Introduction

Conclusions and recommendations: seven proposals to involve  Africa more

Chapter I. Recall of some fundamentals of the ‘unique and predominant thought’

Chapter II. The stakeholders’ adaptation to the globalization needs

Chapter III. Recent dangerous weaknesses and failures in the global process

Chapter IV. A plea for Africa
 
 

Introduction:

1. Crisis situations present an advantage, which triggers thought about identifying the causes, and effects of disfunctioning noticed and proposed pertinent remedies to rectify undesirable abnormalities. The current end of the Century financial crisis offers the opportunity to come up with conditions of consequent change for a better management of the world affairs and give answers to the needs of a world qualified as a Global Village.
2. In the Global Village, constraints of communication linked in the past to space, time, languages or cultures are progressively diminishing. Rules, which regulate relations between stakeholders, become more and more harmonized and unified. The unique thought triumphs as exclusive reference rationalizing and legitimizing choices at the global level. This dominant ideology constitutes the keystone for a good understanding of the world system in its current functioning. It is the main source of causes and final effects in the crisis.
3. The power relations between stakeholders are changing, becoming more and more complex. At the grassroots level, populations develop new tools of expression and of representation, which reinforce usual practices of democracy regarding multiparty political system or other socio-professional representatives’ interest taking more specific solidarity proximity needs into consideration. At the top, intergovernmental organizations widen the field of their competency in spite of States, which are their constituents. Between the two, it is the field of moving forms of interactive relations between States, societies, public, private, national, international, multinational or transnational enterprises.
4. The technological success stories, mainly in communication sectors transform the usual rhythms in human relations. It is an important fact to be taken into account. In the Global Village and this age of new technology of communication and information it is time to reform habits of thought, action and reaction. Some stakeholders anticipate events to obtain more advantages with changes. Others suffer changes in poverty and hopelessness. Indeed, there is a real risk that profits gained by the winners would appear insufficient to compensate the loss of losers. Costs for security and peacekeeping operations in the poverty and distress zones will compromise efforts made for growth and progress in zones of wealth and opulence.
5. The disturbing crisis manifestations in an advanced sector of the globalization that of fluctuation management financial and monetary rise questions about the capability of the system in that field. Some concerned by the importance of the phenomena demand a New World Summit to reform consequently the Bretton Woods Institutions. Others, more relevant, consider that the approach is fragmentary and plead in setting up new institutions capable of playing the role of World Government.
6. Conclusions and recommendations of this paper are in accordance with the problem of the unique thought promoted by some, accepted under pressure by others. Even if the unique thought is today compromised by the events, its fundamentals have to be well understood and assessed before any reform proposals. The image of the world as a Global Village is pertinent to characterize the current world economy and society, a village where it become more and more difficult to hide the misery of slums to neighbors who live in rich areas. In such approach, Africa is a shantytown, which may lead to the risks of the collapses of the Global Village.
7. The seven following propositions must normally be at the end of the paper but have been brought up here to make it clearer.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Conclusions and recommendations: seven proposals to involve Africa more

Points to support proposition N° 1

8. Opportunities will be available at a monthly or weekly rhythm to plead for Africa in forums, to sensitize African Representatives on challenges of the exercise and to internationally encourage, the agreement of the World Community that debates on Africa, with Africans, should constitute a focal point of all debates on globalization (TICAD II (Tokyo, October 1998), Initiative 20/20 (Hanoi, October 1998), Regular Meetings of BWI and G 7, Debates on the future of European Union and Afro- Caribbean and Pacific Countries. Forum of Davos (1999), Forum of Dakar on competitiveness of Africa (Dakar, November 1998), etc.

 

 

Proposition N° 1

9. It seems important to create new Groups of thought and proposals with mandates to support and consolidate existing Networks, Institutions, Organizations, Forums and Coalitions which defend African positions. These new Groups deal with three levels : the first Group should be a political one which could be chaired by the President of OAU, composed of a dozen of African Ministers in charge of planning and development problems, selected on a voluntary and consensual basis. The second would be an Expert Group which could be composed on an equal representation basis : a dozen of High Civil African Managers and a dozen of international and Regional Organization Representatives concerned by the debate on Africa (WB, UNDP, ECA, ADBf, UNCTAD, UNICEF, UNFPA, etc…). The third would be an Independent Group composed of a dozen of African leaders of opinion, selected on the basis of their known commitment for a unified Africa in its diversity, as a struggling Continent despite its handicaps. The three Groups would have mandates for one or two years. They would work using new technology of information and communication, developing a performing network and publishing in large scale discussion-papers for governments, political parties, universities, civil societies, NGOs and other associations and communities.

 

 

Points to support proposition N° 2

10. Many World Summits have been organized during this decade : Education for all, (Jomtiem 1990), Summit for children, ( New York 1990), Environment and Development (Rio 1992), Human Rights (Vienna 1993), Population and Development (Cairo 1994), Social Development, (Copenhaguen 1995), Summit on Gender and Development, ( Beijing 1995), Habitat and Human settlement, ( Istambul 1996) and World Food Summit, (Rome 1996). These high level meetings brought successively a lot of pertinent recommendations, with unfortunately, few implementations in the African Continent. The costs of their preparation, tenue and follow-up have been expensive regarding the results on the African development. They created hope for poor populations but also frustrations linked to the unsatisfactory level of implementation.

 

 

Proposition N° 2

11. An urgent and first mandate should be given to Groups of thought and proposals to promote scenarios for real implementation in Africa of all World Summits’ Objectives at a reasonable horizon (2020 for example). National Long Term Perspective Studies (NLTPS), the African UNDP Program, should contribute to this taskforce actualizing and if necessary reorienting its works to support the new problem.

 

 

Points to support proposition N° 3

12. In weeks, the work on scenarios to identify conditions for African countries will come up with realistic conditions to meet with objectives of World Summits, it will be evident to demonstrate how low the current level of investments is in Africa, due to many causes such as the insufficiency of local savings, Public Aid Development and lake of interest of national and foreign investors.

 

 

Proposition N° 3

13. Groups of thought and suggestions have to develop arguments to justify the imperative of a rapid growing effort of investment rate which must rise from its current level of about 12 % to an adequate level, higher than 30 % . That is a basic condition to achieve in an acceptable horizon the World Summits’ objectives and to promote Africa and make this Continent able to play an active role in the globalization process of peace, development and progress.

 

 

Points to support proposition N° 4

14. If it appears clear that Africa need in this particular phase of development more investments and more aid flow the proposals made by Groups of thought have to discourage negative interpretations and bad applications for Africa of the predominant view, taking over from so-called neo-liberal consensus. It means that condionalities like minimal level of absorptive capacity, opening of the market, competitiveness, comparative advantages must be reviewed for a flexible and gradual application during the necessary period for Africa to reach a satisfactory development level.

 

 

Proposition N° 4

15. The Groups of thought and proposals have to formulate priority master action plan aiming at the achievement of regional integration programs promoted in the 70s and 80s by ECA. Conception and execution modalities of such programs must be of benefit to African capacity in major sectors of integration such as infrastructure, transport, communication, water, energies, etc…

 

 

Points to support proposition N° 5

16. National strategies and priorities in different African countries oriented the last two decades by Stabilization and Structural Adjustment Programs which led in many cases to the aggravation of poverty and to the regression of African capacity in services and industrial sectors of production. Sometimes, these programs were more or less responsible for political and social troubles.

 

 

Proposition N° 5

17. Groups of thought and suggestions have to built a coalition ‘vis a vis’ of the unique thought to support the idea that to reach peace and progress in the best conditions in the Global Village it is imperative to build national, modern, diversified, and competitive economic basis in African countries. It means that national economic development programs will be oriented by the need to enhance in each country, sound economy programs based on imperatives of complementary, specialization and solidarity between African countries before checking if rules of predominant thought have been effectively respected at the global level.

 

 

Points to support proposition N° 6

18. Two decades of Stabilization and Adjustment Programs and forced implementation of rules of the predominant thought have not improved the African economies. The State role in Africa is becoming an uncomfortable situation where it is requested to reduce its interventions leaving the private sector free in accordance with the so-called ‘laissez-faire’ and at the same time it is responsible for building a sound national and wealthy economy, mobilizing national capacity to struggle against underdevelopment and poverty.

 

 

Proposition N° 6

19. The good governance criteria used more and more by donors to justify the conditions of public aid have to be revisited when implemented in Africa, to take care of the specific conditions of the Continent. The constituencies of good governance like transparency, accountability, individual and collective liberty of expression, empowerment of populations, justice and media independence have to be used with equity, depending on the real national capacity to efficiently handle these important praxis and to assume the ownership on them (for example, during the Post Second World War period, the reconstruction of European economies had been supported by the American aid through the famous Marshall’s Plan without strong conditionalities regarding the nature – public or private – of enterprises, as efficient actors of development. In all the countries concerned the public sector played an important role during one or two decades before undertaking a progressive and ownership process of privatization) .

 

 

Points to support proposition N° 7

20. Intergovernmental Institutions promote expensive methodologies to classify countries either on the macroeconomic basis like BWI or on socioeconomic basis like the Human Development Index, with its three principal constituencies : life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate and adjusted real GDP per capita or secondary constituencies : regional and gender related disparities in development index, empowerment measures, political and economic participation measures, environment and pollution measures, human rights related development index, etc… Unfortunately, these classification approaches are not able to measure correctly the progress accomplished which great difficulties by poor countries which always remain at the end of the classification. (for example the case of Burkina Faso is significant : for a decade this country did visible progress and remained at the end of the classification because it comes from a low level and methodologies have not yet promoted criteria to underline progress made even if the results are quantitatively and significantly few regarding rich and developed countries).

 

 
 
 
 

Proposition N° 7

21. New indicators and indexes have to be promoted to set up a classification of countries which take into account and reward progress accomplished by countries regarding objective conditions and not the level reached. Such approach will be attractive and stimulating for underdeveloped countries and poor societies.

 

 
 
 
 

Chapter I. Recall of some fundamentals of the ‘unique and predominant thought’

22. At the end of the 20^th Century, the triumphs of Capitalism is a reality. The alternative proposed ten years ago by Socialism, since the fall of the Wall of Berlin became unrealistic in spite of more than half a century of implementation. Many hopes of those who believed in it had been disappointed. Many of those who struggled with success against it are delighted. Everywhere, the market is leading, everywhere the market is the law. Stateness, State intervention, State planning, State backstopping should have been replaced by deregulation and other free market mechanisms. The States adopted disturbing practices in wanting to do everything by themselves. Today, they have to change leaving market and private sector initiatives playing the leader role. If necessary, they have to improve the market and the private operators to be more and more efficient. Is the world development influencing the unique thought or is it influenced by it ? this question have to be addressed.
23. Doctrines which support Liberalism are presently justified by the evolution of the world. Free competition which presides over market transactions, at the local, national, regional or international level require a situation of perfect transparency to facilitate operators' choices. When reference is made to an economic system which is in a dynamic restructuring system to built the Global Village, in which new technologies of information and communication reduce space and time, it seems easier today to assess conditions of transparency than it was in the past.
24. It is easier to agree that in the Global Village it will be more and more difficult to admit each State promoting its own rules and its own laws. Transnational societies become prosperous and argue that doing so they built the world, the global prosperity. Their continued capacity and competency expanding is in accordance with liberal economic dogma such as 'higher produce process' (rendements croissants) or 'economy scale' (economie d'echelle). Thanks to consequent arbitration and to justified compensation such transnational companies manage in the best possible conditions, normal constraints linked to restructuring their means and to the redeployment of their localization. Growing in a word without frontiers and without constraining rules, it enable them to better capture opportunities and to better respect another liberal economic dogma : the "comparative advantage" (avantage comparatif).
25. Factories which are bankrupt, workers and employees transformed as jobless, growing poverty, spreading inequity, all these manifestations of Capitalism and Ultra Liberalism have to be addressed as normal things, taking into account that in a changing process, phenomena of destruction could be considered as the engine of growth and progress. That could be considered as an important condition of innovation. The doctrine teaches that a world without innovation is a hopeless world.

 

 
 
 

Chapter II. The stakeholders’ adaptation to the globalization needs
 

26. Actors of the Global Economy develop their strategies around interests, sometimes convergent, sometimes divergent. States draw their legitimacy from Sovereign Rule, speaking on behalf of their populations. These States delegate part of their power to International or Regional Institutions and to Transnational Organizations.
27. Transnational Organizations and International and Regional Institutions have more and more prerogatives and become relevant partners in development, thanks to their statute as States' Representatives. They constitute the heart of the globalization debates. In the Global Village there is place only for a Unique Leader implementing a unique power. More and more, voices rise around the world to plead for converting the United Nations Organization (UNO) and its related Specialized Institutions into a Global Government. The expected Global Government should be and example of pertinence, thanks to active implementation of criteria of real Democracy and Good Governance. Obviously, it will be a long and difficult process to reform the present UNO to give the System more equality and equity effectiveness. The current practice in the System is based on rules such as : "power is law", "voice of the strongest is always the best because it has at its disposal means for implementing taken decisions". Current debates on the necessary UN-Security Council wideness and for reviewing the extraordinary power of its Permanent Members prove the difficulties of the initiative.
28. Another important debate links to the legitimacy questions on the need to create and to reinforce an intermediary level of power between the global and the national one. The existing structures are not sufficient enough and must be reviewed to take into account changes expected at the global level. The current trend shows three main poles which should constitute the base of the Global Village : i) the American Continent with its North, Central and South parts; ii) the Asian part of the world; iii) and the remaining part of the world including Europe, Africa, the Middle East and some other Pacific and Caribbean countries (this third pole represents the actual group consisting of European Union/African, Caribbean and Pacific countries).
29. In addition to States and intergovernmental Organizations another category of operators is becoming more and more relevant in the global debate. It is the category of multinational or transnational companies in which some of them deal with budget many times greater than countries' budgets. These companies with a growing trend have all facilities to manage without constraining their localization, interventions and transformations to always be independent vis à vis Governments and national laws.(Ignacio Ramonet wrote in an editorial of the French newspaper "le Monde diplomatique" of June 1998 that the amount of fusion and integration operations between these companies in 1997 had been higher than 1,600 billions of US Dollars).
30. Finally, populations and individuals who constitute the basic category without whom there is no reason for States, nor for companies which are structuring themselves with regards to the process of democratization. In deed they constitute the base of the political organization able to meet up with major effects on the progress to safeguard the Human Right and to enhance the extraordinary multiplication of Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which intervene widely in the global debate. Presently, Human Beings struggle more and more efficiently for individual and collective right of freedom expression regardless of the gender, the color of skin, the place they are living, the quality of health or the poverty or richness statue. Today, all those who where so called jobless, homeless voiceless or hopeless because of their place of residence, their ethnic, their religion or their social origin gain the right of expression, thanks to the democratization of access to media. That is really a revolution in thought with unexpected effect. The debates on the nature and the aim of Democracy and Development opens to minorities and to those who are excluded a new and privileged statue of social category. This is with respected and relevant rights regardless of their real economic potentialities or harmful effect capacities.

 

 

Chapter III. Recent dangerous weaknesses and failures in the global process
 
 

31. In this end of the 20 th Century, humanity seems to progress in a satisfactory manner to meet aims of growth, development and progress. Thanks to the extraordinary results obtained by New Technology of Information and Communication (NTICs) the human being ensure his supremacy on the nature that he exploits without limits. Wars menace which threated  its future twice in the first half of this Century have been relegated among forgotten nightmares, not because of human wisdom but because of the deterrent power of nuclear weapons. Potentialities of conflicts and conflagrations between the East and the West, exacerbated by decades of ideological struggle, suddenly disappeared as if by magic. Difficult dialogue North/South and recriminations of southern poor populations against northern rich populations also lost its legitimacy, as a result of the potential solutions advocated by globalization approach. Everywhere democratic practices progress encouraging the right of freedom of expression and limiting abuses and repression.
32. It's true that here and there, there exist regional, ethic or religious limited wars. But, international, regional and sub regional Institutions are doing their best to promote peace making and peace keeping army troupes, even if the cost of this activity is taken from the insufficient available resources for development. Difficult situations of starvation, diseases, illiteracy, unemployment and great poverty are assessed in a rational manner, as limited and non sustained phenomena. Thanks to the unique and dominant thought all situations seem to be under control and the progress and development reached by developed countries will necessary spray its benefits to underdeveloped countries and will support efforts for poverty alleviation.
33. Comfortable assessment if there is not a financial and economic crisis situations which come from time to time disturbing the analysis. The first serious alarm affected Mexican economy (1994-95) and required a large support from the international economy. The Bretton Woods Institutions and the USA helped Mexican economy with about 50 billions of US$. Since summer 1997, the financial crisis left its national aspect to became regional problem with huge difficulties in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Korea, Singapour, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And while China is resisting, Latino America and East Europe are dealing with real financial difficulties. More upsetting, industrialised countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand face uncomfortable situations linked to irritability of occidental financial markets .
34. The situation seems so serious that many high level leaders proposed a global Summit to reform the financial international structures including the Bretton Woods Institutions. At the end of September 1998, the twelve French proposals pleaded for the restructuring of the International Financial System. Should we once more organize a Global Meeting where only developed countries' voices will be expressed and be heard ? Or is there any opportunity in the Global Village to change customs and to give the chance to the underdeveloped countries in general and to African countries in particular to expose their problems and to propose relevant solutions ? In the second case, the following plea for Africa tries to give some justifications for the Agenda proposed before in the conclusions and recommendations chapter.

 

 

Chapter IV. A plea for Africa
 
 

35. The present situation is under the rule of the unique and dominant thought. All protagonists are required to respect and contribute to the achievement of Globalization 's objectives. Doing that, the advantages are obtained by everyone and shared between all. Nothing could further justify that specific interests and particular needs of the African Continent will not be taken into account. For a long time, evolutionist theories of the development tried to prove that Countries and Continents which suffer from delay in their evolution have only to fellow the experience of developed countries and their success will certainly be guaranteed. Following success stories of practices in rich countries they could recapture their delay and become examples to be followed. Reference is often made to the case of the so called "Asian Dragons" with their emergent economies. Their case has been shown to African countries as an example because in just a few decades they rapidly took off from a very low level of development to a higher level of growth and progress. In spite of the economic and financial crisis they presently face, they constitute a relevant group which is present in the global debate.
36. Many efforts have been made to address why the African Continent is not progressing but regressing. Even those who are optimistic and believe in the potentialities of Africa recognize this pessimist assessment. Two decades of Stabilization and Structural Adjustment Programmes' implementation with consequent policies of privatization, devaluations capacity building, good governance, modernization and restructuring of Administration, management of the debts, have not reach expected results in Africa. Most of the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) are in Africa. Economic capacity of production, especially in industry and in services are regressing. The poverty is growing. Africa is today in a worst situation than it was  at the end of the 70^s when it has been saved from 20 years of state oriented and planning policies used during the period post colonization.
37. Nepotism, Regionalism, Corruption, mismanagement, and other deviations due to incompetence and misgovernance, such practices which exist in Africa. These do not only existe in this area hence are not sufficient to explain the African disaster. Billions of dollars of public aid had been given under donors' control, without results to support African development. In this case the lack of result must be supported by both recipients and donors. Even if some authors link the insufficiency of results in Africa to racist theories which legitimize the low level of productivity in Africa regarding endemic, climatic or cultural conditions. These theories did not resist the reality that African migrant workers have normal productivity when they are in normal conditions of work and live in countries where they are immigrants.
38. Debates on underdevelopment theories exhausted many generations of researchers without finding appropriate solutions. For some of them it is not useful to pursue such debates. It is better to go ahead building on results obtained even if they are not so relevant. The Liberalism supported by the unique and dominant thought is the single reference in international political, economic and social relations. The entire implementation of recommendations to make local, national and regional economies dependant on the Global Market 's peremptory imperatives with its dogma of comparative advantage and superiority of private sector. There is no place for interrogations about the relevance of theories pleading for implementation of the same rules to address economic problems anywhere they exist, in China like in USA, in Brazil like in Portugal, in Congo like in Luxembourg, in Cape Verde like in Japan.
39. Here and there grows divergent ideas which plead to review these theories and practices as pertinent as they seem to make them more adapted to the Global Village's realities. Reference is often made to the good sense of the family head who shares with equity the family revenue between all members of family, regardless of age, health or capacity to contribute to the revenue. At the national level, the good governance must ensure that all citizens have equal chances with a access  to the repartition of the fruits of the growth. At the global level, the Global Government have to manage in the best conditions between countries and between populations the results of growth and progress. Without renouncing the liberal theories and fighting the ideology of unique and predominant thought there is place for pleading for a special partnership to take into consideration, during a limited phase, the specificity of the African Continent
40. In this limited historical phase, development theories and doctrine principles have to be forgotten in exchange of strategic plans able to promote as quickly as possible and under international community representatives' control the Continent, making it reach an acceptable level of economic and social development. That is a possible way to change the Continent from its assisted statue to an active pole contributing significantly to the growth of the Global Village. In two or three decades it should be possible to meet all the International Summits' objectives offering to each African family, job, revenue, education, health, habitat, culture, etc… It constitute a global challenge at the level of the Global Village, well governed, sharing between all, peace, progress and happiness.

 

 
 


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