AFRO-NETS> Africa, some sobering numbers (2)

[Peter Burgess <Profitinafrica@aol.com>]

Africa, some sobering numbers (2)
---------------------------------

Dear Colleagues,

The sobering numbers about Africa are food for serious thought. The 
numbers highlighted by Claudio Schuftan show the RESULTS of a failed 
paradigm for development that has been used for several decades.

Solutions are possible, but not until people who have control of pol-
icy and control of resources allow changes to be made.

When I first started working on development issues in Africa in the 
early 1970s, guns were far less widespread....... where do all the 
guns come from? Who pays for them? What development value do they 
have?

What about refugees and internally displaced people? ICARA I and II 
in the early 1980s highlighted the problem. Why so many? What are the 
root causes? 

What about hunger? Is the problem food production or food trade or 
food aid? Or is it poverty?

What about oil and minerals? Is foreign direct investment (FDI) a 
blessing or a curse? 

Are the oil companies creating economic value adding in Africa, or is 
it just for corporate stockholder added value? What about foreign 
mining companies?

What about diamonds and gems and gold......... and civil war...... 
and timber..... and guns and landmines? Where is the economic value 
adding for the people of Africa?

What about the health and HIV-AIDS crisis? Is this just another ex-
cuse for investors to avoid business and development investment in 
Africa..... it certainly is having a devastating impact on economic 
value adding in Africa.

The prevailing development process flows almost all the available re-
sources into activities that do very little economic value adding in 
Africa. Worse, this has been going on for decades. Under the prevail-
ing development paradigm economic value is being systematically re-
moved from Africa....... with benefit accruing to others.... but not 
Africa.

There is a terrible shortage in information that can help pinpoint 
what is good and bad about development, and get resources allocated 
to expanding the good activities. What is clear is that most of the 
available resources do NOT produce significant economic value adding 
in Africa. (If I am wrong... give me the facts... and I will be as 
outspoken about success as I am trying to be with respect to fail-
ure.)

These main characteristics of failed development in Africa are rarely 
talked about by the leading spokespeople on Africa's economic crisis, 
especially this associated with the official development assistance 
(ODA) community (World Bank, IMF, UN, USAID, DFID et al.). And ways 
forward to address these issues do not seem to be forthcoming from 
our ODA leadership.

On the other hand, I sense that my African professional friends un-
derstand the issues very clearly, and would be delighted to see new 
ways for development resources to be mobilized for use in activities 
that will address priority development and investment needs in their 
communities. This is NOT about more welfare handouts, but making it 
possible to create new opportunities and create economic value in Af-
rica's back yard using new resource flows outside the prevailing FDI 
and development cartel.

Sincerely,

Peter Burgess
ATCnet in New York
Tel: +1-212-772-6918 
Fax: +1-707-371-7805
mailto:peterb@iitc.safe-mail.net
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