By:Kandjengo kaMkwanyoka

Africa keeps highlighting its leadership and economic weakness and dependence on others almost daily.

There is a certain mindset among us Africans that the world owes us because our continent was colonised and looted.

Furthermore, we sit comfortably in our weakly run continent thinking that the world will come through for us, or economic miracles will happen without efforts and critical thinking.

Let me start with the leaders who are like those parents you do not want to come and visit you at school.

Why should you expect sovereign Western countries to be considerate of you when they make their domestic laws?

Let me give you some context using the latest move by the UK on Visas; our leaders are taking a stand on how it is unfair. The UK has decided on what is best for them. It is an internal policy that is beneficial to their people.

You cannot complain about other countries’ internal policies, and yet take no measures to improve domestic policy which seeks to benefit your own country.

Another scenario is, during Covid-19, western countries through their giant pharmaceutical companies, decided to keep the vaccine formula themselves and Africa, as a result, had no indigenous ability to produce own vaccines. Those terms were in conflict with the continent’s internal needs.

African leaders, in response, came out guns blazing, condemning the unfair manner in which developed economies were keeping vaccine patents to themselves.

I found that reaction puzzling in so many ways. What has Africa done internally to boost their medical research, laboratories, and all that is required to enable them to produce their own vaccine or respond?

Yes, South Africa has made significant strides in their manufacturing and pharmaceutical sector, but in countries like Namibia: we were just giving sobering speeches on how difficult it was to acquire vaccines.

Thanks to the WHO advocacy, Africa received vaccines and their leaders stopped complaining.

My point here is: African leaders are so concerned about what the world is doing to advance their people and waiting for them to be included in such plans.

This is why we keep blasting westerners and other countries for prioritising themselves.
Let me go to the continent’s intellectuals, who have become the advocates of Foreign Direct Investment and western economic literature.

The continent is producing graduates and has various professors and innovators, which it seems to be producing for other continents.
As for the Media, they are doing their best in showcasing how bad Africa is- just negative headlines about Africa’s inability.

Yes, perhaps the African consumers love bad news, but who are we fooling? Africans need more education and awareness on economics, investment, and matters of trade and commerce.

The media, being the bridge between the economy and responsible for disseminating economic information, is busy feeding the economic illiterate public about all the ills of the continent.

I truly believe the African media are the most powerful agents of changing the economic narrative of the continent.

Our expectation for the continent to dominate the global economy needs practical interventions such as dissemination of critical information for the populations to wake up and work.

The young population needs to be connected, exposed to continental opportunities and for that to happen, the media needs to step up.

The media and many of us have left the economic transformation role to politicians and we have become spectators.

I propose a reset on our thinking if we are to transform the African continent’s economic fortunes. All the stakeholders are needed at the table.

Politicians, provide leadership and steer the ship; African intellectuals, create, innovate and provide solutions for your continent.

To the media, you have a strategic role to promote African opportunities within the continent, connecting the African youth, entrepreneurs and markets.

We need to stop whining and crying about what other continents are doing for themselves- let us focus on ourselves and on our continent

The Western world is doing what is necessary for its people, and you are not on top of their list. Their people are.

Africa is now being used as a bargaining chip for the war between Ukraine and Russia, to allow grain export to western companies, despite the fact that such grain is not all of it coming to Africa.

That is how we are impacted, hence let us focus on the continent and do what needs to be done.

African leaders, stop the begging and create an enabling environment for entrepreneurship and innovation to flourish