The path Africa needs to follow

BY EDITOR

9th August 2013

Editorial Cartoon

When US President Barack Obama visited Africa early last month, he urged leaders on the continent to strive harder to end conflicts and focus more on development in order to raise standards of living of its people.

Yes, Africa is now passing through a rare period in its history. It has unprecedented opportunities to realise the goal of better living standards for its people.

But only if it takes certain critically needed steps and does that now.
African leaders must act now to bring to an end the many senseless, resource-draining conflicts they have allowed to flourish on the continent and distract their focus from development.

These conflicts have only multiplied refugees, deepened poverty and unacceptable dependence, making the potentially rich continent, the reference point of every negative image the world thinks of.

But now the world economic powers look to Africa to solve one of their major economic crises, namely provision of the crucial raw materials needed to revive or keep the world economic engine running.
It is a rare leverage that Africa has been given, and is being watched to see how it will wield it to the benefit of its population.

For notwithstanding its wealth of resources, Africa is fragmented in many senses.
One of the key areas that needs addressing is infrastructure, roads, rail and power, all very crucial for sustainable development in key economic sectors.

We are seeing signs of the major economic partners making good their promises of unlocking Africa’s potential by putting in place the needed infrastructure, but also demanding that they can move if there is peace.

The World Bank’s board on Tuesday approved $340 million for a hydropower plant in central Africa’s Great Lakes region, a major boost to the continent’s poorest and most conflict-prone areas.

The project is part of a $1 billion aid package World Bank President Jim Yong Kim pledged during a trip to the region in May.

The funds are contingent on all the countries in the region abiding by a peace deal brokered by the United Nations, as the World Bank and the UN seek to link immediate security with lasting political and economic solutions and give countries an incentive to stick with peace.

The plant will draw on the power of the Rusumo Falls between Rwanda and Tanzania, one of the headwaters of the Nile, to eventually generate 80 megawatts and benefit 62 million people in Burundi, Rwanda and Tanzania.

Only 4 per cent of Burundi’s population has access to electricity, while for Rwanda that figure is 13 per cent and for Tanzania it is 15 per cent.

“By connecting grids, people and environmentally sensitive solutions, the project will help to catalyse growth and to encourage peace and stability in the sub-region,” Colin Bruce, the World Bank’s director for strategy, operations and regional integration in Africa, said in a statement.

It is upon African leaders to read the positive messages contained in this project and move to multiply them around the continent, if they are really committed to capturing and efficiently utilizing this historical window of opportunity. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN