Governance and political leadership of nations of Africa which are still trotting very slowly. Africa is a land of Hope and Faith dating back to our forefathers. We are hoping to see our political leaders rise to the occasion.
Governance and political leadership of nations of Africa which are still trotting very slowly. Africa is a land of Hope and Faith dating back to our forefathers. We are hoping to see our political leaders rise to the occasion.
Inside this edition are several articles exposing different categories of poor leadership and management of resources by our political leaders and the consequences thereof.
The greatest drawback of the lack of political leadership that is retarding progress in Africa is the lack of necessary infrastructures to support any desirable socioeconomic development. That lack manifested itself so loudly during this COVID-19 pandemic. Hopes of Africa attaining meaningful development in this century largely depend on how the problem of lack of infrastructure can be addressed urgently. The public outcry is loud and clear in so many local and international quarters.
Work on infrastructure projects backed by the Belt and Road Initiative BRI maintained a steady pace in Africa last year, thanks in part to some creative ways of managing construction tasks during the pandemic.
Smaller work teams were part of the solution at construction sites as African nations pin their hopes on BRI projects to rebuild their economies from the impact of COVID-19 and address a widely acknowledged deficit in vital infrastructure.
The BRI-backed projects also provide plenty of jobs for Africans at a time when many have been thrown out of work because of the restrictions imposed to control the pandemic.
The need for infrastructure in Africa is clear. Almost 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to grid electricity, accounting for more than two-thirds of those worldwide in this predicament. About a third of people in rural areas have no sealed roads serving their communities, data from the African Development Bank indicates The bank estimates the continent’s infrastructure needs at $130-$170 billion a year, with a financing gap in the range of $68-$108 billion. The Legatum Institute, a think tank in London, said a third of the continent’s financing needs are required for the maintenance of existing facilities.
The institute said in a report for 2021 that to realize such expenditures, African countries are required to spend an additional 1 per cent of GDP annually on infrastructure, above the 3.5 per cent that has been spent consistently since 2000.
Still, Africa is gradually making progress on infrastructure thanks to China, which is providing technical skills and funding through the BRI and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, a bilateral platform that has helped bring China and Africa closer together.
According to the Africa Policy Institute, a pan-African think tank in Nairobi, China is not only upgrading rural roads but is also helping to develop the Trans-African Highway Network of more than 56,000 kilometres, according to estimates.
“By contributing to the development of Africa’s highway infrastructure and opening up of road-based corridors, China is helping Africa to win the war on poverty eradication through trade promotion and overall all economic growth,” the institute said in a report released in November 2021.
By late November, 52 of the 55 members of the African Union were participating in the BRI, which was proposed by China in 2013 as a means of improving connectivity among countries through increased trade, economic integration, and cultural exchanges. The BRI projects have shown resilience in the face of the pandemic.
The most effective method of moving goods throughout our frontiers is through the road highway network. This can’t be overemphasised; take a cue from the extensive road highway network connecting American cities and their trading partners in Canada, Mexico and Latinos.
Reckon with their efficient distribution of goods and services to support their intra-trading with their frontiers. Check the road highway network connecting European countries and their effective distribution and trading systems. The same is true in Asia and Brazil and their trading frontiers.
When this free flow of goods and services is hindered, the free flow of trade is constrained and the consequences are inadequate supply of necessary food and supplies to sustain lives. This is one of the major socioeconomic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic globally in the last 2 years.
Africa had been lagging in this area of adequate infrastructure to support trade and development way before the pandemic and was made worse since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Major structural improvement is urgently needed to upgrade the infrastructure in Africa notably the road highway network. There can be no meaningful progress in trade and development if the road highway network connecting the major African cities are not addressed pronto as a matter of mutual interest by the African leaders.
There have been some notable developments in this regard though, the intra-African trade is progressing amid the pandemic. Last year African countries signed an agreement aimed at increasing trade between them. If implemented successfully, they believe it could create a single African market of over a billion consumers.
The plan is that services and goods should flow freely in and out of the participating countries, making the continent the biggest free trade area in the world. According to the US think tank Brookings, the free trade initiative could create an integrated market with a total GDP of over $3 trillion (£2.3 trillion).
Currently, Africa lags behind other regions of the world in terms of continental trade. According to the African Development Bank (ADB), intra-Africa exports amount to only 16.6% of total trade. Unfortunately, the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) did not kick off on 1 July as originally scheduled, due to the coronavirus crisis in addition to other reasons responsible for the stalling.
God of creation blessed Africa as one continent and distributed His natural resources that we require to maintain and sustain a healthy and enjoyable living for every African child. It is imperative, therefore, that our collective responsibility is to ensure that we harvest and distribute this wealth and resources equitably for the benefit of the African people as intended by the Almighty God our creator. Man is failing in this responsibility and our political leaders are responsible.
We are making this clarion call to our political leaders in Africa to rise to the occasion. Light is showing at the end of this tunnel of deficiency. Africa has come of age and must manifest proportionately alongside other continents of the world. Africa can no longer continue to lag in socio-economic development. The world has become one simple global village where information and technology are readily available to all. Let us engage and do the needful to improve our dilapidated infrastructures to enhance the standard of living in Africa as it is in other continents of the world.
I could not conclude this epistle without expressing my gratitude to our esteemed readers, our family/ friends, our partners and associates including our critics for challenging us, supporting us and giving us the courage to continue doing what we do every day for the past 15 years; which is bringing you the best news from the continent of Africa. We humbly and sincerely salute you all and wish you all the very best in your endeavours this year 2022!! So help Africa O’ God!!!
There is a new trend on social media these days. And while this trend often makes me proud, it also makes me sad at the same time. I’m talking about young black people from West Africa leading their classes and being valedictorians in Harvard, Yale, Sheffield and other Universities and schools in the UK, US, …
From Underfunded national leagues and abysmal performances on the international stage to Gross Mismanagement of Funds by Troubled Associations, Africa’s Football Associations have not had it easy over the years. In Present Day, Sports, – and Football in particular, have intimately become interwoven with the developmental issues of the continent.
Ipolowo oja l’agunmu owo is a Yoruba adage that translates to; promotion is the magic potion for business, and this is true for the sports business. Sporting events are organized throughout the year in Nigeria and West Africa, yet, these events are held with little or no relevance; stadiums are nearly empty, there is insufficient …
Extraordinary! That’s the word that best describes the performance of certain African countries in the 2022 Commonwealth Games and like we would always say, a win for one is a win for all. The 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games officially known as XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly called ‘Birmingham 2022’ after the host city- …
Comments
Adam Gordon
Thanks for sharing this information is useful for us.
cmsmasters
Always happy to be of service.