Leadership for the Africa we want

The image of Africa should not, in any sense, continue to be reduced to that of a begging continent. It is shameful to hear justified claims of leadership that condones sloth, corruption and embezzlement being levelled against African leaders amidst our public hospitals and health centres running without drugs. It puzzles and irritates to see our leaders tolerating others who manufacture drugs and vaccines in their regions and habitually flock to this wonderful continent for testing on innocent African lives. It really pains and baffles to see our ailing leaders traditionally being flown to India to seek medical treatment when our institutions of higher learning continue to graduate thousands of medical specialists who are highly esteemed in the diaspora only thanks to brain drain in their reasonable pursuit of greener pastures. This brief discussion aims to share a few points that can see African leaders turning this great continent into a greater one that is genuinely loved and celebrated by its peoples.

Africa is rich. God granted Africa everything it needs to be a flourishing land. It needs no special emphasis that Africa has great natural resource potential yet, on the other hand, the complex interplay between political and economic factors at the national and international level make it impossible to use a more substantial part of the revenues from the exploitation and trade of these resources for the promotion of the well-being of Africans at the grassroots level. Africa needs a kind of leadership that is able to turn Africa’s natural wealth into its befitting economic development. Leadership that is capable of ensuring that the state of affairs in African resource sectors is no longer determined to a large extent by external factors would be a blessing to Africans. Any leadership that can reverse the export-orientedness of the extractive industries in Africa and make them contribute enviably to local development would make this land a greater one.

It is sloth in the civil service that makes difficulties in the state. The rampancy of corruption, embezzlement and fraud associated with African governments is cause for concern. For instance, across Africa more than a trillion of dollars of aid and investment remains unaccounted for due to corruption and theft. This is very worrying and leaves doubts about the success of development programmes. Sadly, the burden that comes as a result is paid by the poor in sundry ways. We know how hard it is to totally eliminate these vices on earth. However, a great service by an African leader to this continent is to commit to do everything possible to keep all these vices to a minimum. Africa needs leadership that does not turn a deaf ear to evidence and reports of corruption, fraud and embezzlement. We need practical and genuine measures that foster and instil a culture of public service accountability among the citizens. There should not be any sacred cows when dealing with the above social ills.

It puzzles even to imagine a continent as huge as Africa continuing for centuries to rely on drugs and vaccines manufactured elsewhere when our institutions of higher learning keep graduating hundreds of thousands of medical specialists and researchers. We read that Africa has the highest incidence of mortality caused by infectious diseases, and that it does not have the capacity to manufacture vaccines that are essential to reduce mortality, improving life expectancy, and thereby promoting economic growth. The impression one gets is that what lacks is political will by African leaders to ensure the continent has the capacity to manufacture such vaccines. Trillions of dollars which Africa has lost and continues to lose due to corruption and embezzlement would surely work wonders towards reducing brain drain of our medical specialists and researchers, and establishing an international facility for manufacturing of relevant vaccines for Africans and by Africans.

Obviously, African leaders who, together with their citizens, often fly to other regions to seek medical treatment have never had time to understand the implication of all this. This only insults their own leadership, mocks their own wisdom, questions their own patriotism as leaders, and clearly demonstrates their failure and the absence of their commitment to improve their health sectors. Above all, this is not sustainable. Africa needs leaders who can selflessly commit to improve and invest in their health sectors to ensure they are of international standard. Data shows that Sub-Saharan Africa only spends around 6% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health. This has to change. Besides increasing the budgetary allocation, leaders should also commit to incorporate relevant technology into healthcare.

There is still room for some desired leadership for the Africa we want. It helps to have leaders who genuinely embrace an understanding of where Africa is coming from and heading to. Informed measures should be put in place by our leaders to reduce Africa’s dependency on aid and promote job creation. Leaders should ensure Africa’s natural wealth matches with economic development. Corruption, embezzlement and fraud should be dealt with by our leaders with impartiality. There must be political will to generally improve the health sectors in Africa and plan towards establishment of a facility of international standard for manufacturing of vaccines and drugs for Africans and by Africans.