Can Blair Commission Solve Africa’s Problems?

British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to help Africa, through the Blair Commission for Africa (CfA). But given the opportunity to progress, would Africa's leaders take the bold, difficult decisions to protect the continent’s vast natural resources and uplift people’s livelihoods? How tightly would the continent grasp it? Would Africa's leaders take the bold and sometimes difficult decisions to uplift their people?

The Blair Commission for Africa (CfA) will fail if African politicians do not stop the ‘beggar mentality’, it has been learnt. The CfA was formed in February 2004 by Blair, with the aim of generating action for a ‘strong and prosperous Africa’.

The CfA recently met on the continent (Lusaka-Zambia) to further an ambitious plan to heal what is called a scar on the world's conscience. Africa's poverty and conflict is to be at the heart of next year's British presidency of the European Union and leadership of the G8 group of industrialized nations.
Delegates who recently attended the Blair Commission for Africa Consultative Forum in Zambia’s capital-Lusaka, felt that leaders must have the moral imperative to develop the continents’ resources, rather than begging for donor funding. “Begging is not an honourable thing for Africa. If you are to fight hunger, you must produce the food yourselves”, one analyst said.

The work of the Commission is structured under six main themes - Economy, Natural Resources, Governance, Peace & Security, Human Development, Culture and Participation. There is growing marginalization within the global economy; degradation of Africa’s natural resources continues and HIV/AIDS and other diseases have hit agricultural production capacity while conflicts have uprooted large populations in most of its sub-regions.

Zambia’s Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Dipak Patel says it was sad that Zambia was not represented among the nine African Commissioners, out the 17 Commissioners that sit on the CfA. “The Commission presents an opportunity for government to engage in dialogue on various development challenges. We shall present our Position Paper to Cabinet before submitting it to the CfA Secretariat in London”, said Patel.

According to the CfA ‘Consultation Document’, the year 2005 is a special opportunity to create the needed political will. It is also in the year 2005, that the United Nations will be assessing progress made on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and propose a World Action Plan.The United Kingdom will also have the Presidencies of the G8 and the European Union (E.U), while Africa would be at the centre stage.

The past few decades have witnessed the emergence of a series of tyrants, kleptocrats and bumblers who drove their countries into the ground. If their ilk are still in charge, Mr Blair's Commission will fail, no matter how well received in the west.

Rather than helping to solve the ongoing crisis, the globalisation policies of World Bank and IMF instead have served to aggravate the crisis. Twenty years or so later, the continent is left in a vicious cycle of expanding external and domestic debt, dependency on external credit and foreign aid, and an increasing de-legitimization of the state which formerly had fulfilled crucial social responsibilities. As prominent African experts invited to speak in the European Parliament in April 2004 passionately argued, 'this cycle has to be broken for Africa to advance'.

According to the Declaration adopted as summary of the Meeting's debates, - there is a great need to intensify international campaign work in Europe, around three priority issues: the free trade agreements, which the EU presently is negotiating with groups of African countries; the thematic of debt cancellation; and the restoration of the social state.

The CfA is also aimed at supporting the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). Most delegates agreed that in the past, sustainable development initiatives have been held back by lack of political will.

The CfA’s starting point is the fact that at a time when the rest of the world is experiencing rapid economic growth, most people of Africa have been left behind, with nearly half of its people living on less than US$1. Mr Blair is expected to outline the west's duty to rethink its policies on trade, aid and debt.

There will be much talk of helping Africa to help itself, of unleashing the potential of a continent neither hopeless nor helpless but eager and able to develop. That is noble and sensible. End unfair European and US trade policies, for example, and Africa could export much more cotton and sugar.