Africa -China Review Africa -China Cooperation and Transformation
By Mweusi Karake
My ex-boss and mentor, Erastus Mwencha, whom I worked under as Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), as his first Public Relations officer, the position that I held under him form entire 10 years of service at COMESA, when his COMESA mandate ended and he won the position of Deputy Chairperson of the African Union; recently published an article about how “ technology shatters restrictive colonial boundaries,” a very relevant analysis vis a vis the upcoming Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA ).
Although the purpose pf this article is not to discuss , Ambassador Erastus Mwencha, it is very difficult for me to discuss regional and continental integration without having him in mind. As his PR I had to make maximum efforts to understand economic integration since on several occasion, I had to act as his spokesperson to sell successes as well as pre empty failures.
Mr Mwencha like all human beings had strength and weaknesses. As his PR I loved the way he let me do my job without undue interferences, quite often instead of preaching to me, “consulting” me. It took me time to learn that many of his consultations were actually meant to gauge how much I had grasped our mission so that he would comfortably know that what I spoke on his behalf ( and therefore on behalf of COMESA) I was giving the correct image.
The difficult part I had with him was his humility. Humility is a great virtue, but the field of PR is about blowing your own trumpet. And so blowing someone’s trumpet who is keeping playing low profile can be tricky. That was my boss Mr. Mwencha. The greatest thing was that whatever I claimed was his achievements were always an understatement.
Back to his opinion page published in The East African December 5th to 11, 2020 ; Ambassador Erastus Mwencha, gives the historical haphazard of African colonial boundaries created by the 1984 Berlin conferences. A misfortune of history. But he goes further to point out that the concept of intra African trade is not a new phenomenon. “the Concept of Intra African Trade dates before 15th Century. Despite war and competitiveness’ among African Empires they traded amoung themselves, sometime travelling long distances to do so.”
Mr Mwencha further reminds the readers that during the partition of Africa , what was done was not to the benefit of Africans, but to settle disputes amoung Europeans themselves who were scrambling for pieces of land on the African continent “the boundaries engenders rivalries that have persisted and taken the form of mistrust among African Leaders”, he says.
These are word of a Man who has spent much of his professional life trying to contribute to reginal and African integration. As I said early, Ambassador Mwencha is my former boss and we know each other despite our different backgrounds. I know that he is not quick to make accusations. So when he talks about “rivalries that have persisted and taken the form of mistrust among African Leaders”, it is something that he has carefully observed and is concerned about. “ the rivalries have been costly to the continent and partly explains the perpetual disadvantages that have contributed to Africa’s poor performance in economic, social, and even political growth, almost 140 years since they were drawn up, the arbitrary boundaries continue to define the relationship among Africa states” he points out. As I said before, Mr. Mwencha is not quick to make accusations, but taking into account the fact that he held the second most powerful position at the African Union, he must have experienced first-hand these unfortunate unhealthy relationship among Africa states.
And it is with this long background that I come back to the minimum requirement: “ Trust and Free movement of people”. For Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA ) to succeed these intra African states unhealthy rivalries will have to be set aside.
At the risk of sounding a pessimist I have to say that they are many out there who do not wish the AfCTA to succeed, and they will be whispering into the ears of every leader who is willing to listen of why AfCTA is to no good.
There is one common factor about ordinary Africans. They are hospitable and they trust each other. I say this with my childhood experience. In Africa it was not uncommon and still is in rural Africa, to turn up in a village hungry and ask for food. You are not treated as a beggar you are treated as a hungry traveler. The typical African will give you food and shelter and next day escort you to your next destination. The ordinary African does not ask you for a laissez passes or a passport. The problem is the mistrust among politicians.
African Leadership needs to deal with mistrust first and foremost
We are hardly two weeks to the rollout of The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), initially meant to rollout in July of this year, but now scheduled to 1st January 2021. A New Year gift to Africans!!! The AfCFTA was created to solidify economic regional cooperation within the continent.
But looking to the complex trade relations between many African countries, will the gift be real or will 1st January 2021 be one of the much pomp that never go beyond the pre-wedding party? Already we are seeing brewing problems in different parts of Africa even before the end of engagement party that are likely to affect the AfCFTA
In West African, Nigeria the regional economic giant has shown signs of leaning towards economic nationalism and protectionism. Protecting people, renders no free entry to neighbours with anxiety over foreign competition.
The AfCFTA Secretariat was deliberately headquartered in Accra Ghana, in honour of Kwame Nkrumah the pan Africanist who at independence advocated for United States of Africa.
Looking at the trade relations between Nigeria and Ghana; the two economic giants of West Africa, in recent years, it is clear that trade relations are strained, with the actions and reactions from both sides drawing them further away from cooperation.
Recent reports indicate that Ghana and Nigeria, though not immediate neighbours are estimated to have an annual trade between them of more than 2.6 billion USD, much of this is in the informal sector. To run informal sector countries has to allow free movements between their people.
Trade dispute have also been experienced with Nigerian immediate neighbours. In August 2019, Nigeria partially closed its borders with Cameroon, Benin and Niger without warning.Nigeria and Ghana do not share any borders, so the two could not close the borders, nevertheless many Ghanaian traders who cannot afford to go abroad heavily rely on Nigeria for supplies. Ghanaian traders and drivers depend on the Abidjan-Lagos Highway for overland access to markets across the region, and the border closure made passage impossible.
In retaliation, at the beginning of 2020, the Ghana Union of Traders Association (GUTA) initiated the closure of some Nigerian-owned shops. There was even an attack on Nigerian high commission in Ghana 19 June 2020.
Xenophobia
South Africa is the economic giant in Southern Africa. The biggest player in Africa’s oldest customs Union. The Southern African Customs union (SACU) and a leader in the SADC region. Yet xenophobic harassment and violence against African foreigners living in South Africa are routine and sometimes deadly. To make matters worse, the government seems unable to ensure that xenophobic attacks by members of the public are stopped; this could be partly that political votes are at risk. Videos have also shown some members of the police use excessive force against foreigners, human right organisations have often accused the authorities of failure by the government to investigate and hold those responsible accountable.
In Eastern Africa, Uganda has had the most violent political campaigns, in its history; leading to 2021 elections, xenophobic attacks have been very common perpetrated, by supporters of both the party in power and opposition alike. Xenophobia has been part of Uganda’s politics for decades, the most notorious was the 1982 Obote/UPC led, Xenophobic attacks against people of Rwandan origin ; some of them allocated to Uganda by the already described by Ambassador Mwencha as haphazard of African colonial boundaries created by the 1984 Berlin conferences. Similar sentiments persist in DR Congo today!
In June last year (2019) East Africa witnessed one of those anti Xenophobic utterances by a prominent Kenyan Politician the Starehe MP Charles Njagua who is popularly known as Jaguar, he shocked East Africans, when he threatened to personally lead the walloping of foreign traders that refuse to leave the country. Kenyan immigration had not asked any of these foreigners to leave.
The message contained in a video clip that went viral online, provoked sharp reactions from Kenyans, the authorities and the countries targeted in the verbal attack. It went as follows:
“When you look at our market, Tanzanians and Ugandans have taken our business, enough is enough, if we will give them 24 hours and they will not leave, we will beat them and we are not scared of anyone,” Jaguar told cheering supporters in the video. The “honorable” MP forgot that in the entire East African Community, Kenyans are the most enterprising and as a result there are more Kenyans in East African countries than any other East African citizens.
The message contained in a video clip that went viral online, provoked sharp reactions from Kenyans, the authorities and the countries targeted in the verbal attack.
“When you look at our market, Tanzanians and Ugandans have taken our business, enough is enough, if we will give them 24 hours and they will not leave, we will beat them and we are not scared of anyone,” Jaguar told cheering supporters in the video. This must have been very disturbing for pan Africanists like Ambassador Mwencha, especially when these word are being uttered in his own capital city.
Free movements of People:
In Eastern Africa, Trade between Rwanda and Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi have been badly hit due to lack of free moment of people due to political mistrust.
Although the East African partner States have agreed on free movements of people and free exchange of professionals, out of the six partner states, only Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda allow their citizens to travel to each country using only national identity cards, and only Rwanda and Kenya allow professionals of each country to work without the requirement of work permits.
An African union long legal document of free movement of people and rights establishment is clear on how this is a pre-condition for the establishment of the African economic community. Nevertheless as at December 2020, there is only one country in Africa where all Africans can visit without prior visa application and that is Rwanda. I am proud of my country leadership on this. My final appeal is that 1st January should not be just another ceremony. To achieve an AfCFTA, free movement will have to be a minimum precondition.
Mweusi Karake is a veteran journalist and former head of Public Relations/Corporate Communication at the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
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