Africa: Requiem for a continent
The article has been authored by Samir Bhattacharya, a Research Associate of Vivekananda International Foundation and also a doctoral scholar at Jawharlal Nehru University.
Every year on May 25, the world celebrates Africa Day. It is to commemorate May 25, 1963, when 30 independent African leaders signed the founding charter of the OAU (Organization of African Unity). Later, in 2002, to give more impetus to the organisation, many new areas were added, and it was transformed into African Union (AU). This year bears extra importance as it is also the 20th anniversary of AU.
Yet, the celebration for Africa 2022 were tarnished by rising food prices as a result of Covid-19, climate-induced drought in parts of Africa and the Ukraine crisis. Notwithstanding, Africans and African diaspora across the world commemorated the day as it represents their collective struggle against colonialism, racism, development and economic progress. From that perspective, the day truly serves to integrate the diverse continent into one identity, and it is befittingly called African Unity Day.
Each year African Union decides a theme for the day based on the common challenges for the continent. The theme for this year was "Strengthening Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent". The theme underpins the importance of food and nutrition security across the continent, particularly in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis.
Parallel to Africa day, the Union also convened two extraordinary summits in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on May 25-28 to discuss the humanitarian issues along with terrorism and unconstitutional changes of Government in several African countries. The extraordinary summit contemplated the progress towards its various objectives and analysed the challenges. It would be interesting to re-evaluate the progress of Africa so far, vis-à-vis its fixed goals and highlight the good, bad and ugly.
At the outset, it must be acknowledged that, despite its reputation for having fragile state health systems, the continent was able to resist the spread of coronavirus through an effective strategy. When the very first patient of Covid-19 was detected in Egypt on February 14, it created a lot of doubt and anxiety regarding the possibility of the new virus possibly resulting in massive deaths and destroying the already frail health systems.
However, despite intermittent outbreaks, which also occurred in other parts of the world, the virus remained the least fatal in Africa. The credit for preventing its spread must go to the policymakers who took several proactive measures. Countries like Lesotho declared an emergency and went into lockdown even before a single case of Covid-19 was detected. While the pandemic is still not over, the countries are refocusing their efforts. Instead of frantically pursuing elusive vaccines, they are focusing on longer-term testing and surveillance methods that will gradually enhance the continent's health systems.
Another piece of good news is that despite numerous claims of democratic decline, there is a surge in the number of elections held in Africa. Afrobarometer conducted a poll that found that most Africans prefer to live in democracies. In recent years, several countries conducted successful elections, and their governments were democratically altered. In southern Africa, opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema made history by upsetting the incumbent Edgar Lungu in the Zambian presidential election. In North Africa, Morocco's long-ruling Islamists were defeated by liberal parties. This also illustrates the dwindling appeal of political Islam and the shrinking space for Islamists in Morocco and beyond. In two island nations, Sao-Tome and Principe and Cape Verde, opposition candidates defeated the incumbents.
In West Africa, Gambian voters re-elected the incumbent President Adama Barrow. Niger, another West African country, witnessed its first transfer of power through an election. In Ethiopia, despite the ongoing conflict between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the election took place as scheduled, and Abiy Ahmed won a landslide victory. Most recently, despite the resurgence of the Al-Shabaab group, which continues to destabilise Somalia with regular terrorist attacks, the country successfully conducted elections.
Of late, there has been a succession of coups and military takeovers on the continent. It started in April 2021, when the president of Chad for three decades Idriss Deby got killed in an institutional coup d’état. In May, Mali witnessed its second coup in nine months. In August 2020, Colonel Goita led a coup in the wave of strong anti-government protests. Following the successful coup, the plan was to hold national elections as soon as possible under a transitional government. This time, Colonel Goita conducted a second coup, a coup within a coup and declared himself president.
His decision to postpone the election till 2026 irked France, the principal security provider for the country since 2013. Under this prevailing political instability and rumoured presence of the Russian private army Wagner group, France government decided to withdraw its troop from the country. This will certainly further aggravate the security situation in Mali and the greater Sahel region. Guinea, a small West African coastal country, and Sudan underwent a military coup in September and October. Meanwhile, countries like Niger, Madagascar, and Guinea-Bissau have managed to survive coup attempts, but uncertainty prevails.
Africa's second-most populated country Ethiopia is relatively stable in the Horn of Africa. Yet, Ethiopia has been enduring its brutal civil war for more than a year now. Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, is home to the African Union's headquarters. The country's flag carrier and wholly government controlled, Ethiopian Airlines is Africa's largest and most successful airline. It is the United State (US)’s most important partner in the Horn of Africa, and it plays a critical role in US counter-terrorism policy. Ethiopia is crucial in the fight against terrorism in the region and beyond. Thus, the security of the country is paramount.
There have been many twists and turns in this war where the Ethiopian government was obliged to declare a six-month state of emergency at one point. The situation appears to be in control, with PM Abiy Ahmed regaining the upper hand with the help of Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Iran. However, as we have seen in the past, this conflict is far from over and might continue to linger indefinitely.
In March 2018, Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) was established. Covering more than two billion people, mainly youth, once realised, AfCFTA will create around $15 billion in GDP for each country and an overall $3 trillion for the continent.
While the AfCFTA is a bold endeavour to economically integrate Africa, the continent remains politically divided. This was clear during the UNGA resolution of March 2022 to condemn Russia’s aggression. The resolution received only 31 African votes. Russia's long-time African allies Sudan, Mali, and the Central African Republic were among the 17 African countries that abstained. Among them, South Africa's absence was unanticipated, given that it has opposed both the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's intervention in Libya. Ethiopia, and Cameroon were absent from the voting booth. And Eritrea, the tiny neighbour of Ethiopia, was the only African country which actually voted against the motion.
This split house was also evident during the AU’s annual summit earlier this year. While there were many important issues to debate, such as military coups and measures to recover from the pandemic, the entire meeting was disrupted by disagreements among the AU member States over Israel's observer status. Despite the vehement opposition to Israel's membership in the Union from nations such as Algeria and South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia publicly supported it. Many other African countries, like Morocco, a signatory of the Abraham Accords, tacitly supported Israel. In order to avoid an unprecedented schism in the house, the Union decided to postpone the debate until next year's meeting. Yet, the fear persists that the discussion might further aggravate the already divided house.
The cover story of Economist magazine in 2000 was titled The hopeless continent, whereas in 2011, it changed to Africa Rising. Africa is known for its abundant natural resources, particularly fossil fuels, including oil, gas and coal. It also possesses 60% of the world's arable land. Currently, six of the world's top ten fastest-growing economies are in Africa. In retrospect, the continent has achieved a lot as per its stated goals. But more needs to be done to achieve the dreams as envisaged by Kwame Nkrumah or Julius Nyerere, the first torchbearers of a united Africa.
In a world beset by global crises such as the pandemic and the climate crisis, the choice to emphasise the importance of malnutrition and food insecurity is timely and critical. Strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security will go a long way in addressing several interconnected concerns. The continent continues to hold a lot of promise. It possesses both the people and technical resources necessary to ensure a better future for all of its citizens. It is still possible to eliminate hunger and malnutrition by 2030. More than just cultural and culinary celebrations, It should also be about evaluating the state of the AU, the continental institution that embodies the ideals of pan-Africanism. The continent must now pull together in its “long walk to freedom".
(The article has been authored by Samir Bhattacharya, a Research Associate of Vivekananda International Foundation and also a doctoral scholar at Jawharlal Nehru University.)
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