From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Jun 01 2009 - 21:23:55 EDT
"... Eritrea replied, calling the AU a full house of disenchanted musical
chairs, notoriously toothless and straight –jacketed thinkers. Eritrea
might just be right"
http://www.africanliberty.org/node/726
The Mirage of the African Union
Monday, June 01, 2009
By Franklin Cudjoe and Alhassan Atta-Quayson
On Africa Union Day, May 25, little was heard of the challenges and
potential progress that the continent could make in the face austere
financial difficulties. It was the grumpy old self-delusory target of
ridding the continent of coup makers and now, state-sponsored terrorism.
Countries across the African continent devoted May 25 to the observance of
the so called African Union’s Day. Few countries, though, have declared
the day a holiday and celebrated as such to the neglect of the millions of
man hours that could have been put to productive use. Little was heard of
the challenges and potential progress that the continent could make in the
face austere financial difficulties. It was the grumpy old self-delusory
target of ridding the continent of coup makers and now, state-sponsored
terrorism. Amusingly, Eritrea was the only culprit fingered and suspended
for the latter charge whilst others such as Sudan, Madagascar and
Mauritania, renegades of true democracy are still plying their violent and
near-violent trade against ordinary citizens.
And Eritrea replied, calling the AU a full house of disenchanted musical
chairs, notoriously toothless and straight –jacketed thinkers. Eritrea
might just be right. For, how is it that the recently elected AU Chairman,
Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi made an embarrassing mockery of democracy on the
continent when he stated in a keynote address at an AU summit at Addis
Ababa, that democracy in Africa only leads to bloodshed. This could be a
thought trend for African leaders. In 2005, www.Africanliberty.org editor
and executive director of IMANI, Franklin Cudjoe, and debated former
Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa on the latter’s call for an African clone
of democracy and the need to fear globalisation, as it was the final undoing
of the continent after slavery and colonialism had their way.
So what else is the AU, an avowed claimant of continental unity, has little
to show for? The AU envisages a political and economic integration across
all borders devoid of poverty, conflicts, and diseases. Naturally, the
various regional economic groups will strive for integration before the
entire continent is united. Such a union could affect the livelihoods of
the 800 million plus Africans. But we in Africa are our own friends of
protectionism. Nigeria and Ghana, next door neighbours within the Economic
Community of West Africa still trade in protectionist goods, with Nigeria
still maintaining a near-ban of some 74 Ghanaian products from entering
Nigeria, while Ghana is demanding hefty down payments for Nigerian
tradesmen to enter the Ghanaian market. But Ghana is awashed with Nigerian
banks. The Commission for Africa Report 2005 sadly asserts that shipping a
car from Japan to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, for example, costs $1,500.
Shipping the same car from Abidjan to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, costs $5,000.
Removing regional trade barriers would earn Africa an extra $1.2bn a year,
according to the World Bank.
Instead of focusing on removing the log in the eye of the continent, the AU
has a mindset that trade ought to be a one-way traffic, with richer
countries who also erect annoying barriers to our produce. It is
instructive to know that the global economic difficulties have lowered
consumer confidence in rich countries and by extension slowed all
agri-export-led economies. In April this year, the World Bank
Vice-President for Africa Region, Ms Obiageh Ezekwesil, noted that at the
beginning of 2008, Africa’s growth rate which was projected at 6.4 per cent
dipped to 4.9 per cent. The rate for 2009 now stands at 2.4 per cent.
However, the cacophony of asking for help to weather the raging storm of
economic recession has taken centre-stage in the global discussion of
stimulus packages. And African leaders are asking for stimulus packages
from the staggering West instead of stimulating critical thinking on how to
build their own economies from within. However, it seem to have emerged
from a recent Economic Conference in Dakar, Senegal, that they are going to
rely more on home-grown solutions to these and other problems. These
solutions lay not in imposing additional taxes on the 30% visible businesses
and small formal sector workers, but ensuring that the close to 70 % of
Africa’s underground economy is unearthed and nurtured with low business
entry rules, and perhaps taxed a low flat tax regime. Increased corporate
taxes on perceived ostentatious products ought to be reflective of the wider
implications for government’s own revenue and employment figures. Already
many great performing companies on the continent are not salivating at
losing employees. An additional tax burden will leave companies no choice
but to lay people off.
Ordinary Africans must help African leaders to use AU day to reflect on how
to reduce economic intervention in our lives, sensibly regulate financial
markets, remove bureaucratic obstacles to setting up businesses, establish
property rights and enforce contract law. These are the forces that release
entrepreneurial energy to see us through the financial meltdown. There is
only one reason why African leaders will do these things- when they are
forced to do so as a condition of aid which despite its towering failure to
reduce poverty on the continent continues to be supported by activists,
whose livelihoods depend on it.
Franklin Cudjoe is executive director of IMANI, a Ghanaian think tank. He
also edits www.AfricanLiberty.org . Alhassan Atta-Quayson is a graduate
student in economics and writes for www.AfricanLiberty,org
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