Features
Africa gaining ground in intra-regional cooperation
Of course such epochal developments should not be construed as meaning that Africa would sooner rather than later be rid of the socio-political and economic bottlenecks that have been dogging her at heel for decades. What they mean is that she is managing these problems in a consistently constructive fashion currently.
We in South Asia in particular need to take note of these developments. This is mainly in view of the fact that SAARC is non-functional. It is not ‘dead’, as a former President of Sri Lanka tried to have us believe, but its virtual paralytic state at present should have discerning sections in the region concerned. It is robust regional cooperation in the fields that matter that helps a country in its growth and development and if SAARC is dysfunctional this is a serious setback for Sri Lanka and the region.
Closer integration into BIMSTEC and ASEAN is certainly desirable but if governments are having Sri Lanka’s best interests at heart it is primarily to the SAARC region that they need to look. For instance, how Sri Lanka is hoping to further its growth prospects by not factoring in stepped-up and positive economic interaction with India and Pakistan, for example, is incomprehensible.
There is a strong regional dimension to any country’s economic growth and unless the relevant regional cooperative mechanisms are rendered operational, the desired level of national development could not be achieved in full. Hence the need to render SAARC fully operational once again.
However, unless and until governments of the region realize the urgency of meeting the above challenge, SAARC would remain in a state inertia. The pressing need is visionary political leadership at the regional level. Right now this is seriously lacking.
It would seem inappropriate and misleading at first blush to attempt to draw comparisons between the vast continent of Africa and the South Asian region in view of the latter’s comparative geographical smallness, but this is more so why Africa’s present exercises in intra-continental cooperation need to be positivey assessed. If Africa could be making some headway in intra-regional cooperation, given her ‘Giant’ status and her seeming unmanageability as a collectivity, why can’t South Asia, a comparatively physically small region? ‘This is the Question’.
While the above and connected matters of importance for regional growth need to be seriously studied by political leaders and policymakers of South Asia, they would be acting in the regional interest by taking a leaf or two out of Africa’s book of cooperative growth and development.
All watchers of international development should feel compelled to take a hard, discerning look at the 38th African Union (AU) Summit held in Addis Ababa, beginning February 15th this year. Interestingly, the Summit theme was, ‘Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations.’
Coincidentally, erstwhile Namibian leader Dr. Sam Nujoma passed away on the eve of the Summit. Nujoma was perhaps the last of those prominent leaders from Africa who doggedly championed the cause of the libration of his country and of the continent from the shackles of colonialism. More leaders of his ilk are required by the South in general and Africa in particular.
While the acquiring of ‘reparations’ for colonialism’s ravages could prove a very long-gestation project, it is vitally important for Africa and other regions that came under colonial control to keep the issue constantly in focus.
Meanwhile, Africa’s gains in economic cooperation under the AU need to be studied appreciatively by the South and other regions in their interests. Some of the achievements of the AU under the aegis of the African Development Bank (ADB), as outlined by outgoing president of the Bank, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina at the Summit were: ‘515 million African lives were transformed over the past decade, including 231 million women, 127 million people gained access to better services in terms of health, 61 million people gained access to clean water, 33 million people benefited from improved sanitation, 46 million people gained access to ICT services, 25 million people gained access to electricity.’
Reports said that the Summit also, among other things, adopted the ‘African Financing Stability Mechanism’. Under this arrangement, $20 billion in debt refinancing will be provided for African nations. This will happen alongside the adoption of the ‘Strategic Framework on Key Actions to Achieve Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development in Africa Report’.
The Report outlines key actions for Africa to ‘Achieve and sustain an annual growth rate of at least 7% of GDP over the next 5 decades.’
The above are a few aims that the AU intends to achieve going forward for the whole of Africa. But they are sufficient evidence of the current effectiveness of the collective organization. We see here a notable example in South-South cooperation which is a dire need today in the developing world.
South-South cooperation is the way to go particularly in consideration of the US’ current policy of virtually ridding itself of the past policy of helping the South by way of development assistance. Instead of bemoaning the fact that institutions, such as USAID, will be almost no more, the South would do well to take a hard look at Africa’s success stories in helping itself with little or no external assistance.
The discontinuation of US assistance needs to be seen as the proverbial ‘blessing in disguise’ by the South. Here is an opportunity for the Southern hemisphere to finally rid itself of those neo-colonial umbilical binds that have been preventing it from achieving genuine national liberation.
To be sure, the South is not going to meet with spectacular success by adopting the African model in the near term. But if the model is doggedly persisted with by enlightened governments of the South some success is certain to accure to the hitherto ‘Wretched of the Earth’, going forward.