Debt, Democracy and Development

Richard Joseph by

I greatly regret not being here to participate in this important panel. I received an urgent message yesterday afternoon instructing me to travel this morning to take part in a meeting of great importance to the peace and security of this region and, indeed, the advacement of democracy. I have asked Adwoa Dunn-Mouton to share these brief remarks with you.

President Masire yesterday quoted an African proverb of great per- tinence: "Slowly, Slowly, an egg grows feet !" over two years ago, the inaugural seminar of the African governance program of the Carter center, of which I am the Director, was held in February 1989. The working papers of the seminar were published with the title, "Beyond Autocracy in Africa". Twenty-eighty months later, many African countries have moved beyond autocracy. In November 1990, we began a bulletin, Africa Demos, to monitor the transitions to more democratic systems in Africa; I have brought a few copies along, the fifth issue is currently in press. Not only has the egg of African democracy grown feet, it is now scampering all over the African continent.

I understand the concerns of President Masire that it is important for the people of Africa to choose and secure political systems they want, or of Jean-Pierre Le Bouder that "Democracy must grow from local roots ... It cannot be imposed from outside". But no one is imposing the emergent democracies on Africa. The people are rising up and casting aside systems that no longer enjoy their confidence and consent, or forcing regimes to al- low for the freer play of political expression, choice and action.

In the midst of the euphoria, however, we must be pragmatic. The econ- omic crisis that has been so thoroughly illustrated during the first day of this workshop is clearly related to the sweeping nature of the democratic movement in Africa today, and the impatience of the people and their political groups. Dr Avramovic told us that Africa experienced such a drop in the real value of wages between 1980 and 1987 that they had fallen below 1967 levels. African governments have had to bear the brunt of the people's anger that, in essence, should also be directed at the more distant agencies and governments that could not be held accountable. The lost generation of which Dr. Mistry spoke, found its feet on the streets of Afri- can capitals, and bullets no longer terrified them.

Yet, as the Honourable Henri Konan Bedie pointed out, "You can't consolidate democracy on misery and poverty". The same point was made by President Babacar NDIAYE in his eloquent opening address, when he contended that one of the greatest threats to the emergent democratic systems in Africa was the weakness of economic development. Indeed, while some may debate how necessary democracy is for development, few

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will disagree that without renewed economic growth, many emergent democracies in Africa will fall.

What is needed ? What must be done ?

Bert Koenders was kind enough to include in his ”Guidelines for a pos- sible Abidjan Declaration” a list of recommendations I had put forward in a background paper prepared for the Masstrict Meeting of the Global Coalition for Africa exactly a year ago. I direct your attention to pages 6-9 of that text (which includes some added points by Koenders). What would I add to that list today, or give special emphasis t o ?

Improved global governance is a necessary corollary of improved African governance. It cannot be stated too often : the problem in African gover- nance - absence of accountability, excessive corruption, the lack of trans- parency and predictability, insufficient popular participation in decision- making, arbitray rule and human right abuses, etc. - did not become entrenched in isolation from the activities of foreign governments and agencies. In the September 1990 speech by the Honourable Jan Pronk of the Netherlands, provided for this workshop, he appropriately stressed the importance of international good governance as a necessary corollary of ”good domestic governance”. The Abidjan statement could therefore invite multilateral and bilateral agencies to examine what is required of them in their relations with African that will foster, rather than hinder, the deter- mined efforts now being made in the continent to improve governance and entrench democracy.

Another issue is the need to address the predominance of the military in both African governance and in the consumption of scarce resources. The 13 billion dollars that Le Bouder states that African governments spent on their militaries in 1988 should be a prime target for the increased savings and capital investments that many speakers on Monday emphasized as a sine qua non of resumed growth. In addition, the military will remain a continuing threat to fragile African democracies. Either they are kept content with lots of goodies (using funds that should be spent on health, education, transport and capital investments) or they seize power and help themselves. The best solution is their planned obsolescence through re- gional security arrangements.

Jamborees, prestige projects and white elephants are still draining va- luable resources in many African countries. Despite the impoverishment of the continent, and the abysmal standard of life of many of its people, gov- ernements are still hosting jamborees with a level of opulence that would be embarassing in a rich industrialized country. A recent issue of West Africa Magazine reported that a country (that has been frequently mentioned in this workshop as having one of the most sizeable debts) paid a down- payment of 250 million pounds sterling for an industrial project that experts believe will have to subsidize the eventual sale of its products. Without taking sides regarding the value of this project, there is still a glaring issue

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about the accountability of those committing such a level of present and future resources. Many other examples could be cited.

The need for moral commitment to democracy and development in Afli- ca. John LANGMORE told the poignant story of the way in which the United States quietly forgave 4.6 billion dollars owed by Britain after World War I. (The only thing missing from his story is what that sum re- presents in current dollars!) That same issue came up implicitly in the frequent references to the Polish and Egyptian debt cancellations. Indeed, there are two basic factors at work here. The first is what I would call the "Kith and Kin" factor, and the second is the geopolitical factor. Those are the only two bases for special American treatment, especially of debts owed and for reconstruction needs, as with the Marshall Plan.

The Kith and Kin factor for Africans in the United States rests with Afri- can-Americans. The black congressional caucus is the only significant and consistent force within our entire governmental system in support of Afri- can interests. Such a statement does not deny the important role of numerous but isolated individuals and pressure groups. Consistent pressure from the black caucus has resulted in a significant increase in aid com- mitments to Africa. It is necessary to harness that important voice, and that of the 30 million African-Americans, behind the specific policy initiatives recommended by speakers at this conference for which American leader- ship, or acquiescence, is essential. In view of the declining geopolitical im- portance of many African theatres in the aftermath of the cold war, the grossly underdeveloped Kith and Kin factor that African enjoys in the United State need to be considered seriously, especially by Africans who devote too little attention to cultivating those links.

Finally, many speakers, such as the Honourable Walter Mclean, have called for innovative ideas. Indeed, Africa has been a seedbed of in- novations. Whole economies have gone underground, social survival net- works have been fashioned in the midst of repressive systems, and today, new democratic arrangements and processes are being generated by the people and their organized groups that are peacefully bringing an end to decades of misrule and the misappropriation of resources. President NDIAYE had noted the inter-dependence of economic, political, and social factors. Despite that immensity of the material decline Africa has suffered during its lost decade of the 198Os, at the beginning of the 1990s its people have shown remarkable economic, political, and social resilience and creativity. That is a story that needs to be told, and pondered. An embryo not only grows feet, it often turns into something that would never have been predicted when first viewed within its hard shell. What can Africa finally become when it is free to walk, talk and act. That is the challenge, and reyived aspirations, of the democratic movement.