Cholera in Zimbabwe

Earlier this week, Robert Mugabe, dictator of Zimbabwe, declared the cholera epidemic sweeping his country halted, although aid workers say that the situation has worsened. The World Health Organization (WHO) says the outbreak has not been contained and, as of mid-December, 2008, the death toll has increased to 978 people with 18,413 suspected cases. They go on to warn that the total number of cases could reach 60,000 unless the epidemic is stopped.

Using xenophobic misdirection tactics, Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu described the outbreak as a “genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British”. However, US ambassador James McGee blamed the outbreak on Zimbabwe’s political crisis and the failed economic policies of its government. He told reporters in Washington that hospitals in Harare remained closed, there was no rubbish collection and people were drinking from sewers.

There should be no doubt now that Mugabe must go. He is a danger to the people of Zimbabwe and, as the epidemic spreads, a danger to Southern Africa.

Chinatown, Africa

The West is behind the curve relative to African investment. China is decades ahead and reaps massive benefits. As in this Current.tv video, Angola gets new and improved infrastructure: roads, railways, hospitals, universities and schools, new businesses and is the fastest growing economy on the Continent.

Unfortunately Chinese investment does nothing for Angolan unemployment and promotes widespread corruption. China doesn’t tie investments to human rights, economic stability, good governance or democratic ideals. Its investments target the vast Angolan oil and iron ore resources it needs for now and the future. Moreover, this is happening in Sudan (oil), the Democratic Republic of Congo (copper, cobalt, coltan), Zambia (copper), Mozambique (wood), Equatorial Guinea (oil) and elsewhere.

The new Administration in Washington has the daunting task of finding ways to strengthen its ties to Africa humanely and quickly, before its too late. What is clear is that the old, Western ways of doing business there no longer matter.

What One Hundred Billion Dollars Buys You

The answer is, in Zimbabwe, not very much. Back in July, the government of Zimbabwe issued one hundred billion dollar notes. With one, you can buy four oranges or three eggs as shown in the picture above. But they still cannot buy you a loaf of bread.

Once-prosperous Zimbabwe has seen an unprecedented economic meltdown since it gained independence in 1980. The official inflation rate is now at 2.2 million percent. And, the reason for this? I’m no economist, but I know enough to submit two words as evidence: bad leadership.

Robert Mugabe has a lot to answer for in Zimbabwe. His is a bitter betrayal. Once a hero, revered for his part in the country’s fight for independence from England (remember colonial Rhodesia?), he has led the country deeper into sectarian violence and economic collapse. Zimbabwe, once a net exporter of food and one of the strongest economies in Africa, now it cannot feed itself. A true recipe for disaster.

Sad News, Great Life

Miriam Makeba, the South African singer who became a world famous symbol of the anti-apartheid movement, died this morning, apparently of a heart attack after performing at an anti Mafia concert in southern Italy.

Born in Johannesburg in 1932 to a Xhosa father and Swazi mother, Makeba – often called ‘Mama Africa’ and ‘the Empress of African Song’ – left South Africa in 1959. When she tried to return for the funeral of her mother the following year, her passport was taken away and she was banned from the country. She addressed the UN in 1976 to denounce apartheid, after which her songs were banned in South Africa.

The singer lived in exile for over thirty years in the United States, France, West Africa and Belgium. She went back to South Africa in 1990, when the then President, F.W. de Klerk, began to introduce reforms which eventually ended in the dismantling of apartheid and the release from prison and subsequent election as President of Nelson Mandela.

‘Delicious Peace’ in Uganda

Trade Not Aid

By now, the phrase ‘trade not aid’ is (or should be) commonplace in our conversations. In the case of Africa, ample evidence exists to support that most financial aid from wealthier nations does not reach its poor, hungry, sick and uneducated. According to Ugandan journalist, Andrew Mwenda, between 1960 and 2003, Africa received 600 billion USD in aid, yet poverty is still widespread. Corrupt bureaucracies, war, the failure to invest in infrastructures, crushing debt and the lack of self-incentives continue to siphon aid money from the Africans who need it most. Instead of continued addiction to foreign aid and subsequent debt, what if Africans utilized more of their vast natural and human resources to empower themselves economically?

At the 2007 TED conference in California and its sibling, TED Africa 2007 in Tanzania, leading proponents of wealth creation for Africa were showcased. Along with Mwenda, economist and author (Africa Unchained) George Ayittey, pioneering Nigerian finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and others asked us here in the West to see beyond typical media portrayals of African helplessness. Instead, we should be looking to stories of self-reliance and ingenuity that show how Africans themselves are healing their continent from the inside out.

Many such success stories are surfacing across Africa. One that caught my attention is the Mirembe Kawomera Cooperative of Uganda, the best example of trade not aid I know. Mirembe Kawomera (meaning “Delicious Peace” in the Luganda language) had its beginnings in a request for neighbors to put aside old differences. In 2004, Joab Jonaday (“J.J.”) Keki, an Abayudaya coffee farmer, walked door to door asking his neighbors to come together to discuss collectively improving their lives. Previously, these fourth generation coffee farmers had struggled to survive on the low prices offered by local markets. Keki reasoned that if there were marketplaces with higher prices, every farmer could realize higher returns. Subsequently they formed Mirembe Kawomera to combine crops, refine techniques and seek new markets. Through the joint efforts of the cooperative and the fair trade Thanksgiving Coffee Company in California, the cooperative has been a success, growing to over 700 members. They have increased coffee yields and now fetch four times the former price.

They are investing profits in land and equipment, diversifying to include vanilla beans, offering microfinancing to members and contributing a fixed percentage of every sale to a variety of community public health and education projects. This new economic prosperity is only part of their success. From the beginning, they realized that theirs is a unique story. Their current, elected leadership represents each religious group within their community. The co-op president is a Jew, the vice-president, a Christian and the treasurer, a Muslim. They are all African and, in doing something together that none of them could have done alone, they have become self-reliant to build a sustainable business.

The example of Mirembe Kawomera is a blueprint for fair trade that can be applied to opportunities throughout Africa and the world. Given the current climate of class inequity, religious competition and war, a successful, African cooperative with interfaith members should be an inspiration to all of us.

Related links:

Visit the Mirembe Kawomera website for more on ‘delicious peace’. You can watch a video about the cooperative and buy their excellent coffee there.

Andrew Mwenda, Let’s Take a New Look at African Aid (video), TED 2007 Conference.

Andrew Mwenda and 3 others arrested in newspaper raid, Global Voices Online, April 28, 2008.