What Can African Leaders Learn From Brazil?

Opinion
By:LibanObsiye
It is no newsnow that China, once just another poor communist nation in the eyes of itscritics, has developed to be the second wealthiest country in the world.However, what would have astounded most people, especially some economists, isthat another once dust bowl of the world economic order, Brazil, has overtakenthe mighty trading nation of Great Britain for the first time in history tobecome the world’s sixth largest economy.
According tothe Centre of Economic and Business Research, Brazil made the historical leapin this year’s annual global economic league tables because of its vastreserves of natural resources and its growing cash rich middle class who arespending as Europeans and Americans tighten their belts as a result of theglobal financial crisis. There is much for African leaders to learn from acountry that was once just like theirs in every imaginable way.
Not allAfrican nations have vast reserves of mineral wealth but most can beeconomically self sufficient if there was fair trade, good governance and acommitment to developing society from the bottom up. To suggest that Brazil’sdevelopment was a luck of geography and all reliant on its mineral resources isabsolutely misleading and anyone who believes this needs to read their historyagain. Alongside the mineral resources, arguably the most successful Brazilianpresident in history, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, initiated and implementedsocial reforms that lifted over 30 million of his people out of poverty. Amongthese reforms were an increase in the minimum wage of Brazilian employees anddirect State provision of public services and financial assistance which wasdiscouraged in the past by the international financial organizations thatprovided loans to Brazil. In direct contrast to the minimal State interventionprescription forced on his predecessors, Lula’s government was able to benefitfrom globalization by selling their national resources on their terms and thenusing these financial and inevitably political gains to redistribute wealthacross society and further advance the interest of their citizens. This processof State led capitalism shattered the myth of the powerless state in an age ofglobal governance and instead of standing by like victims of an uncontrollableglobal virus, Lula’s administration ensured that its people and theircommunities were at the centre of their national development strategy.
The result?Well it speaks for itself. Brazil has a rapid growing middle class, greaterforeign direct investment and it had the courage and confidence recently toissue millions of dollars worth of fines to the Oil drilling giant Chevron fora spill in their sea and the subsequent poor handling of the clear upoperations. The new president, Dilma Rousseff, has continued on the path of hervisionary predecessor by further committing to its young citizens by investingheavily in their education through the extension of the scholarship scheme thattakes them to the worlds finest institutions to study the crucial subjects suchas science, IT and agriculture, that will ensure their individual developmentand nations continual growth.
Unlike thepoor simple shoe shine boy who worked his way through the trade union movementinto the highest political office in Brazil, most African leaders regularlyboast of their education in some of the world’s finest institutions. In manyAfrican countries today it is almost impossible to find a Minister without aPhD. What is the point of all this knowledge amassed over years of study whenit cannot be implemented as a result of division, poor vision and corruption?If anything was to be learnt from all this education it should have been thatthese various governments of differing formations owe a duty to their citizensto fulfill their basic human needs and only by doing this will development inAfrica ever occur.
Africa isrepresented poorly in the media but it is slowly improving. There is new foundhope but old enemies remain. The Economist magazine that once labeled Africa as“the hopeless continent” has a decade later announced that it regretted this asAfrica was finally growing economically as a result of greater politicalstability, global commodity boom, advances in technology and a younger moreeducated population. Many resource rich African nations like South Africa,Botswana and Ghana are now asking foreign investors for a larger slice of theprofits and genuine commitment to knowledge transfer for their citizens withthe threat that they will revoke lucrative contracts and put them to tender tothose corporations that are more compliant with their wishes. More bravely,some of these have even suggested that if they have the expertise and skills incountry and they do not get their way they will nationalize key resourcestotally. While public private partnerships are beneficial, for too long Africangovernments have been losing out but this realization, albeit slightly late,has finally arrived and like in Brazil, China and India it will pay dividend ifthe fair proceeds are collected and used for the purposes of human andinfrastructural development. The simple threat of nationalization of SouthAfrican mines shows how African nations are now linking economic growth withthe need for human development and putting this responsibility on themselvesrather than individual companies.
Democracy iscoming to life in Africa and this is clearly one of the reasons investmentinterest is growing in the continent. The Arab Spring that inspired the worldshowed those African despots and their play boy children that, regardless oftheir allies of convenience in powerful western nations, young Africans willnot stand by and watch their opportunities at development squandered throughgreed, corruption and terror. It also forced one of the most autocratic Africanleaders, King Mohammed of Morocco, to unveil a new constitution which has sincetransferred many real powers to the newly elected Justice and Development Party(PJD).
There aresome elections where the majority party wins 95% of all seats (Equatorial Guinea)and there are those who refuse to go when defeated openly and fairly at theballot box without a fight. However, as witnessed in this year’s Presidentialelection in Senegal, they have started to go peacefully and even call theirvictorious opponents to wish them well rather than imprison them like in thepast.
Democracy, asChina has proven, is not needed for development. But what it does is that itgives governments a real mandate and genuine legitimacy. Even more importantlyit provides the public with the reassurance and confidence that if they are nothappy with an administration they can get rid of them in the future. Theadvantage of democracy is that the government does not have to always feel thatin order to stay in power all it has to do is deliver growth like in China butlike in India, it has to actively listen to the people and act on their policypriorities or lose political clout and voice. More importantly, dictatorshipsin Africa have been a continual recipe for disaster and it is one of the keyroadblocks to reform, growth and happiness in the continent.
Africa is nolonger a hopeless continent. It is a continent of great beauty which is finallystirring to the need for real development. The drivers of social change areyoung, dynamic, educated and demand more from their leaders. They are no longerhappy to watch others get rich through their ill gotten gains. Fear has beenreplaced by hope. Old dictators still lurk around like a deadly bad smell butthey themselves know that their days are numbered if they do not embark on realreforms quickly. Even the best PR firms and managers employed by them to glossover their image for the global audience cannot compete with the many newcommunication technology that they are unable to censor that has brought theirfellow dictators in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia crashing down in disgrace throughbetter communal knowledge sharing about their abhorrent, self indulging andmurderous activities.
Can the tideof young, educated Africans leaving the continent be reversed? Can the braindrain become a national gain rather than dependency creating remittances frombetter governed nations? The indications are that this is possible as China,despite having good infrastructure, sophisticated supply chains and massmanpower, is becoming too expensive for manufacturers. Workers who have wokenup to the real sale price of the products they make so cheaply are demanding afair wage and this coupled with the American accusations of persistentIntellectual Property theft by Chinese companies, may give Africans the breakthey need for foreign investment in manufacturing, call centers and low levelservices to begin with. The fact that most African nations also speak Englishand French as natural second languages gives them an advantage over China andeven India where English is the second common language. Most African leadersrightfully speak at length about trade barriers and the Washington consensus.But like China, India and Brazil, free trade restrictions can be mitigatedthrough price competition and the creation of investment incentives such as aneducated workforce and better infrastructure.
Afterindependence African leaders such as Milton Obote of Uganda and Siyad Barre ofSomalia either wore military uniforms weighed down heavily by medals (earned ornot) or Western tailored three piece suits that made them look like a choking,walking Marks and Spencer’s advert bothat home and abroad. However, now many modern African leaders such as Good LuckJonathan and the World Bank presidential candidate and the Nigerian financeminister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, are very comfortable parading their beautiful,loud and colorful national dresses on the world stage. This new foundconfidence and pride in their traditions and values is what will ensure Africanleaders are heard in the global arena in the future if they couple it withState led development.
The Africancontinents status and importance to global trade and security may be elevatedby the newly discovered vast reserves of oil in the Horn of Africa nations suchas Kenya, Uganda and Somalia as well as its traditional oil producers like asNigeria and Equatorial Guinea. This is because it will create competition byloosening if not totally breaking, the Arab Nations grip on oil production andoffer insurance and security against Arab political volatility which heavilyimpacts on global oil prices and consumer spending. This however, is still adistant dream as African leaders need to convince investors that they arereliable and that their investment is safe through the creation of peace, lawand order as well as an industrial policy that benefits both parties.
Brazil’ssuccess came as a result of a State led development policy underpinned byrespect for citizens and Human Rights. This was coupled with strong governmentintervention in the markets with regulation and taxation policies which ensuredthat the most vulnerable in society did not starve to death while waiting forthe benefits of Brazils new found wealth to trickle down to them. The Statetook it as its duty to redistribute the wealth of the nation so that over 44million citizens could escape poverty. This is an amazing achievement that canbe repeated in Africa if the governments are willing to take responsibility fordevelopment and are able to capitalize and turn into social action the newfound optimism in the continent and its people. No nation, China or otherwise,holds Africa’s future in its hands. Africans do and they are starting torealize this. This is the real step in the right direction that was needed fromindependence. The difference between then and now is that African leaders donot have to reinvent the wheel as they have role models in other developingcontinents. All they have to do is catch up.
Liban Obsiye.
libanbakaa@hotmail.com