Hello everyone:
Mr. Friedli Kouyate wrote:
>ever seen someone in africa who really invests
>instead of buying a TV or a car for his home with the first money he
>gets ??
I agree that investment is the way to go and that in Africa we are not
particularly good at it. But I cannot accept the characterization of
Africans as crazy about TVs and cars. After all, how many families on the
continent have tv sets? Entire villages and even regions have no tv at all.
Mali with it's 12M population has probably less than a hundred thousands tv
sets. Most families watch tv with neighbors. Compared to the US- if I dare-
where most families have at least 2 sets ( for the living room, the bedroom,
for kids and console games, in the garage, for camping etc). And they are
always on the look for better and bigger tvs- flat screen, HDTV, plasma etc.
It's also worth noting that for most people in Africa, tv is the only source
for information, mass education, entertainement. There's no home
web-browsing, almost no movie theaters, no eating out etc. Even those who
can read do not have what to read. Sometimes it takes just one good book to
turn one's life around.
As of cars, whoever has been in Africa and seen those super-packed mini
buses knows that we need more cars. If owning a car in Europe where you have
all kinds of descent public transportation with good and precise timetables
is not a luxury, then unless we think that poor standard of living just
suits Africans, we would see it as rather a necessity.
Having said that I have also blamed Africans for not investing. People want
to have a house, furnish it and just live there. But that's what most people
do in most of the world. The difference is that in developed countries you
have institutions and well known, accessible and favorable laws for
business. Our governments in Africa are colonial-style governments. They
just impose constraints on citizen without any regard for the impact on
entrepreneurship. These constraints result in corruption and lack of
initiative. Custom services, police officers, or any government clerc can
harrass anybody even if you are a harvard graduate. Because no one knows the
laws. Most of the time, you are even better of if you do not know the law
but just pay-and-go. At leat you won't loose your mind.
Mr. Kouyate also seems to dismiss colonialists as part of the problem. I
must say that until the fall of the Soviet Union, no African country had the
freedom to develop itself. The entire continent was the theater of East-West
rivalries leading to eternal wars, coups d'etat, dictatorships that the
people could not get rid of. So, all in all it's been only about ten years
that the continent has gotten some sort of self-gouvernance.
I agree that tradition is in the way in many respects. But it is mostly the
lack of good and reliable institutions, that favors corruption. It is my
conviction that when our states will mature by improving their laws, by
educating their citizens, by developing their governmental networks for law
inforcement and anti corruption, we will also find our way. Good news is:
now we are let alone... or sort of.
Though I have been critical of some of Mr. Kouyate's positions, all in all
most of us have similar perception of african reality. But I believe we need
to go deeper and realize that good governance is key today in Africa.
People need everyting, have nothing but still should be entitled to some
basic living standard. I remember an alarming report posted by Abdoul/Bakary
Sylla about the number of mentally ill in Mali. Anyone cares why?
Moumine Ballo.
>From: "L. J. Friedli-Kouyaté" <nasaradjeli@yahoo.com>
>To: "Amadou O. Wane" <wane@intechs.net>
>CC: malilink@mali.net
>Subject: RE: [malilink] La Cote-d'Ivoire a la derive Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002
>07:30:39 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Well I think I can respond to that one too, since my french is
>not as good as my english (i'm a white Swiss German married to
>a Malian woman)
>
> > I can understand his frustration, but not his self-hatred.
> > Africa problems are human problems. Every people in human history
> > went
> > through this agony.
> > African mentality has to change before Africa can change.
>
>Right. I happen to try to work with senegalese and malian friends
>in informatics and i can tell you after 3 years we haven't gotten
>anywhere. while we invest, nothing comes back and goes to "the
>families" instead. ever seen someone in africa who really invests
>instead of buying a TV or a car for his home with the first money he
>gets ??
>
> > Unfortunately we
> > are not as a people, ready to take our destiny into our own hands.
> > There are
> > internal and external forces that contribute to that; but I would
> > rather
> > focus on the internal obtacles within ourselves.
>
>thanks for not blaming the "colonialists" alone. there's a lot of
>us young (well i'm 44....) whites that don't care about race, origin or
>background but see the one world we all live in.
>
> Unfortunately we are
> > very
> > efficient at eliminating any potential good leader.
>
>first of all a new leader has to bribe so many people who helped him to
>get into power that the state is poor afterwards :)
>but think about who gets the power: it all rests in the family or
>in the caste, no matter what education (well forgive me not mentioning
>Bush....). tradition is what blocks. tradition has a lot of good values
>to it, but as it is everywhere: first the family, then the ethnie. But
>this is normal since in Africa societies are based on the family, and
>the "state" or "country" is for many people an unreal imagination,
>something too abstract. here in switzerland my wife tells me:
>"why should i pay taxes to the swiss government while my family in
>bamako suffers" ? well frankly spoken i agree.
>
> > So in short, we are not psychologically ready to move forward.
>
>i wouldn't say that. forward to where ? if you're talking into
>our direction (i.e. like Europe or the US) - ok. first of all Africans
>and us have different ways of thinking. even if the Africans like
>to copy our behavior, our clothes etc. inside they stay as they are
>and that's good. take me for example. Im Bamako, I can live without TV,
>car or whatever entertainment - i chat with people, sit in fromt of the
>house and drink "the baro". I lack none of this. But here i need it.
>Our societies are too different and are not at all compatible. Since
>the 1800's we have changed society to a ever more faster pace. We work,
>consume, produce, work consume produce. Try to stop one of these
>components - society doesn't work anymore. Right now here in Europe a
>deflation is beginning. But we can't turn back unless we stop and start
>thinking about what we're doing. It's us that have to think, not
>Africa.
>But my wife says: "You had it all already (Cars, TV's, Stereos etc) and
>have become anti-materialist, now let me make my own experience". what
>can I say ??
>
> > Reality must
> > first take shape in the mind. I am confident that our time will come;
> > but
> > how soon?
>
>what do you mean by reality ? everbody has it's own....;)
>
>lassana
>
>
>=====
>*********************************************
>S W @ X E (Swiss-African Axe Communications)
>Development for a better understanding
>Dakar : P.O.Badji / papaoumar.badji@swaxe.com
>Zurich: L. J.Friedli / jurg.friedli@swaxe.com
>Homepage: www.swaxe.com
>*********************************************
>
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