Month: May 2018

African Foreign Policy: looking East with a strategy.

Africa should not just wait to be exploited or influenced. No. We should be part of the conversation. We should raise ourselves to a level where there are certain terms we dictate in the conversation because we have a lot to offer – Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda

Over the past couple of decades, the world has been changing. The extraordinary economic development of nations in Asia has seen the emergence of new powers, most notably China, who are now challenging the global hegemony of the West. Crucially, for Africa this has meant the emergence of new partners in trade, and development aid, which the African countries has been keen to take advantage of. However, the headlong rush for loans projects and deals is putting the continent in the awkward position of ever-deepening debt and obligations, without significant regard for the implications of this for the future of the continent or the motivations of the Asian powers. Making Africa’s relationships with China and India more advantageous for itself will require African countries to adopt a much more strategic and thoughtful approach towards its relationship with these powers building a partnership that can not only further the continent’s development but also help carve out a greater role for Africa on the world stage.

Understanding the East

To construct a coherent and beneficial foreign policy, you first have to understand the motivations and history of the nations that you will be dealing with, and there are two key things that can help African policy makers understand the intentions and motivations of the rising Eastern powers to Africa.

The first is their history. Asia has its own history of colonialism (such as the British Raj in India) and western domination (e.g. the century of humiliation in China), this gives them a far better understanding of Africa’s own history as well as a much healthier respect for sovereignty and an aversion to neo-colonial interference in the domestic affairs of others. This has led to much more cooperative relationship with Africa so far. Unlike Western states China does not impose programs or projects in the name of development, rather African states go to them with requests and they consider them. This gives African states agency, a voice in development partnerships and this is vitally important as it gives Africa the ability to determine its fate.

The second key issue is their needs. China, India, and the other rising economies of the east need resources to fuel their economies, markets to sell their products to, transport routes to move their products along and diplomatic partners who will help them shift the global balance of power. Thus, they need Africa. And Africa needs the development funding, markets and the diplomatic support of the rising powers. Mutual needs that could form the basis of a mutually beneficial partnership.

Because understanding East is at the core of developing a coherent foreign policy, Africa will need policy makers, specifically foreign policy experts who understand the East. To that end African governments need to make the effort to educate and train a new cohort of Asia specialists. People who will learn the languages, history, politics, culture and customs of the rising powers in the East and provide the continents leaders and decision makers with the expertise to craft policy and negotiators who will understand their counterparts.

What should African countries be looking for?

The second aspect of constructing an effective foreign policy is defining your own strategic interests, which begs the question what are Africa’s strategic interests? I would put them in two broad categories. Development and gaining a greater voice for Africa on the global stage.

In terms of development, Africa’s needs are pretty clear-cut. The first is funding for expensive items such as infrastructure, which luckily China and others have proven willing to fund. In this regard, the onus is on African states to use the funding prudently, picking the right projects that will have a beneficial developmental return rather than vanity projects such as presidential palaces or Parliament buildings. In other words, African states must strategically choose the projects that will have the biggest bang for the borrowed buck.

The second need under Africa’s development interest is investment in its economies, where African states must think beyond resource extraction and seek to attract investment in areas of the economy that will further industrialisation and development such as industrial, and generic drug manufacturing. In short investment in areas that will create jobs and provide a base for future economic growth.

The third developmental need that Africa must fulfill is market access. Asian markets offer an unparalleled opportunity for African products, which we already export such as agricultural produce. Opening agricultural markets in Asia, would provide a significant boost for the agricultural sector which employs the most people on the continent.

The fianl area of strategic interest for Africa is gaining a greater role on the world stage. A globalised world faces global challenges, such as climate change, economic crises, insecurity and trade issues. All these affect Africa, sometimes disproportionately so, yet the continent has little diplomatic clout with which to help shape global responses to these issues. In a previous post I outlined how, by working together African states could take advantage of the West’s current state to change the status quo to become a more consequential player on the global stage. The rising powers of the East are also challenging Western hegemony, and they need international partners to do so. African states acting as a collective could be those partners, providing vital votes in the UN and other international fora and enacting policies that help further this agenda. In return for their support African states would require that key areas of interest to them such as changing the international trade and tax regime and mitigating against the consequences of climate change be placed on the global agenda with the backing of the Eastern powers.

Strategic partners and benefits from the east

The emergence of new powers from the East is changing the global landscape. Unlike much of the current commentary I do not see a new set of powers involved in a new scramble for Africa, I see opportunity. The opportunity to partner with them to the benefit of the continent. However, this will require strategic thinking from African policymakers rather than the opportunism we have seen when African presidents troop to Beijing or New Delhi to get funding for their pet projects.

Strategic thinking requires that African leaders and policy makers understand the interests of the emerging powers as well as their own, and use those to craft a foreign policy that would help create a mutually beneficial relationship between Africa and the rising East. A relationship that would help fund and drive development on the continent and finally give it a meaningful voice on the world stage, while providing the eastern powers with the resources, markets and diplomatic allies they need. With strategic thinking behind a smart foreign policy Africa need not be pawns of the West or the East.

Time to Give African Judges Some Teeth

“A court is the guardian of justice, the cornerstone of a democratic system based on the rule of law. If the state does not abide by court orders, the democratic edifice will crumble stone-by-stone until it collapses, and chaos ensues”- Dunstan Mlambo – Judge President of the Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa.

African governments have a bad habit, when it is not in their interest they ignore the law, specifically they ignore the courts. Governance and the rule of law is well recognised as a crucial component of development, the African Union even has the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. One of its core objectives is to ‘Promote and enhance adherence to the principle of the rule of law premised upon the respect for, and the supremacy of, the Constitution and constitutional order in the political arrangements of the State Parties’. Although tellingly only 10 African states have actually ratified this particular charter, symbolising African governments commitment, or lack of, to the rule of law.

The rule of law is crucial, it is the foundation upon which stable societies are based. When it works it is how criminals are punished and injustice is rectified. It provides for trust in contracts so that people can do business with each other and it keeps power in check, restraining government from abusing its citizens. The primary arbiter of law and order is the judicial process, the courts not only need to be independent, but their orders and rulings need to be adhered to, if not they may as well not make them.

When governments ignore court orders, they send a signal, that the law is not for them that the law is tool to be used to benefit of those with power rather than to protect all.

Development on the continent will require the rule of law that applies equally to all including the government, the problem is the police that courts rely on to enforce their orders are controlled by the government. To enforce the rule of law, courts in Africa will require more than the hope that government will respect the independence of the judiciary. Rather Africa should give its judges some teeth, the ability to enforce its orders whether the government likes it or not.

The Rule of Law – Except for the Rulers

‘Rule of law’ is a statement that gets used a great deal, African presidents, civil society, global institutions and development economists are all fond of using it and outlining its importance, but what does it mean?

The Secretary General of the UN has defined rule of law as “a principle of governance in which all persons, institutions and entities, public and private, including the State itself, are accountable to laws that are publicly promulgated, equally enforced and independently adjudicated, and which are consistent with international human rights norms and standards”[1]

Its importance to development is crucial because it covers several areas. Preventing and mitigating crime and insecurity, protecting the environment, labour, property, creating a trustworthy commercial environment with security of contracts and protection from fraud, protecting human rights, reducing corruption and holding power accountable all rely on the rule of law. Without a system where everyone is treated equally by fair and independent adjudicators, they become arbitrary, those in power exercise impunity, doing business becomes an exercise in avoiding getting screwed (or screwing over the other guy first) and people’s rights, property and persons are under constant threat. Unfortunately, across much of Africa the rule of law does not hold as it should, and often it is the government at the forefront.

When governments ignore the law, they send a dangerous signal to the whole country. That the law is a tool of domination for those in power to get what they want and that the law is a mere suggestion rather than a restraint. This creates the flagrant disregard for the law and impunity that enables corruption, criminals and the everyday behaviour (such as disregard for traffic laws) that has become the norm. And it is why often people resort to mob justice rather than trusting the police and courts.

Development is hard under conditions where the powerful exercise impunity and basic security cannot be ensured. Thus, the question becomes where do we begin with restoring law and order? It is not likely that those in power will conform to the rule of law without significant pressure or incentive, it is also not likely that the general populace will suddenly conform to law and order when the police cannot be fully trusted, and those with power and wealth continue to display impunity. Thus, it is to the courts that we must turn and give them the ability to enforce the rule of law, particularly for those with power and wealth.

Enhancing Judicial Power

The courts are the adjudicators of the legal system and when sufficiently independent from the rest of the government they can make fair and reasoned judgements. The last couple of years has seen African judges show that they can hold power to account, and two momentous decisions showcase this.

In 2016 the Constitutional Court of South Africa told the president to ‘pay back the money’[2] for the upgrades to his home in Nkandla, on a continent where presidents have regularly used taxpayer money as their own it was refreshing to see a court put a stop to impunity. In 2017 the Supreme Court of Kenya[3] stunned the continent when it nullified a presidential election because of anomalies and irregularities in the results. Africans are no strangers to rigged and disputed elections to see a court find against a sitting president, say that it would not accept a tainted election and force the holding of a new election was novel and inspiring.

African courts can step up to the challenge if constituted properly as independent and fair. However, they rely on the government for their decisions to be enforced. Presidents and Ministers must respect and obey court orders and then the police must enforce them, unfortunately this is where the system tends to fall apart.

This was graphically shown earlier this year in Kenya when the government flagrantly ignored court orders and shut down TV stations and deported an opposition politician making a mockery of the rule of law.

This sort of thing happens around the continent such as in Nigeria, Uganda and South Africa, and to put a stop it we should give judges the power to enforce their orders and decisions, to do that they will need their own enforcement agency, a judicial police force. This force should be placed under the control of the judiciary alone, with a guaranteed budget, and a narrow but important mandate to serve and enforce court warrants and orders where the police prove incapable or unwilling to do so. Creating this independent judicial force would have three goals.

First, it will be a tangible force behind the authority of an independent judiciary giving it the ability to challenge impunity. Secondly, it bypasses the political control and rationale behind the police which in Africa are usually centralised and controlled by politically appointed ministers, meaning that the police answer to their political masters first rather than the law. Thirdly, it will help restore confidence in the courts and the law, if people see the law being enforced it is a powerful incentive to place their trust in the law and not to break it. It is not a replacement for the police, nor is it a power grab for the courts rather it is a way of strengthening rule of law by enhancing the ability of the adjudicators of the law to make sure that its legal orders are carried out.

Giving Judges Teeth

It may seem like a bit of crazy idea, police that answer to the courts. However, that is a function the police are supposed to serve but typically do not in Africa. The courts have shown that when judges are chosen in an independent, public and multi-stakeholder process they can make fair and independent decisions, but when those decisions are ignored or not enforced it enables impunity and criminality.

If African leaders and policy makers are truly in favour of law and order as they are fond of declaring, then they must take steps to ensure that the decisions of the courts are enforced. A potentially effective solution is to give the courts their own police to enforce those orders, bypassing politically compromised police and giving them the ability to tackle impunity. The laws governing society are the foundation of stability and good governance. Ending impunity and enforcing the rule of law will provide a firm foundation for development, when people trust the law and power is limited by the law it ensures that all can be treated equally in a secure society. The courts are at the core of this, if Africa is serious about law and order it is time to give our judges some teeth with which to enforce it.

[1] https://www.un.org/ruleoflaw/what-is-the-rule-of-law/

[2] http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2016/11.html

[3] http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/140478/

The African leadership problem

The trouble with Nigeria is simply and squarely a failure of leadership. There is nothing basically wrong with Nigerian character. There is nothing wrong with the land, climate, water, air, or anything else. The Nigerian problem is the unwillingness or inability of its leaders to rise to the responsibility, to the challenge of personal example which are the hallmarks of true leadership… We have lost the twentieth century; are bent on seeing that or children also lose the 21st? God forbid – Chinua Achebe

Afriwonk is a policy blog, my broad aim is to stimulate conversation and thinking about new approaches to development policy from an African perspective. I try to stay away from the politics as it can turn readers off or introduce bias, rather I try to approach development policy as a people centred issue. However, the fact remains, no matter how good your policies are, if you have bad or ineffective leadership those policies are useless, and Africa has a leadership problem.

If you look around the continent democracy seems to be receding as more leaders seek to extend their time in office, corruption and poverty seem to be as stubborn as ever, and the challenges of development such as healthcare, education, joblessness continue to grow. These issues are not intractable, I firmly believe there are solutions. However, those solutions require effective leadership, leadership that has a clear vision and agenda and that leadership will only come about if Africans themselves demand it and provide it.

A clear vision and agenda or lack thereof

In my first blog I tried to outline what development means, that for me development is people centred ,aimed at improving the lives and livelihoods of the African people. Yet we rarely hear a clear articulation of what development means from leaders on the continent. African leaders constantly promise development, but what does that mean, when they campaign they have manifesto’s hundreds of pages long but without a clear agenda or sense of priorities they are just empty promises. In South Africa the ANC is struggling to find its voice, due to the fact that while the politics of South Africa may have been transformed its economy has not, and far too many people still live in poverty. Yet, other than empty sloganeering and symbolic votes in parliament the ANC is yet to present a clear articulation of what economic transformation means to them and the agenda they will pursue to achieve it. In Kenya the Jubilee administration campaigned on a manifesto full of goodies in 2013 and just last year after his re-election the president announced a new development agenda the “big four”, but the fact remains that both the original manifesto and new agenda came from consultants who were formulating an agenda to please crowds and win votes. In Ethiopia, the governments idea of state led development has come into conflict with the desires of its people who want more than just impressive GDP growth. Vision is an essential part of good leadership. Not only have we had leaders without principle or a sense of responsibility, they lack vision. There is no clear idea of the country/continent we want, and this is how we plan to get there. Franz Fanon whose work has inspired liberation movements for decades warned that the “gravest threat to Africa’s future is not colonialism but the ‘great appetites’ of post-colonial elites, and their ‘absence of ideology’”. The lack of vision with a clear agenda has and continues to hobble the continent. It means that we have haphazard badly thought out policy that is aimed not at improving the lives of people but rather at enriching a select few at the top or winning an election. It has been part of the problem that has led to the tragic cast of thieves, despots and psychopaths that have undone the hope that independence brought. If Africa is to develop clarity of vision and well-defined agendas are needed from its leaders.

L’etat est tout de nous – the state is all of us

King Louis XIV of France was known to say ‘L’etat c’est Moi’ or ‘I am the State’, it was his way of saying that he was the absolute ruler of France. It is easy to criticise African leaders, the lack of vision, the non-existent agendas, the corruption, ethnic politics etc. but leaders are nothing without the people who follow them. If Africa is to get better leadership, it will not magically appear it must be demanded by the people. Professor Bimpe Aboyade the first woman in sub-Saharan Africa to gain a PhD in English Literature once wrote “Our problem [in Nigeria] is not just that we are unlucky to be saddled with leaders without vision most of the time, but that majority of the citizens have no idea as to what they really want out of governance except the basic necessities like food, drinkable water, shelter and good roads. You therefore have people praising to high heavens corrupt and incompetent leaders for merely patching few kilometers of road”

In many countries we spend the years between elections complaining about our leaders, decrying the corruption and poor service delivery, and yet when it comes to elections we continue to vote for them. Whether it be for ethnic reasons, or religious reasons or some form of as yet undiagnosed electoral masochism among African voters we continue to return these same leaders to office. Africa’s leadership problem starts with its people, if we as a continent want better leadership we must vote for it, to encourage the genuinely gifted and valuable leaders across all walks of African life to run for higher office and back them when they do. Fundamentally we must realise that the state is all of us, we as Africans must have a better idea of what we want as Africans and demand it from our leaders.

 The curse can be lifted

There is an Angolan anecdote, that at creation God blessed Angola with abundant mineral wealth, other nations of the world complained at the favourable disposition towards the  country, in response God told them: wait till you see their leaders. Maybe God should have also added that we should see the people who will follow these leaders.

I do not think Africa is cursed with bad leadership, there are extraordinary leaders around the continent who lead families, churches and mosques, neighbourhoods, villages, businesses, schools etc. and yes even some politicians. If Africa is to find solutions to its problems it will take leaders willing to implement them, there is no government policy that can do that. Africa’s leadership problem will require its people to take responsibility, though that is easier said than done, it is not impossible.