of passion and commitment in the faces of presenters.

It is usually difficult to read African facial expressions, but some things are simply unmistakable, and disinterest is high on the list. None of the goals has timelines, or who is to accomplish which actions using what means.  It was classic African palaver, smack right in the middle of Africa’s talking shop.

Agenda 2063is one of the resolutions agreed upon by the African Union Golden Jubilee of May 2013. At that time, the AU in its own words, “rededicated itself to the Pan African vision of ―an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.” 

In what they called our aspirations for the “Africa We Want,” they came up with a seven point agenda that includes:

  1. A prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development

  2. An integrated continent, politically united and based on the ideals of Pan Africanism and the vision of Africa’s Renaissance

  3. An Africa of good governance, democracy, respect for human rights, justice and the rule of law

  4. A peaceful and secure Africa

  5. An Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics

  6. An Africa where development is people-driven, unleashing the potential of its women and youth

  7. Africa as a strong, united and influential global player and partner.

This indeed is a noble agenda but we all know AU does not have the implementation capacity necessary for achieving these things. It is virtually a toothless dog.

Does it make sense for AU to continue calling for meetings that pass resolutions that are not implementable? Perhaps AU should spend some of the money used in such meetings on feasibility studies for projects which, if constructed, would have a tremendous impact on the goal of integration.

Take the example of infrastructure.  If AU undertakes to build transcontinental infrastructure, that is, roads and telecommunications, integration will occur naturally.

Further, if AU invested in a continental army, Africa would reduce internal conflict and foster peace, and hence achieve the political stability necessary for development to take place.

Without the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), an active, regional peacekeeping mission operated by the AU with the approval of the United Nations in Somalia, no progress could have been made in Somalia.

AU must now scale up military operations to include Central Africa where there are raging political conflicts, and West Africa where Boko Haram is virtually eroding Africa’s emergent confidence. 

The force must be supported with a rapid technical team to provide support for transitional governmental structures, implement a national security plan, train the security forces in the countries of intervention and assist in creating a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian aid. 

Eventually, the Pan African security force will act as a deterrent force to the many conflicts in Africa, and ultimately, all African states will be convinced to accept Federal Africa (FA). 

As we go along, we will build common ethics and governance standards through open systems that can help build the required trust for Africa to be united.

AFRICA-WIDE OPEN GOVERNANCE

As the ACE sought for ways of implementing Agenda 2063, we discussed how open data would help improve governance in Africa in our meeting next door.  Attempts to get African countries to join the Open Governance Partnership (OGP) in 2011 failed. 

However, this year, the international community will adopt a new global compact for open governance, environmental justice and democratic development.  Therefore, the workshop that I am attending, on rebooting the open data revolution in Africa, is an essential accelerator for the success of the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.

It provides African governments, non-state actors and citizens with the capacity to make effective public policy choices and decisions, as well as build public accountability.  It is a people-driven initiative that will eventually catalyse service delivery in Africa when the continent embraces Open Data. The Web Foundation describes open data as content that “can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose.”

Making information held by governments open, free and useful for citizens improves state efficiency, transparency and accountability. It is a necessary factor in the right to information and participation as well as shared economic growth. 

The workshop looks at the power of using open data to transform four public policy areas in Africa. The four are:

  • Public budgeting, procurement and contracting;

  • Ownership and behaviour of private companies and key natural resources (energy, oil, gas, land, etc.);

  • Public leadership integrity and performance (financial interests, performance campaign contributions, performance appraisals, records of debates, etc.);

  • Realisation of human and peoples’ rights (census, women, health, education, inequalities, rights enjoyment or denial, etc.)

In the workshop, we shall have the opportunity to review the progress of open data adoption in Africa, create new a vision, progress markers and new strategies for deepening and broadening the open data revolution Africa desperately needs. 

It is perhaps important to know that open data analytics and visualisation are far more important than simply for ruffling governments. When productivity declines, like it is happening today in Kenya in some sectors, we must blame ourselves for not using data to helps us predict the future. 

When cancer ravages through the villages like it is doing now, we need data to know which cancers are from what villages, and what has significantly changed among the affected communities and their environment. 

American doctors working at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya’s Rift Valley region eliminated oesophageal cancer after investigating patterns of the disease and environmental changes.

Diabetes incidences in Kenya are highly concentrated in certain regions of the country, which makes it easier to study the environment and avoid future cases. 

The same is true for hypertension, as some locations have higher incidences than others.  This is why I pray that African governments would see sense in anonymising data and opening it up in order for the public to find answers.

INDUSTRIAL-SCALE PLANTATIONS

Already, Ethiopia is at the forefront of utilising data to make informed decisions. 

Frustrated with subsistence farming that has confined her people to perpetual poverty, Ethiopians have decided to transform parts of the country, especially around the Omo River Basin, where they have transformed more than 375,000 hectares (1450 square miles) into industrial-scale plantations for sugar and other crops. Through a rural urbanisation scheme, more than 260,000 people have been resettled.

Some civil society groups are fighting this transformative project. Many of those fighting the project were perhaps not born in 1983 when Ethiopia went through a devastating widespread famine that by 1985 had killed more than 400,000 people, occasioning a global appeal for humanitarian aid. 

It was the worst famine ever to hit the country in a century.  It came at a time when Ethiopia was in a conflict with Eritrea, which may have contributed to the human rights abuses during the skirmishes. 

Others argued that climatic causes and consequences certainly played a part in the tragedy. It has been proven that widespread drought occurred only some months after the famine was under way.  Nevertheless, it was a lesson for Africa to shift from primitive farming practices into more mechanised farming methods with greater productivity.

'CANNOT SHARE DATA'

Today, much has changed, and some data analysts are leveraging American open satellite data to predict rainfall patterns in Africa.  This is happening when African meteorological departments hide data from the public eye.

Of what use are these institutions which, although funded publicly, cannot share data to save our lives?  Using technologies available today, it is possible to advise farmers on what crops they need to grow in order to optimally use their meagre land resources.

Data might even be able to inform us why some counties in Kenya that used to be the breadbasket of the country will soon start relying on handouts.  Already, such warnings have been sounded to Kisii County where excessive land subdivision has literally made able farmers look like street beggars. 

It takes great leadership to enable transformation to take place.  We can transform Africa into a prosperous continent but we cannot do it without data that gives us the knowledge to make informed policy decisions. 

Data tells us about the past, and is also necessary for predicting the future.  It is perhaps why Steven Levitt said “Data, I think, is one of the most powerful mechanisms for telling stories. I take a huge pile of data and I try to get it to tell stories.”

The writer is an Associate Professor at University of Nairobi’s Business School.Twitter: @bantigito