A discussant at the launch of lessons to Africa from Africa, a research document, has said developmental policies implemented by post colonial African leaders are still appropriate presently to make the continent relevant in the scheme of global affairs.

The discussant, Tetteh Hormeku-Ajei, who is the Head of Programme at the civil society organisation (CSO),  Third World Network-Africa (TWN), organisers of the forum, said all the developmental indicators whether social, education or health, were still important and could be used as lynchpins to transform the continent.

Unfortunately, rather than transform what had been inherited, the continent, between the mid 1980s and now, had focused on their competitive advantage of importing what it could and exporting what it had, he said.

Mr Hormeku-Ajei said sadly, the current African leaders were fully aware of what post independent African leaders did but either they lacked what it took to build on it or they just paid lip-service to it.

“Unfortunately, some of these leaders were part of the social policies that undermined those police and even overthrew some of them such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah,” he said.

He said over the last 30 years, Africa has pursued policies that could best be described as “jobless growth” — a kind of growth that does not produce jobs.

Lessons from Africa

Lessons to Africa from Africa is a collection which recovers insights from the revolutionary governments of early post-independence Africa to confront today’s development challenges.

Some journalists in the forum

It also looked at case studies from across the continent, detail African development alternatives formulated in areas across development planning, finance, industrialisation.

The journal, co-edited by Hormeku-Ajei and Adebayo Olukoshi, comes from post colonialisms today.

Post colonialisms today is a research and advocacy project led by African activist — intellectuals, including a working group, advisory group and researchers from across the continent.

Despondency

Mr Hormeku-Ajei stated that instead of using revenue from Africa’s natural resources including gold and oil to expand the economy and build capacities, they have been looted by syndical leaders.

In fact, the practice has led to distress livelihoods, forcing most youth to travel to Europe and America in search of greener pastures, he said.

Lessons

The Head of Programmes of TWN said to make progress, it was important to learn both the successes and failures of post colonial African leaders to serve as a guide to the future.

According to him, the publication was to make the younger generation appreciate the work done by their predecessors and leverage on them.

He said it was important to have an active citizenry who would hold their leaders to account for their stewardship.

Economic policies

Touching on the continent’s economic policies, Mr Hormeku-Ajei said central banks for instance should be part of the process of implementing developmental strategies.

He said the independent tag given to central banks must be redefined because they must be part of providing solution to the continent’s problems.

SOURCE: GraphicOnline