Far From the Africa Crowd

Good speech; Bad speech
At a time when Africa badly needs good PR, the speech delivered by Colonel Muammar Gaddafi at the U.N general assembly may have done more harm than good for the continent.

For one thing, Gaddafi represents not just his country Libya; he is also chairman of the African Union. Not only was it a controversial speech, marked by outbursts of anger, his presentation speaks volumes about the influential role that Mr. Gaddafi now exerts on the other African nations that he represents.

For many ordinary Africans that I have spoken with, the reactions remain mixed. The questions raised have many split along lines of liberation for the continent as well as questions about progress far removed and separate from African history and the realities of the 21st century.

Check back for a compilation of the reactions from Africans that we have talked to.

Photo:The Economist
The September edition of The Economist carries the following story which I think is fascinating to read.

Mobile phones have transformed lives in the poor world. Mobile money could have just as big an impact
ONCE the toys of rich yuppies, mobile phones have evolved in a few short years to become tools of economic empowerment for the world’s poorest people. These phones compensate for inadequate infrastructure, such as bad roads and slow postal services, allowing information to move more freely, making markets more efficient and unleashing entrepreneurship. All this has a direct impact on economic growth: an extra ten phones per 100 people in a typical developing country boosts GDP growth by 0.8 percentage points, according to the World Bank.

More than 4 billion handsets are now in use worldwide, three-quarters of them in the developing world (see our special report). Even in Africa, four in ten people now have a mobile phone.
With such phones now so commonplace, a new opportunity beckons: mobile money, which allows cash to travel as quickly as a text message.

Across the developing world, corner shops are where people buy vouchers to top up their calling credit. Mobile-money services allow these small retailers to act rather like bank branches. They can take your cash, and (by sending a special kind of text message) credit it to your mobile-money account. You can then transfer money (again, via text message) to other registered users, who can withdraw it by visiting their own local corner shops.

You can even send money to people who are not registered users; they receive a text message with a code that can be redeemed for cash.

Read more

Who is deciding the future of Guinea?

In what appears to be civil unrest, the BBC is reporting that many people have been killed in Guinea following opposition protests against the candidacy of captain Moussa Dadis Camara in the country’s upcoming presidential elections. The elections are scheduled to hold in January 2010.
The current president, Moussa Camara took over, through a coup, in December 2008 following the death of long time president Lansana Konte. At the time, reports said he would remain in power until presidential elections are held and promised not to run for office himself.

The BBC says the following about why the unrest started:
“It was triggered by indications he is to reverse a pledge not to run in a presidential vote planned for January.”

Old turns to New

Photo:Reuters

South Africa in the House
It seems like a game changer at the turn of a new global financial order and every economist is talking about it. Apparently, what used to be the G-8 is being reconstituted into the G-20. The privileged groups of wealthy nations will now, almost permanently, include emerging economies from South America, Africa and Asia. The only African nation represented is South Africa.

Reuters characterized this shift in strategy as follows:
“The Pittsburgh gathering was the third summit in a year for the G20, which said it would now be the “premier forum” for economic cooperation, supplanting the Western-dominated G7 and G8 that were the primary international forums for decades.”

Possible benefits and outcomes of this transformation:
The analysts are talking things like global imbalance, about diversity, inclusivity in problem solving, emerging markets, broader financial regulation, cross border issues, empowerment

Protests, questions, what not?
What are they saying and doing about Africa?

Photo:The BBC

For many years, developed countries have made lots of promises to help deliver health, development and democracy to Africa. Healthcare and economic development are most critical to the stability of the continent. From the G20, the G-8, the United Nations, the European Union, The World Trade Organization, you name it, everyone has made and continues to make promises to help the continent of Africa.
Critics argue that much is left to be desired from all these promises to Africa. The continent still lags behind in clean water and sanitation, treatment for preventable diseases etc.

Why have they not fulfilled on many of these promises, is the question that some protesters are asking.

Africa: An afterthought in Global Trade and Economic Development.
Protesters and activists are asking for fairness, equality and access in dealings with the international community.
The President of the high profile African Development Bank has jumped into the fray and weighed in on the subject. Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank, posted the following blog post on the ONE website for why Africa matters in these discussions:
“In my job as President of the African Development Bank, I see the potential of Africa every day. But it is necessary that the G20 see that potential, too -— and include Africa in their plans for a new global economic foundation.”

As the 64th U.N general assembly meeting winds down, international attention has shifted from New York to Pittsburg in Pennsylvania. So, the talk of “crashing the party” by protest groups and movements gains another level of attention. The talk about nuclear disarmament, global climate change and the world financial system picks up steam with renewed attention towards green technology, sustainable economic growth and globalization. Many of the same issues being discussed in New York are on the agenda for discussion in Pittsburg, PA.

Who is going to crash the summit?
Promises not delivered, they say.

In Pittsburg, many avowed protest groups and movements have already taken up positions with plans to crash the summit of 20 presidents and prime ministers.

Photos:One.org

The ONE organization, a grassroots campaign organization against extreme poverty and preventable diseases, is asking leaders of the G20 nations, now meeting in Pittsburg, to hold the next G20 summit in Africa. Today, the organization sent out an email asking everyone to take action and pressure these leaders to hold the next G20 meeting in Africa.

In the statement they released, the organization said:

“Africa’s tremendous potential will only be unleashed if the rest of the world makes a real effort to bring the continent into the global economy. Africa’s resources, intellectual and physical, can help re-start the global economy and lift a generation out of extreme poverty. But that will only happen if we can get the powerful people meeting in Pittsburgh to look more than 3,500 miles away to Africa”

Photos: MCC, the U.N and G20.org

This week, leaders from around the world began gathering in New York for the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting. As I was thinking about it, it occurred to me that this gathering, now routine for the U.N., has been taking place since 1945 when the U.N was founded. It has been 64 years since the catastrophic events of WWII gave way to the birth of this peace movement called the United Nations.

So, I also found out this week, through an email, that African born Daniel Yohannes was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
The corporation overseas the Millennium Challenge Account, a bilateral development fund created by the Bush administration in 2004. The fund, working through a compact agreement, disburses development resources, with accountability, to both rich and poor nations. A lot of the countries that have benefited from the MCA are from Africa. Many of these countries are now classified as heavily indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)

For the G20, an amalgamation of twenty industrialized nations, with the aim of strengthening the world’s financial systems and fostering sustainable economic growth and development, the September 20 meeting in Pittsburg, comes at a crucial time. It is a crucial time for the financial industry around the world that came close to collapsing under the weight of a mortgage crisis, the cascading effects of job losses, mounting personal and corporate debt.

Photo: DenverBroncos.com

It takes muscle to run an organization

This afternoon, while the Denver Broncos pulled a stunning victory over Cincinnati, I was thinking, how did they do it? We’ll, during the pre-season; the coaches always talked about physique, training and preparation. That’s what is needed for victory in a tight competition such as the NFL.

Just like the NFL, there is muscle that is needed to start, maintain and keep an organization running and humming. Some people think money is all that is needed to win. Yes and No! Money can buy the players, pay the bills, but if you lack the will, drive and determination, you go virtually no where.

So too is running an organization. You can have all the money in the world, have the best players but when it comes the time to play hardball, nothing reigns more than your stamina. In business, stamina means your attitude, your passion and your drive to win no matter the odds.

Go Broncos!

Historic Dance Celebration at the Denver Presbytery lives on!

I thought we were done with “Walking with Africans”, but apparently not. The memory lives on!

We continue to get more photo shots from the dance event that was part of the Denver presbytery’s week long walking with Africans event. Enjoy!