By James Shikwati
I was saved from Luhya (laziness) in 1966!” an old lady in her early 80s stunned an audience in Kitale at the weekend. Obviously the kneejerk reaction by many people was to dismiss her with contempt. Her assertion came hours before China pledged $10 billion in new loans to Africa in the next three years; cancellation of debts for some countries and investment in clean energy projects. Africa’s traditional allies, that is, Europe and US have been pushing a fear campaign against China in a subtle way. China is accused of ignoring human rights abuses, not being transparent and not promoting democratic ideals in Africa. Compare this with the West’s own involvement in Africa; they shipped over 12 million Africans as slaves to power their economies in the 17th century; they colonised and imposed their own governance institutions onto Africa; they planted their own religion and school systems and continue to supervise the Africa using institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF.
The African has for over three centuries been suffocated into believing that the international community is synonymous to US and Europe.
Africans are yet to see Confucius priests, governance experts, and “value exporters” jet from China.
Does this imply that the Chinese are keen on furthering African interests in comparison to the West?
No! The West and China and any other global player is not interested in the continent for sake of charity.
Each of these “friends of Africa” is interested in safeguarding own interests.
They need energy to power their industries; minerals to manufacture products and food for their people.
The question each African should be asking himself/herself is: How much energy and food among others do the one billion Africans need?
Listening to the elderly lady admonish her people offers some insights into Africa’s challenge.
Western Province is situated in one of Kenya’s rich agricultural zones but it is disappointing that land is greatly underused.
Whereas Africa is known to rely on rain-powered economy, communities in Western Kenya are known to thrive on “entitlement” powered economy.
That is, they would rather wait for their children and siblings to support them while staring at acres of idle land.
The old lady narrated how she quit the habit of waiting and became a successful farmer in Kitale.
“Where they said women cannot plant trees, I planted; where they said women must offer food to neighbours/visitors, I insisted I will only feed those who have worked on my farm; and, above all, I just stopped being idle and I do not regret it,” she said.
If Africans are not careful, the $10 billion offer from China will grow the “entitlement” culture instead of developing the continent.
China is successfully exploiting the bad seed Western countries planted on the continent: that money is the solution to the continent’s challenges.
Money is not synonymous to expertise; if the continent has to thrive economically, we ought to invest in the quest for skills that can enable our people to exploit resources for the benefit of Africans.
Western Kenya witnesses long M-Pesa queues to receive money, but their “natural resources” still remain underexploited.
If peer orientation made Luhyas (and pardon me) “lazy,” Africa can blame its “laziness” on the haste at which it imbibed alien values without reflection.
Africans should not fear the Chinese but simply develop a strategy to gain from the new found option. //Business Daily
Mr Shikwati Director Inter Region Economic Network james@irenkenya.org
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