Africa -"We are not Beggars!"

Africa is trying to change the colonial narrative of being ‘the white man’s burden.’ This framework that projects Africa as dependent on European charitable goodwill is being challenged. African leaders have stated emphatically at international forums that they have not come with a begging bowl but with well-thought-out negotiating positions backed by comprehensive policies for mutual partnership and sustainable development.

It seems, however, that the former colonial nations and their supporting international financial institutions are not listening.  Whether at the US-Africa Summit, Russia-Africa Summit, Saudi-Africa Summit, Africa-Turkey Partnership Summit, India-Africa Forum Summit, China-Africa Summit, Africa-South America Summit, or the World Economic Forum, the policymakers all seem to be ‘hard ears’. They are just not hearing what Presidents Akufa-Addo, Kagame, Museveni, and Ruto have been saying, nor are they comprehending the pronouncements of Messrs Haki, Lumumba, and Traore.   Africa desires a new partnership that is based on a position of mutual understanding, equitable resource sharing, and sustainable development.

This consensus is based on strategies and policies geared towards accelerating Africa’s inclusive and sustainable development. The Africa Union Extraordinary Summit on Industrialisation and Economic Development held in Niamey, Niger, 25 November 2022, and the African Economic Conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 16-18 November 2023, have both reinforced the call for agreements and actions that will quicken the pace of development in Africa as encapsulated in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.  This is the script that Africa’s leaders are reading from as they attend these multi-lateral and international forums.

Maybe the former colonial powers and Western International financial institutions will hear the progressive voice of the Deputy-Secretary General of the United Nations, the British-Nigerian, Ms. Amina J. Mohammed.  Ms. Mohammed, who, at the recently concluded Italy-Africa Summit, urged the International Financial Institutions to seek “a different way of working to realize the potential of Africa.” She pointed out that "these institutions were set up some 80 years ago, and there was now a need for a refresh, so they can be fit for the 21^st century”.  Let those who have ears to hear …let them hear the new narrative coming out of Africa.