I’m no economist, but I understood the reality of the challenges facing Africa today, because of the negative effects of the global economic crisis and give you an overview of the global crisis, Africa Perspective. There is no doubt that Africa is hardest hit by the effects of the global financial crisis, and this summit is about brainstorming to find solutions to the unfortunate situation. If you are looking for solutions, I will share my experience with you.
Globalization through each section of the imagination has great advantages. Unfortunately, it is clear that Africa has not benefited from its position is noted and instead of becoming too dependent on developed countries to the great detriment of the suffering masses. Africa is vulnerable to a number of reasons. The first is the lack of national tenacity, responsibility and the spirit of patriotic fervor. Africa has been unable to remain united and confident, because many of us in leadership positions, rather than the ideals that protect the sovereignty of our country have fallen to the dictates of our colonial and development partners and the end of their multinational organizations that come with promises of jobs, capital and infrastructure development.
Unfortunately, these investment opportunities do not benefit from the mass of our people because of political and economic parasites who are at the head of affairs in our country. Corruption is real and if it does not take into account the failure of key African in our deliberations over the coming days and make the chair with a scientific approach to address the impact of the global crisis in Africa going to do great harm to the continent.
Corruption is a major drawback for any development that embraces our continent. Some of us have created a culture of impunity that gives us the right to use all possible methods to fleece our country’s resources. If we can not improve the corruption index each year on what basis do we cry over the negative impact of the global economic crisis? The core parts of the continent has literally been sold in the 30 to 50 years, most African countries were supposedly independent of colonial rule. Ironically, most aspects of our sovereignty seem to have regained our colonial and development partners and some of their companies.
Some of these foreign influences even dictate what political views we have to take and unfortunately, we have also brought their cultures with condescending arrogance. I am very pleased that we do not live in a vacuum and can not be expected to produce everything you need on site, but we became so obsessed with foreign cultures and to consider adoption as a sign of quality of life. Globalization has its own precepts. He preaches the free movement of goods and services and denounced the imposition of any financial barriers. The assumption is that by all economies benefit from the land equally.
We know this has proven to be a nightmare, especially for those of us in Africa. And how can we expect there to be equal when there were obvious differences from the beginning. Most of our continent lack of infrastructure development, lack of the ability to transform natural resources into finished products and there was no bargaining power in trade. Although the production of cocoa, timber, minerals of all types and a considerable amount of oil that we sell, because the control of short-term interest foreign unfortunately, even exploitation of natural resources on their own terms.
Are the changes that globalization is taking place on our terms? Have we been able to stem the brain drain? Are we not accept globalization at the expense of our own development and survival? We know that most of us have inherent weaknesses in relation to our political relationship with our people. This is what makes us so vulnerable.
When globalization has become a slogan of China, for example, struck quickly on its greatest resource – skilled labor – and continued to work hard on all manufacturing imaginable on the planet. While we have suffered a brain drain, they have ensured that the majority of Chinese who was educated in the economies in the West and other advanced returned to disseminate this knowledge. Today, China is a major economic and military power and is respected throughout the world. Under the costs and benefits of globalization, we seem to have suffered the most difficult and the summit, the tasks you identify opportunities to reverse this trend.
One of the main roads to recovery is the establishment of mechanisms to protect the national sovereignty of our country in terms of economic development. There is no clearly established mechanisms defining the extent of investor transactions and the lack of structures to monitor their activities, many of these investors who abuse our national interests without control. Most of these investors to repatriate most of their profits in their home countries, leaving us with little capital to reinvest in other projects viable. The developing world needs a bold and aggressive political leadership, traditional, legal and business dedicated to the upliftment of his people.
Fourteen years ago, at the Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen, Denmark, I challenged the Western banks and financial institutions to open the chest and books to expose leaders and personalities who had plundered the riches of his country, but were protected by what is called the west bank secrecy rules and confidentiality. At that time, my fellow world leaders met my challenge was met with stunned silence. Fidel Castro was the only character who welcomed the challenge.
The negative effect of globalization has been a wake-up call. Governments and peoples of the world have felt the chilling effect of diversion of the wealth of their nations in foreign currencies and other offshore accounts, the accumulation of wealth in the drug trade, terrorism financing and the acquisition of political power is now gone after these banks to provide their customers criminals and their prey. If we are able to contain this kind of savagery to economic decentralization and regionalization will provide the way forward in our quest for development.
Decentralization is a system of decentralization barns respect and trust of the people we want as a leader. Decentralization allows governments to share the burden with the common people. This is what needs to be structured and raised, what we call the local government. Everything possible is done to encourage local governments. The central government shares the burden of people with demystifies what the government is all about and bring people to your problems, the faces of the central government. Plenty of examples are scattered throughout the continent, governments use development project known as the priorities of the people when the positions are completely different. During the mid-70s, the government of Ghana have spent their hard earned resources to build a wall of the stadium into a modern medical facility was a priority project area requested by the people.
The current economic crisis and financial crisis is the worst crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, confirmed what we have known in Africa for a long time – that markets are fickle and they favor the stronger players. It is now more than ever clear that the international financial institutions was wrong to tell the African states to adopt a non-interventionist and bad advice that weakened African economies and put us in a poor condition to withstand the shock current. It is now clear that even the strongest economies, the effect of the rapid response of government has been demonstrated. We have seen that the state is not the enemy of development. In Africa as elsewhere, no doubt, we need a strong state development that can protect the right of Africa to contribute to the global economy, not only as suppliers of raw materials or as hewers of wood .
But this, we need to unite as Africans in the north and south of the Sahara, and to build a viable and beautiful political and economic status, which can support creativity and inventiveness and initiative of those versatile and talented . It should not be afraid to upgrade our people. When we apply the decentralization correctly, create a healthy development of climate change because ordinary people to claim ownership of policies, projects and programs and are willing to stomach the failures, along with the government. How many governments have been grappling with expensive public relations exercise to convince people of all kinds of excuses for failed projects? If the decision to implement these projects did not down, but the speech of people distributed in the environment, there would be no need to waste scarce resources to protect the reputation of the government.
Decentralization in Ghana achieved through the creation of a district assemblies democratically elected and their sub-structures. And through a system of elections and consultation meetings with the leaders and other opinion makers, 70 percent has been elected partners while 30 percent were reserved for representatives, who were mainly economically minded intellectuals and professionals, whose experience provided more informed decisions.
Decentralization and empowerment of people as leaders puts us in a position of responsibility because of the population, instead of demanding accountability from them. Local government now has the potential to deliver development that meets the basic needs and rights of people in the developing world, helping to tackle the crisis of globalization. It has the potential to contribute to preventing conflicts with the requirements of good governance and participation.
Decentralisation is also encouraged by a higher sense of social responsibility towards the sanitary conditions to prevent serious infectious diseases and infectious diseases. It also allows for a more responsible use of local natural resources and prevent pollution at the same time. Local governments have the potential to promote population control and reduction of extreme poverty and degradation. Decentralization, if well done is the basis for regionalization. The regionalization as we all know, we are able to benefit from economies of scale, bargaining power stronger and draw on the resources of Member States in support of the whole group.
Today, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is one of the strongest regional groups of the continent. It took me forever to get where we are now, but still have no economic integration is needed to ensure the benefits of economies of scale, which allows us to be one of the common currency, to build factories and tap the natural resources of the other for global development.
But as stated earlier these steps will require bold leadership and a decentralized structure to ensure effective participation and control of national policies. This is crucial as to achieve the integration of key players should be people who will participate. Socio-cultural differences of our continent can not be controlled if the participants in the base does not feel that their sovereignty is being given by the central government.
Everyone asks how we should change the development model of capitalism call, we consider that this is a good time to insist on a return to African values and seriously question the emphasis on selfish individual, who is in the heart of the model capitalism, which has led us to this alarming situation in the world. We need a return to community values and the abandonment of the values of the selfish. It is a time to insist that there are many things that Africa can learn about the world, if we believe in ourselves and the value of our cultural and spiritual heritage.