A new pioneerism needed in Africa

22 September 2010

At the inaugural Public Lecture at Monash South Africa, on the left, Mr James Lekoma, Executive Director Operations & Services, Monash South Africa with Mr Monde Tabata, businessman and Board member of Peermont Global.

At an inaugural public lecture at the Monash South Africa campus on Thursday 16 September, Mr Monde Tabata explored the topic of a New Pioneerism in Africa and discussed the role of the educated youth and social institutions in the transformation of the African continent.
 
Tabata argued that, over the past several hundred years the African existence has been driven by a thirst for emancipation from one form of subjugation or another such as imperialism, with its by-products of colonialism, slavery and then random creation of states by the Berlin Conference which sought to create the nation states that we know today.

He said that: “Although a generation emerged in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa who became pioneers of political freedom and self-determination, Africa is yet to produce a pioneering generation to lead the continent into economic dynamism and optimum holistic development.

“The challenge for the African youth is to establish their role as contributors to the economic fortunes of the continent. This is a challenge of consciousness.

 “The defining character of Africa’s youth should be to take the baton from the nation founders and escalate their vision by implementing the economic dream.

“The educated youth should lead the transnational movement to break down the artificial and impotent barriers of nationhood.  They should work across borders to forge new intellectual vistas and establish the platform for the human capital of African economic development and dynamism.

“Our social institutions, schools and universities, ought to become the think-tanks for Africa’s growth. They should become centres of excellence and innovation that will underpin and serve to reinforce the strength of the various sectors of the African economy, while at the same time sharpening our competitive edge.

“There is a need for African governments and policies to create an environment wherein its best human resources flourish. 

“Too much African human capital is scattered all over the world.  While this is a worldwide phenomenon, it is my view that it affects Africa disproportionally and in many cases this migration of intellectual resources is caused by failure of governments to create an environment that is conducive for their people to thrive.

“With the exception of South Africa, no country in the continent has a big enough economy to become an international economic player.  The reality is that most African states have small economies and are unable to trade to their advantage with major economies. They are stunted by tariff protection policies and because of under development, are unable to negotiate the best relationships.

“African countries should strive to ensure that we cease to be pawns of the super powers and move, as a matter of urgency, to form an Economic Union to create economic prosperity for all nations.

“The challenge of Africa is the creation of a single economic market, which will seek to compete at the level of China, Russia, Brazil and India, as well as with the old economies of the EU and USA, as the major forces of world economics and politics.  

“I call on universities to investigate this concept in order to be in a position to advise political leaders about the structure and substance of an African Economic Union.

“Rapid economic development is going to require an educated workforce and a huge investment in research in order to feed an economy that is innovative, highly productive and competitive.

“There also needs to be a better link between higher education institutions and industry to ensure that graduates have skills that are relevant to the shortages in the economy.

“The challenge faced by universities is that of funding and the fact that many countries are not able to fund their universities to the required levels to produce world class graduates. Ideally, an international fund should be established for the provision of a number of world-class universities in Africa, which can compete with the best in the world.

 “African entrepreneurs also need to create major African companies and an indigenous economy to create a private sector-based middle class in Africa.

“It is clear that if the African continent fails to move in this direction, its role in the world economy will continue to be that of an appendage to the more rapidly developing countries and the developed world.

“The present state of the African condition can be changed by a pioneering movement which must involve higher education students, entrepreneurs and social institutions transforming themselves into agencies of development without frontiers. 

“It is my view that university students in Africa need to: develop a consciousness of service, while enjoying a career and its benefits; commit to their countries; establish transnational networks; and strive to be role players for progress.

 “We need to create social institutions that underpin the new order we seek to establish. In Africa we cannot take our rights and liberties for granted. There is therefore a strong case for social institutions that protect democratic ideals and that project into the future.

“These institutions need to be rooted in the highest ideals of a people in order to give a nation its humanity, ethics and creed.

“We need students who focus in this area because, while we call for economic development, we need people who raise their voices when businesses pollute the air and degrade the environment, when people employ children and create sweat shops, when we discriminate against women and the disabled and when government officials are corrupt. Social institutions should ensure that as Africa develops its economy, it does so with a conscience.

“As it is entrepreneurs that drive the economy an environment that does not encourage entrepreneurship will not develop its capacity

“I have deliberately made no call to governments and presidents because Africans are overly political to the exclusion of all else. We have disempowered ourselves almost to a point of paralysis, because we act in certain ways due our proximity to the ruling parties. We feed the sense that all will come from the capital and in the process we have denuded our innovativeness and our ability to contribute to the holistic growth of our societies.”

This is a summary of the presentation by Mr Monde Tabata at a Public Lecture, held on Thursday 16 September 2010, at the Monash South Africa campus. It was the inaugural lecture in a series of ongoing public lectures to be held at the Monash campus.

Monde Tabata holds interests in, and serves on the Board of Peermont Global, a major hotel, resort and casino business.  He has served in many and various public institutions.

Monde is an entrepreneur, who has after 25 years in the corporate and public sector, branched out to establish a granite mining operation that is exploring green-field mining opportunities in South Africa.