Beran Jeng,
I do not recall posting figures, which contradict those of the World Bank.
In case I have committed such an error, I would appreciate you or any
member of the List draw my attention to the contradictions so that I can
either try to explain and/or correct them. The two institutions (ADB, WB)
have collaborated closely in the past, a collaboration we intend to
maintain well into the future. To illustrate this point, the WB, IMF and
ADB have recently pooled their resources to establish The Joint African
Institute (JAI), headquartered in Abidjan for the purposes of training
Africans in economic management and related subjects. (I can provide
additional information for those interested.)
To the other issues raised in your posting, I would like to state that my
postings are attempts at putting forward the same set of numbers that some
economic/financial writers against a backdrop which seems to be lacking in
their accounts. In response to a posting by Abdul Aziz Drammeh on the
subject of how the western media helps cause African poverty, I stated to
the effect that the figures used by the BBC and similar western news
organisations are not “inaccurate but they have been selectively treated in
isolation from the broader framework.” Interestingly, you have provided a
perfect example of my “beef” with some western reporting in The
Philadelphia Inquirer’s article by one Trudy Rubin. I do not know the
gentleman, and I do not believe that I have ever come across him in any of
the major economic/financial gatherings. What I do know from reading his
article is that his knowledge of Africa in general, and the economic
challenges and issues facing the continent in particular, is limited. And
unfortunately, these are the very people who have access to powerful media
outlets and institutions such as the Philadelphia Inquirer. An experienced
African hand would have had more to say to Africans, even after only
spending three weeks in South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique and Nigeria,
than “…more effort should be made to bolster African civil society, small
businesses and independent media.” Mr. Rubin visited all the wrong African
countries to have come up with this conclusion. Nigeria, with all her poor
governance record, high level of corruption etc. etc., has one of the most
independent media (and a high level of readership, at that) than anywhere
else on the continent. I hate to think where Nigeria would be today without
the Nigerian media. The same could be said of Nigerian civil society. I
need not comment on small businesses, civil society and independent media
in Mozambique and Botswana.
The new World Bank Report that Mr. Rubin cited (including the figures) is
NOT a World Bank Report. Rather, it is a Report written by staffers of the
World Bank, African Development Bank and the ECA and thus a report of the
World Bank, African Development Bank and United Nations Commission for
Africa. The Management of the African Development Bank had to sign off on
that report before its release and it reflects the views of the authors,
most of who are Africans. Some of those numbers cited in the Report were
generated here at your Bank. So please tell Mr. Rubin and those of his
kind to lay off. There are many Africans who are trying to contribute
positively and constructively to reverse the adverse trends in our
respective economies.
I have tried desperately to spot a positive comment on any on the countries
Mr. Rubin visited and I could not find any. He came close on one occasion
when observed that “ Even Botswana, one of Africa’s few economic success
stories, has an HIV infection rate among adults that exceeds 25 percent.”
Nothing on the public expenditure outlay for the Health sector, nothing on
the public awareness programme that the government has put in place to
reverse this pandemic, nothing on the fact that the HIV/AIDS awareness
programme in Botswana is registering some positive results. I will,
therefore, be presenting to the L some highlights of the report so that we
can all appreciate better the problems, challenges and prospects. I look
forward to your contributions.
Diagnostics studies of most of the African economies have been conducted.
In fact the patient has been over-diagnosed, in my view. The problems are
well known. They have been the subjects of several conferences, CG
meetings etc. These problems include some that Mr. Rubin consider
simplistic which, to me, are central i.e. Africa’s colonial past (Zimbabwe,
SA), Cold War rivalries (DRC, Egypt), foreign debt (Uganda, Burkina Faso),
harsh demands for economic reforms by the international lending agencies
(Gambia, Ghana, Zambia) and civil wars (Liberia, Somalia). I say to all,
let’s get on with it. Solutions should emanate from us Africans. The likes
of Mr. Ruben should not distract us from our efforts to find solutions to
our own problems.
sidi sanneh
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