Africans Can Do it for Ourselves

By Wangari Maathai, openDemocracy.net. Posted July 7, 2005.

Editor's Note: This article is adapted from a speech that Kenyan environment minister and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai gave on July 2, 2005, at London's African Diaspora & Development Day.

This is a historic time, when the spotlight is on Africa. It is appropriate for us to recognize and applaud the efforts of our friends, both within the G8 and in the wider civil society, who are trying to improve the quality of life in Africa.

In 2004, the peace prize award of Norway's Nobel committee linked the environment with democratic governance and peace. I have compared these three themes and the situation they create to a traditional African stool. Just as such a stool needs three solid legs to be stable, so does any stable state. And just as the legs, the body and the basin of the stool are made from one log, so leaders and citizens must together mould the three pillars.

One cannot build democracy in order later to manage resources sustainably and create peace. Managing resources accountably and responsibly, and sharing them more equitably, are essential to nurture a culture of peace. This in turn is possible only if there is adequate democratic space for everybody; space where the rule of law and the rights of all, including the weak and vulnerable, are respected.

A time for dignity

As I travel across the world, I find that people are concerned about this shift in the concept of peace and security. There can be no peace without sustainable management of resources, justice and fairness.

Indeed, most of the conflicts and wars are over resources: who will access, exploit and utilize them? Who will be excluded? Those who feel excluded, exploited and humiliated can threaten peace and security.

One of the worst outcomes of injustices is poverty. It robs human beings of their dignity. When people are poor and when they are reduced to beggars, they feel weak, humiliated, disrespected and undignified. They hide alone in corners and dare not raise their voices. They are neither heard nor seen. They often suffer in isolation and desperation.

Yet all human beings deserve respect and dignity. As long as millions of people live in poverty and indignity, humanity should feel diminished. This historic time gives all of us, especially those in leadership, the opportunity to reduce poverty.

There is a lot of poverty in Africa. Yet Africa is not a poor continent. It is endowed with human beings, sunshine, oil, precious stones, forests, water, wildlife, soil, land and agricultural products. So what is the problem?

First, many African people lack knowledge, skills and tools to add value to their raw materials so that they can take more processed goods into the local and international markets, where they would negotiate better prices and better rules for trade. In such situations, Africans find themselves locked out of productive, rewarding economic activities that would provide them with the regular income they need to sustain themselves.

They are either unemployed or underemployed — and they are certainly underpaid. They may wish to secure a well-paid job, but if they do not have the tools, nobody will hire them. Neither will they be able to take care of their housing, healthcare, education, nutrition, and other family and personal needs.

Second, there is economic injustice, which must be addressed not only by the rich industrialized countries, but also by African leaders. Africans have been poorly governed. This misgovernment continues to allow the exploitation of resources in Africa, without much benefit to African citizens.

Africa's diaspora and civil society

I commend the African diaspora for believing in small and medium-sized enterprises, which are key to enabling Africans to fulfil their aspirations for jobs and economic security. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido) reports that 90% of all businesses in Africa are small and medium-sized. We must support this sector, and ensure that it thrives. The diaspora can ensure that this sector grows in the home countries.

Africans in the diaspora are estimated to send back some $200 billion to Africa each year. This money assists both their families and the national economy. We need to encourage and sustain this interest and commitment. We need initiatives that are simple, attainable and able to generate visible success in a short time. This creates momentum, trust, excitement and goodwill around solutions that ordinary people themselves own and believe in.

A lot remains to be done. But I am encouraged by the increased willingness of African leaders to commit to gradual improvement of governance, especially through comparatively more free and fair elections, the creation of Nepad, sub-regional political and economic coalitions, and the African Union.

Wangari Maathai founded Kenya's Green Belt Movement. Winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, she is now Kenya's Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife.

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