When Africa Want To Rise, It Will

When many African states were gaining independence after the second world war, they were not alone, many Asian states were also undergoing the same process. Massive poverty, poor infrastructures, overpopulation, poor housing, unemployment, religious fanaticism, ethnic bigots and lack of education. These were common to both continents.

60 years later. Things are not the same! One continent still sings the song of blame against colonialism, while another is writing its own song.

Countries such as Singapore have moved so fast that in less than 30 years, they became a first world country. Today, Singapore is not just a first-world country, it is ranked as #1 or #2 in many world rankings. In AI Readiness (which is fueling the fourth industrial revolution), Singapore ranks first. Singapore has a population of 5 million, she receives 17 million tourists annually!

Many third world countries look to Singapore as a model for development. Almost every Asian country has consulted Singapore for its development, including China. Not just that, even developed countries now look to Singapore. During the Brexit debate in 2016, policymakers quoted that Britain would become “The Singapore of Europe” after leaving the EU! Imagine that. To have risen to become an example to your once colonizers.

When the Vietnam war ended in 1975, the country was one of the poorest in the world. Extremely poor! The Nigerian Civil War ended in 1970, and Nigeria experienced a major economic boom in the years that followed immediately this was largely because of the rise in oil prices. 49 years later, Nigeria is the headquarters of poverty while Vietnam is enjoying massive economic growth, one that experts have called an “economic miracle”. The economic growth rate is 6-7%, rivaling that of China. And yes, China itself. With a massive population, almost that of Africa combined has also lifted millions of people out of poverty. Poverty fell from 88% in 1981, to 0.71% in 2015.

Of course, Lee Kuan Yew had been in power for the years that Singapore moved from a Third World Country to a First World Country. But we cannot attribute the development of Singapore, and other Asian states to just the fact of having a single leadership for many years. In fact, many African states are the perfect example to say otherwise. President Paul Biya of Cameroon has been heading the government since 1982 (37 years), Former President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt led the Egyptian people since 1981 until 2011 (31 years), the former President of Togo, Gnassingbe Eyadema led Togo from 1967 until 2005 (38 years) and Former President Robert Mugabe led Zimbabwe for 30 years. None of these countries tops the ranking in any good statistics worldwide. None of them is amongst the first 50 countries in AI readiness and none of them is a First World Country. Sadly, not just these countries. No African country is amongst the first 50 in AI Readiness.

Although the stability of government is important for development, it is wrong to totally accrue credit to it for the change in the fortune of these nations. Perhaps really, this way of thinking about the developments of these countries is what we also get wrong. Instead of studying(I mean studying, not just some miscellaneous travels) these nations, picking the relevant lessons and applying them, we are quick to point out quite easily and to our discretion what we think is the reason for their development. Lee Kuan Yew spent some months in America, as a residential Student, studying their development and understanding their people. Many of these Asian nations sent their students to study abroad and they returned afterward, contributing significantly to the development of their nations.

Rather than speculate on why Asia is rising, we should study it, learn from it and apply relevant lessons to ours place! This is the first step to show that we are serious about developing our countries. In the end, we will find out the complex process of development but it is not impossible. Because Asia did it, it shows we can. Do we even have the guts to think it is impossible?

Yalla.