Leaders lament effect of tribalism on Africa’s development

Discussants at the Brenthurst Dialogue have noted with dismay that ethnic disunity or national fragmentation held Africa back.
They also lamented that while radicalisation of ethnic and religious identities reigned in Africa, they were consciously managed in East Asia.

The panel comprising African presidential candidates, including Nelson Chamisa (President, Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe), Hakainde Hichilema (President, United Party for National Development, Zambia), Professor Kingsley Moghalu (2019 Presidential Candidate, Young Progressives Party, Nigeria) and Zitto Kabwe (opposition leader, Alliance for Change and Transparency, Tanzania), spoke on the theme ‘Can Africa Be the Next Asia?’

On his tweeter handle, @MoghaluKingsley, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) highlighted the major take-aways from the three-day discourse in Lake Como, Italy, from September 22 to 24, 2019.He said the discussants noted that since “leadership is everything,” in the midst of “many good intentions and development plans, the execution capacity is weak.”

The speakers also discovered that the African mindset matters.“We must have a sense of urgency and focus about moving from poverty to prosperity,” the stressed.

While noting that it would take time to achieve prosperity, they urged African leaders to “find and do the right things consistently. We must make hard choices.”Other recommendations made by the scholars and technocrats include that governments must create spaces for a healthy private sector on a bedrock of innovation, infrastructure with holistic, integrated market plans.

They, however, warned that not all Asian characters should be copied, because since Asians developed in the context of their own culture, Africa must do the same, with necessary adaptation.