Filed under: African Economies, Ethiopia, Horn of Africa, Human Rights, africa, agriculture | Tags: African Union, meles zenawi, Addis Ababa, Ethiopian famine, Bob Geldof, Midge Ure, do they know it's christmas?, World Food Programme
It has been 25 years since the 1984-85 Ethiopian famine that inspired Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to write the song do they know it’s christmas?
The Ethiopian government is marking the anniversary in the most appropriate way: by appealing for food aid from the international community to assist the more than 6.2 million of its citizens who are faced with starvation sans food aid. Yes, over the last 25 years the government of Ethiopia has not been able to put in place systems to guarantee its people food security. It is almost like 1985 never happened. Agriculture (which is dominated by coffee) accounts for over 40% of GDP and makes up 60% of Ethiopian exports (CIA factbook). Now, I am no expert on agricultural economics or on Ethiopia per se but I am willing to bet a few hundred shillings that Addis must be favoring cash-cropping over basic food security. I guess it is just a lot easier to tax coffee exports than peasant agriculture – especially if you have an expensive autocratic system to maintain.
I say food aid should be conditioned on Meles Zenawi loosening his grip on power. Just like food aid during the last famine helped prolong the civil war at the time (see Alex de Waal), giving Zenawi food aid without any preconditions will just continue to perpetuate the very system that has been unable to guarantee food security for Ethiopians. Sen’s beliefs on autocracies and famines are partly true. Ethiopians continue to have these cycles of famine because Addis does not have to listen to the average peasant in Afar.
This does not mean that we should heartlessly sit back and watch millions of people die. No, those that can should assist as many people as is possible. However, while at it, the international community should insist on fairer government in Addis. It doesn’t have to be about regime change through elections or those other democratic stuff. All is needed is a guarantee of the chance for average Ethiopians to live decent lives without having to worry about major famines every decade or so.
Filed under: africa | Tags: African Union, Al-Shabab, Dadaab, Ethiopia, Islamic Courts Union, Kenya, Mogadishu, Somalia, Somaliland, terrorists, UNHCR
The international community has neglected the people of Somalia for almost two decades. Throughout this period the country has been ruled by a bunch of thuggish clan-based warlords. Nobody really knows the exact death toll of the mess the country descended into after the ouster of strongman Siad Barre in the early 1990s. The only time the country came close to be governed by one central government was when Islamists under the Islamic Courts Union ruled large swathes of the country for most of 2006. However, the ICU’s links with Al Qaeda earned them the wrath of the US, which asked Ethiopia to invade and chase away the Islamists.
Now the country has an interim government that spends most of its time dodging militants and shifting from town to town. Somalia’s troubles are rapidly being transferred to the wider Eastern African region. Already the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya is stretched to three times its capacity, putting enormous strain on the Kenyan government and relief agencies. Piracy off the Somali coast is yet another direct result of the anarchy within Somalia. And perhaps most worrisome of all, the threat of terrorist attacks on capitals in the region - by al-Shabab – is causing many security agents in the region sleepless nights.
It is time the African Union took the Somali peace initiative more seriously. For starters it should urge Eritrea to stop funding the Islamists and then step up its own peacekeeping operations in the country (by sending in more troops). After security – or some semblance of security – has been restored then it should aggressively pursue a pragmatic solution to the country’s conflicts, even if it means splitting it into two like those in Somaliland will most likely want.
Filed under: africa | Tags: African Union, Humanitarian disaster, Jacob Zuma, Mogadishu, Oxfam, Somalia
Oxfam, the UK-based aid agency, has declared that Somalia is Africa’s worst crisis. According to reports 3.2 million malnourished Somalis are in urgent need of food aid. Meanwhile, the fighting between government forces and Islamists rages on. Roadside bombings have become commonplace.
Somalia has not had a functional government since 1991. Warlordism has been the order of the day since then, especially after the botched UN (US) intervention in 1993 after which the international community pretty much turned its back on Somalis. In recent months Islamist terrorism and piracy off the coast of Somalia have earned the struggling millions in the country some international attention. But the 4,300 man African Union force in the country is not enough to restore peace and stability – let alone prop up the weak and largely illegitimate transitional government of Somalia.
May be it is time that regional governments considered talking to the Islamists. A BBC report shows that they control most of the South of the country and so perhaps the AU can be persuade them to stop the killing and go easy on human rights (in any case Saudi Arabia’s brand of Sharia is not that different, it still forbids women to do just about anything outside the house) in exchange for some aid or guaranteed security against US drone attacks, for now. Anything for peace and stability at this point.
It is sad that all of the international community’s attention has been focused on Darfur and the Congo, at the expense of Somalia. The AU leadership (and especially South African President, Jacob Zuma) should take the plight of Somalis more seriously and initiate the beginning of the end of the disaster in their country.
Filed under: Madagascar, africa | Tags: African Union, Andre Ndriarijaona, Andry Rajoelina, Madagascar, Madagascar coup, Marc Ravalomanana, Muamar Gaddafi
The BBC is reporting that the army in Madagascar seems to have heeded the opposition leader’s calls to arrest president Marc Ravalomanana. The former mayor of Antananrivo, Andry Rajoelina, has since the end of January declared his opposition to the presidency of Mr. Ravalomanana and vowed to oust him before the latter’s second term expires in 2011. The former mayor accuses the president of misspending tax payers’ money. It looks like Mr. Ravalomanana’s days as president are numbered, especially after the self-declared head of the army, one colonel Andre Ndriarijaona, declared his support for the former mayor.
The events in Madagascar are yet another remainder that may be we should not take it for granted that democracy is the best form of government – especially for young, impoverished nations like Madagascar. Since the Rajoelina-led protests began in late January the capital Antananarivo has seen looting and running battles between police and protesters. A few dozen people have died. This has obviously impacted the economy negatively. And for a country where 70% of the people live on less than $ 2 a day that is very bad news.
If this coup succeeds it will be the fourth successful coup on the Continent in the last one year. The other three have been in Mauritania, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. It’s like we are reliving the late 60s or early 90s all over again. When will people realise that this moving around in circles will not take the Continent, and its people, anywhere?
Meanwhile, the African Union on Monday issued a statement supporting the incumbent Mr. Ravalomanana, without any mention of the president’s ineffectual leadership or the grievances of the opposition. For the AU, the incumbent is always right. No surprises there. The head of the AU, if you may recall, is one Muamar Gaddafi. It is essentially a club of kleptocratic little men who parade as gods.
Filed under: African Economies, Aids, Crises, Ethiopia, Kenya, Politics, Resources, The DRC, Zimbabwe, africa | Tags: African Union, darfur, Gaddafi, Mohammed, Mohammed Al-Bashir
Today I sat in at a conference on Darfur at my school. The conference was well attended, the keynote speaker being Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. There were the usual talking heads from the UN and a myriad NGOs that are involved in one way or the other with the effort to stop the barbarous madness that is going on in Darfur. I was impressed by the fact that even though the global powers that be do not seem interested in providing any meaningful solutions to the conflict there still are people out there who are determined to do the little that they can to try and make a difference.
But I was also disappointed. Nearly all the panelists were foreigners, let’s say non-AU citizens. Now I do not mean to discriminate here. Darfur is a major problem and I know that Darfuris will be the first to tell you that all they want is an end to their hell-on-earth, regardless of where help to that end comes from. But even after fully appreciating this fact, I was still a bit unsettled by the fact that what I was seeing there is what is prevalent throughout the continent, not just with cases of armed conflict, but in other areas as well – poverty reduction, HIV and AIDS, malaria and what not. It is always the foreigners who seem to care more about the plight of the poor Africans than the Africans themselves (and their leaders of course). Why was there only one panelist from Sudan? Aren’t there Sudanese experts on Darfur, people who oppose al-Bashir’s genocidal policies and who can articulate their concerns at such conferences?
Forgive my digression. Anyway, the fact is that more than two million human beings have been displaced from their homes and their lives disrupted in unimaginable ways. More than 200,000 are dead. And nobody in Khartoum seems to give a rat’s behind.
Meanwhile the AU (the regional body that should be having Darfur, Somali and the DRC at the top of the agenda) just elected that clown, Muamar Gaddafi, as its president. The rather colourful Libyan dictator followed his election with a quick reminder of the true nature of African leaders – by saying that democracy was to blame for the crises in Africa. He is so full of horse manure. How is it not clear to people like this man that self-determination is the way of the future? How does he not get the fact that the days for rulers like him (and Mugabe, Al-Bashir, Obiang, and the whole brood of failures) on the continent of Africa are numbered?
Filed under: Crises, News Analysis, africa | Tags: African Union, Col. Muamar Gaddafi, Libya, United States of Africa
The news that the African Union elected Libyan president Muamar Gaddafi as its president for the next one year is very disappointing. Here is a man who has proved to the world that he is delusional – parading around with African “Kings” and calling himself “King of Kings” – and who wants to form a continent African government with a single currency and army now. His election is such a joke when one juxtaposes his pet concerns with the real problems affecting Africa. What Africa needs is not unity for the sake of unity but a real change in governance tactics. Gaddafi wants a united Africa because he sees himself as the continent president should his dreams ever materialize. Given the way he has run Libya thus far, I am happy that he will not live to see this happen.
The AU could have elected a more grounded, sober minded individual who actually cares about the plight of the hundreds of millions of Africans who live in poverty. Someone who would have stood up to corrupt leaders and promoted real development – as opposed to the band-aid stuff that has been peddled across the continent since the collapse of the immediate post-independent developmental states.
So as things stand it looks like we are in for yet another year of a silent AU as innocent men, women and children die in Darfur, Eastern Congo, Somalia and in the many other poorly run countries on the continent of Africa.
Filed under: africa | Tags: Addis Ababa, African Union, AU Summit, Gideon Gono
I just found out that the AU’s annual summit is underway in Addis. I blame it on the African media. But it says a lot about the activities of this organization when mainstream media does not think of its summit as important, given the many troubles afflicting the African continent.
I suspect that it will be business as usual. There will be talk on the coup in Guinea, the everlasting crisis in Zimbabwe, may be a mention of the food crises all over the continent and some side-talk on the conflicts in the DRC, Darfur, Northern Uganda, among other places. A few representatives – go Botswana! – will be forthright and say some bad things about bad African leaders. Most of the speakers, however, being tyrants themselves, will not say anything about leadership and democracy and respect for human rights. Not to be forgotten will be the pipe dream of a United States of Africa. Nobody seriously thinks this is possible but it will be discussed anyway, perhaps to pass time because there is absolutely nothing better to talk about.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the donor community. They will be present, as monitors and guest speakers. They will be begged for money and they will talk about their plans to save Africa. A few of them will say some politically incorrect things. Most of them will act like they are among rational grown ups – and then call their wives to vent about how crazy some of the leaders they deal with are. I bet I would do the same if I had to discuss the global financial crisis with Gideon Gono.
At the end of the summit on February 3rd everyone will go back home, having wasted their tax-payers’ money on plane tickets and hotel fees (highly inflated of course). Somalia, the DRC, Zimbabwe and the rest will remain unchanged. …………..When will this madness stop?
Filed under: Crises, East Africa, News Analysis, Politics, World affairs, africa | Tags: African Union, Anjouan, Comoros, Mohamed Bacar, Moroni
The African Union is finally flexing some muscles. It is now certain that an AU backed force is set to attack the renegade Comoros island of Anjouan in an attempt to bring it back to the fold of the islands that form the Comoros. So far, South Africa and some reports say France are against the move but the rest of the continent, very wary of secessionists, seem to be OK with the idea of invading the island and doing all that is necessary, including killing the renegade leader of Anjouan – Mohamed Bacar – to restore Moroni’s rule on the island.
As I have written many times before, I have no love for secessionists. I believe that it is partly because of African dissenters’ (most of whom were opportunist egg heads) love for the gun that most of the continent remains in pre-modern times due to the ravages of civil wars and their aftermath. African maps were drawn arbitrarily by some old Europeans, but so what? In any case the Berlin conference saved the continent from going through bloody wars of nation creation like Europe did through most of the middle ages until and in some cases beyond the 1648 treaty of Westphalia that established the nation-state as we know it. That said, I think the problem of rival “nations” being forced into one state is a legitimate problem. However, current global trends can take care of this. As the salience of national boundaries continue to diminish, Africa should take advantage of this and open up its borders to allow free flow of people and capital. This will reduce the continent’s persistent internal feuds and will also be good for the continental economy. Intra-continental should more than the paltry 11% that it is right now.
Going back to Anjouan and the AU. I think it is commendable that this talk shop that we call the AU is finally doing something meaningful. I wish they could do more, especially in cases like Darfur, Somalia and the DRC. A lot of African armies sit in their barracks doing absolutely nothing. Why can’t they form a force and then solicit international funding and go ahead and restore order in Somalia and the DRC? Sudan is a more complex issue, but if there is a will I think it’s case can be resolved too. The proxy US involvement in Somalia through Ethiopia could have been more successful if many other African countries were involved and not just Ethiopia, given the two countries’ bad history over the Ogaden.
So as we wait to see how Mr. Bacar goes down, let’s hope that the AU casualty count will not be high enough to discourage such involvements in the future and that a success in Anjouan will make Addis even more bold in the future and possibly give it the will to have a firmer hand in reigning in on wayward African leaders like Mugabe, Al-Bashir, Biya, Obiang……. .. (I can easily reach the high forties with this).
Filed under: African Economies, World affairs | Tags: African Union, Agricultural Subsidies, European Union
Following the Berlin conference circa 1884-5, Europe has always felt obligated to care about matters African – be it during the colonial period or in the post colonial era. This historical accident resulted in an Afro-European relationship that has mostly been characterised by tension and mistrust.
But things are changing. These days the two peoples talk of a “constructive engagement” and a cessation of paternalistic lecturing by the (former) colonialists. Although some leaders of Europe still suffer from what a Zimbabwean daily calls “an apparently incurable colonial master hangover,” most of them have moved on and come to see African countries as sovereignties that deserve to be treated with respect.
It is under this new arrangement that the EU-AU summit is being held in Lisbon, Portugal. Although the summit has been marred by a lot of controversy – from Mugabe’s attendance to Brown being accused of sending a junior cabinet member to the summit simply because she is black – it still has potential to provide the framework for a more productive relationship between the two continents based on trade and exchange of ideas.
Brussels has realised that its aid to Africa – sometimes due to guilt, but mostly because of humanitarian concern – is not sustainable in the long run. It has dawned on the EU that investment in African economies and allowing freer trade is the only way that is going to alleviate poverty in Africa and make the EU competitive against the Chinese and the Americans who have significantly increased their respective trade involvements with Africa over the last few years.
My hope is that the summit will focus on trade (making it fairer and easier) and good governance. With regard to trade, the EU should commit to reducing all non-tariff barriers to trade with the continent – from the controversial agricultural subsidies to the rather tasteless “place of origin” labels insisted upon by some pesky pressure groups. On matters to do with government, Brussels (and especially Sarkozy’s men) should send a clear message that they will not prop up leaders who do nothing but steal from and oppress their people. They should do this openly and explicitly. Previously, Europe has shied away from direct criticism in fear of the African leaders playing the race and neo-colonialism cards. But these sorts of Africans are a tiny left over of the immediate post-colonial period. Majority of Africans would welcome such criticism and even offer support it if indeed it is good natured rectitude.
So on the whole, the success of the Lisbon Summit will depend on the attending leaders’ commitment to addressing the issues that are most relevant to the average farmer in the African countryside: fair trade and good governance.
