Exposure and Ownership- Two of the Root Causes of Africans Problems

Nairobi, Kenya - magu nguru - Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 : goo

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Introduction

I have sat down, gazed in to the air, walked around aimlessly and at times spent the whole night awake thinking of ways that Africa can get itself out of the poverty and all other social problems that it faces. I have even committed myself to get out a stable job to join the N.G.O sector in order to help practically with my skills and time. I have also started to write articles that would possibly find solutions to this unique African plague that has made us the focus of the world all over. Well, 7 months later, as you can bet, I have not made much progress on the ground but at least I have started to draw some insights as to how Africa can pull itself out and restore itself. I know that you might say that 7 months is not enough time to draw any conclusions but I must state that during those seven months, the sleepless nights have continued with the evaluation of other previous hypothesis and strategies to solve the problem. This has been done through interactions with those in the field, personal experiences and numerous readings from other literal sources. I off course hope that in trying to present this argument, I will face the same scrutiny as all other theories have faced in the past so as to help develop this idea through my defenses and your suggestions and comments.

Past theories to the root causes of Africa’s problems.

They are been called the problems themselves but I will call them the symptoms. They include poverty, education, health etc. They have been discussed and now packaged under the new term of the millennium development goals (M.D.Gs) which mainly focuses on getting Africa out of its state by 2015. It is quite a noble cause because it set benchmarks by which performance can be evaluated. Unfortunately, the goals themselves in no way state how they are to deliver the desired social changes. I will not go into the actual theories that have led to the development of the millennium development goals in this article since that will occupy much space, instead I will just mention that like in most previous strategies the M.D.Gs focus on the symptoms rather then address the real underlying causes. I actually wonder what the main reason is given for poverty in Africa. Is it laziness or access to information or access to markets because if it were so then the Africa Growth and opportunity Act (Agoa) would have worked wonders in the African continent. It is now nearing its close and nothing tangible has come from it. When we talk about education, Africa has a very high number of people who have degrees yet seat idle in the streets and in the neighborhoods. They are not putting into good use that knowledge they have acquired. In terms of health we normally talk about access yet after construction of new health centers we still see cases of preventable deaths still on the rampage. Truly what is the cause of Africa’s problems? In my view only two

Exposure and Ownership- The cause of all African Problems.

An Illustration

Imagine a person living in an island. For some strange reason he only drinks water. There are many people and animals actually roaming around him, including all types of fruits and plant life but he remains very frail. Surprisingly he never dies or feels hungry. Five months later, he just decides to take a walk on the island. He starts to notice that the other animals are not as frail as he is. They are fat and he starts to desire the same. He decides to track one of them and notices its eating some fruits. So he decided to eat the same fruit just to discover that it is actually very tasty and filling. Another 5 months later, he is eating all sorts of plant life just because he saw the animal eat them. He then takes his second walk into the island and since he is much stronger he covers a very large distance. So large is the distance that he can find his way back. Now because he is not by the sea shore, water is not readily available, he is exposed to a new environment which happens to be also colder. Luckily where he goes he meets other people who have dug wells and also have fire to keep warm. After a year, he starts to remember how he got to the island in the first place. He also remembers that he came from another island where people just drunk water and they are all frail. He crossed by mistake by floating on a log and was previously too scared to cross the sea again. Since now he has been exposed to a raft, he is willing to go back to his island. Once back on his Island the people there welcome him and can’t help noticing his health, they ask him about all that has happened over the 2 yrs that he has been away and tells them everything. Soon that little exposure to the new village transforms his village and they even intermarry. The other village moves to the sea shore and stop building wells. That’s Africa’s first core problem. Many of us for no strange reason or any other imaginary ever just think of living our houses just to go see what is on the other side. We never just decide to sit on the log for curiosity sake to see where it is going. I have a friend who came to Nairobi from one of the outer lying towns and for three years never made an independent tour of Nairobi. He therefore could not find any employment because he never tried to find out what other jobs exist out there in the big world of Nairobi. His hope was as long as he could go to a church where the rich went he would get a job. But soon he interacted with some of those rich kids. He had them speak of things he only saw in the town. Through their meetings they would visit interesting places and his eyes started to open up and saw his ears. Later his thought pattern started to change because he realized that being employed by the rich was not the only job to do. He could start a business or go to school or work in the town etc. after about 6 yrs he now owns a car and runs a taxi business.

A historical Outlook

The countries that have been most exposed to the rest of the world have tended to rule the world. This is because they have been able to import what they don’t have and use for their own gain and at times even to conquer other regions. It is interesting that Gun power was discovered in China with its main purpose for celebration activities. When it returned there it was used as a weapon of war to conquer them. It is also interesting to note that those countries that tended to conquer others also had the most civilized societies of their time. To amplify the above two points, the Greek and Roman empires were said to have conquered lands from as far as the eastern world. Their civilizations were so advanced that they have from the basic structures of today’s civilized world. Later countries like Spain, France and later Britain dominated the western world once they discovered (Spain) and took control (France and Britain) of the traded routes that exposed them to new peoples, raw materials and goods and merchandise. These countries, now joined by the United States of America and the rest of Europe, ensure that their populace get to travel around the world and make it compulsory for students to undertake one year of their university education abroad. In Africa, during the early 1900s, a few Africans traveled to Europe to study. That exposure was so great that they later fought for the independence of their respective African countries and their grand children today form the elite of the society. It seems that the current crop of African leaders have not learnt from history and thus can’t understand the role that exposure can play in solving African problems. They themselves are often much exposed but they do not develop any programs that ensure that their populace, especially in the rural areas get to travel even from one part of the country to another just to see the other ‘island’. This explains why then, you find some societies living with many basic social deprivations like education and health care just because they have not traveled. In some cases, the schools may be there but because none of their sons has gone to school and been so successful, they do not see the need of the school. They therefore do not go to hospital when faced with a new ailment because they are not educated. This could also explain why Aid agencies have been spending millions in building schools and hospitals in many societies but still make no difference there after. It could also explain why there are now today many people in rural areas for have finished form four but just idle outside their rural homes.

The impact of exposure
An Exposed person is an informed person. This basically means that this type of person is able to better understand the influences affecting him or her and thus take advantage of the situation more aptly. Take for example the current Kenyan political crisis and violence. A person who has traveled the country and other parts of the world is in a better position to understand the underlying issues and is also in a position to take the right actions to solve it drawing from other examples and experiences around the world. Its no wonder then that the peace talks are been headed by Koffi Annan due to his wide exposure to similar issues on a global scale. If people from the interior regions of Central, Rift Valley, Nyanza and western had traveled to Rwanda, Somalia and other parts of the Kenya and the world, they would have not reacted that way to the elections. The same case applies to those who are living in the slums.
An Exposed person is an improved person. Many times we develop certain ways of doing things that might either take too much time or effort. By being exposed, one can learn from others, a different way of doing the same thing. A person can then get ideas on then how best to improve his/her way of doing things and thus become an improved person. This could explain why Barclays bank in Kenya organizes a trip of Kenyan entrepreneurs to visit China. Normally the visit in itself to a foreign rapidly growing country is just enough to demand an improvement on the standards of goods in Kenya.

Finally an exposed person is an enlightened person. What exposure does it just opens up you mind! It increases your curiosity as you seek to understand what you have seen and hence the need for research and further reading in search for knowledge. You also start to see things differently from the way you normally see them- outside the box as many describe it. Sometimes it is just necessary to get outside your box, to see things outside the box. If it’s a company, you might just need to take a leave and visit another company of place so that you can see things outside the box. If it’s a country or area or community, you need to leave that community for a while to be able to see it as an outsider. Sometimes, we get too engrossed in the details that we never see the big picture. We therefore need to get exposed to the big picture so as to be enlightened.

If Africa made it a priority to expose its people, then it would make a real difference in their lives. Firstly they would be able to understand what’s happening in the world around them and then how to apply that in their own world. Exposure would then help primitive cultures understand why medicine, health and hygiene is so important. They would then desire to take their children to other regions of the country and not to their home regions.

The Second of Africa’s major problem

Ownership

It is well known that you tend to take care of what you own, what you feel is yours and what you have a right do. If you happen to leave in a rented flat, you will not make a lot of investment in the building by adding a fresh coat of paint, wall fittings, verandas because you know one day the house owner will come over and kick you out with all your ‘alterations’. You also tend to develop what is yours and that explains why when someone purchases a plot, they build a house on the same and start other projects that make s the place more habitable. In Africa, ownership is a big issue that presents itself in three forms; Communal ownership versus individual ownership, lack of ownership of factors or production and ownership through involvement. I consider a combination of or lack off these three forms of ownership as Africa’s second major problem

Communal ownership versus individual ownership

To understand why this is a major African problem, I take you back to the cold war era.
During the cold war ear there were two predominant global ideologies; the capitalists and the communist. The communist believed in equality and sharing and therefore the state owned everything and shared out amongst all people everything. In exchange a person duty would be to work for the government, producing all the goods and services that everyone else needed. This system was very good at dealing with poverty since every one was to share and get something in return. The problem was the system was very bad when it came to rewarding the hard workers. What happened after a while was that since not all workers would produce equally, the lazy workers just got lazier while the hard workers did not produce to their best ability due to little morale and recognition. Eventually the system collapsed and was taken over by capitalism, where, those who can produce are allowed to thrive and make their billions. The same example applies for some African communities. Their belief set dictates that everything that an individual owns is also owned by the society. This belief could explain why when you visit some rural areas in Africa, you can’t help noticing the little or no development has taken place in those areas and this is despite the huge potential that the land portrays. A possible explanation would the specific belief that when one member of that society succeeds the rest see it as their right to share with him their wealth and bring over their children to be educated, fed and supported by this now successful African person. What happens after a while is that this successful person is forced to work ten times harder and gets over worked and less productive. On the other hand others who would have at least started to fend for themselves just sit and wait for their elder brother, or cousin, or distant relative to come and find for them a job or give them some cash for upkeep. That’s why in the African setting it is not strange to find one employed person having over 15 dependants that include relatives and his parents. In the short run, such an arrangement is very good since poverty is reduced but in the long run it multiplies due to a dependency syndrome. I will explain further
Imagine if this man had no dependants. What would likely happen? Well, if the person is ambitious he would start a multitude of income generating activities and experiment with his cash on new ventures. This would in turn spur growth by providing funds for investment and thus create more employment, even for those relatives that are idle and jobless. Since he would be under no obligation to help them, they would be forced to work hard and sustain themselves instead of relying on hand outs. Am not saying that helping relatives is a wrong thing to do, all am saying is that due to a cultural believe that denies individual ownership and shared responsibility Africa’s developmental efforts are hampered. Funds that would be directed on development are now been directed on sustenance. Its even likely that the foreign remittance been sent back to the continent are mainly been used for sustenance purposes and thus will be detrimental to Africa’s future in the long run

Lack of ownership of the factors of production

The same attitude is also seen on a national scale. Since during the colonial days and after independence all land was taken over by the government. Most people do not feel a sense of ownership on the parcels of land that they have under their care. This is especially true in rural areas where no title deeds have been given out and the land is considered as government reserve land. This meant that communities were allowed to farm on the land and other minor activities but could not use it to build permanent structures on the land. Also since they do not own the land, they could not use it as collateral in acquiring loans from the bank. Africans also lack the ownership to other factors of belonging that include capital and human resource. This is especially true for its women who under Africa law belong to their husbands. This lack of ownership has affected the self determination of the people and the morale and desire to succeed. When ever they desire to get out of poverty, they discover that the hurdles they have to overcome are numerous and in some cases insurmountable. This has created a feeling of despair and helplessness.

Lack of ownership through involvement

Finally, the government and the non governmental organizations notice the despair of the African and come in to assist. Unfortunately the local communities are not involved in the initial stages of a project or are not involved in the management of the same projects. After a while the project is completed but does not deliver the desired changed that was envisioned in the start. Why, the people perceive those projects to be owned by the government or by the N.G.O that initiated the project. Rarely do the people put in the necessary effort to even maintain the project because are waiting to be told on what role to play by the owners of the project. The project only flourishes if the project initiator continues to fund it and or manages it. It immediately collapses once the donor pulls out since the beneficiary has been in no way capacitated to manage the project or even been made to believe that they were to own and support the project. This could explain why despite the billions of dollars that have been spent on Africa to bring about development, there is little to show for it.

How to you bring about ownership in the African society.

Involvement. I believe that Africa needs to be more involved in all the meetings that discuss its future. A good start point would be the G8 meetings and not just to air views but to participate in the passing of resolutions about its future. This involvement should continue even up to the village level where it’s the communities to decide what they really need first to help them. Also countries need to deliver ownership of the factors of production to its people and make them more accessible and available. This means the processing of title deeds, the establishments of village banks and the creation of human resource pools. Finally Africa must overcome its cultural influences that discourage individual ownership of resources to allow those who want to thrive economically to do so.

Magu Nguru
www.twawezakenya.com

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