African Development Perspectives: A Holistic Reflection

By T A Ngwana

Africa remains a continent that is yet to achieve its full potentials, despite an abundance of resources and a rich cultural pedigree. There have been various attempts to dissect the impediments to the continent’s progress in its march towards development and true independence. Consequently, this book moves away from mere identification of challenges to proffering solutions. The ideas put forward about African development in this book draw from a multiplicity of backgrounds. They are also offered through the prism of the lived experiences of contributors who are keen on engendering an African solution that weaves global dynamics into Africa’s cultural context and did not shy away from identifying themselves as global citizens from Africa. The compelling read is a critical appraisal of germane issues in Africa’s quest for development which speaks truth to both the powerful and the powerless within and beyond Africa on why prioritising Africa’s development is as pressing as the Global climate catastrophe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jan 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9781398494565

T A Ngwana

T A Ngwana current portfolio work includes executive coaching, Business Development and mentoring within the corporate context and academia. His current academic institutional affiliation includes the University of Plymouth, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Coventry University, London (UK), and UNICAF (Cyprus) in which he teaches and supervises mainly on postgraduate programmes. He is also a visiting fellow/lecturer of International Education and Development at the University of Oslo Norway. He was recently the University of Plymouth Doctoral College research Node Director in London. He has a record of publications in higher education, including about educational reforms in Cameroon but that was at peace time. He has 32 years of experience in all phases of education and 3 educational systems, including 11 years teaching in state schools in Cameroon. Also, he has worked extensively as a consultant with the Chevening Scholarship Secretariat, based in the Association of Commonwealth Universities and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom as chair and member of reading committees. He is currently a programme team leader at The School of Leadership and Management, Arden University, UK. Olushola Fashola is an academic and chartered accountant with work experience traversing Africa and Europe. He holds professional membership in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Wales. He has reviewed for the Journal of Applied Accounting Research and published in reputable academic journals (e.g. Cities). He co-authored Migrant Entrepreneurship Under Institutional Voids in Encyclopaedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals—Decent Work and Economic Growth. Olushola is a Fellow of The UK Higher Education Agency who has had significant experience in teaching and research within the UK University system. Olushola is currently Deputy Course Director (MSc International Business), QA Higher Education/Ulster University Partnership.

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About the Author

T A Ngwana current portfolio work includes executive coaching, Business Development and mentoring within the corporate context and academia. His current academic institutional affiliation includes the University of Plymouth, the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Coventry University, London (UK), and UNICAF (Cyprus) in which he teaches and supervises mainly on postgraduate programmes. He is also a visiting fellow/lecturer of International Education and Development at the University of Oslo Norway. He was recently the University of Plymouth Doctoral College research Node Director in London.

He has a record of publications in higher education, including about educational reforms in Cameroon but that was at peace time. He has 32 years of experience in all phases of education and 3 educational systems, including 11 years teaching in state schools in Cameroon. Also, he has worked extensively as a consultant with the Chevening Scholarship Secretariat, based in the Association of Commonwealth Universities and Foreign and Commonwealth Office, United Kingdom as chair and member of reading committees. He is currently a programme team leader at The School of Leadership and Management, Arden University, UK.

Olushola Fashola is an academic and chartered accountant with work experience traversing Africa and Europe. He holds professional membership in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Wales. He has reviewed for the Journal of Applied Accounting Research and published in reputable academic journals (e.g. Cities). He co-authored Migrant Entrepreneurship Under Institutional Voids in Encyclopaedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals—Decent Work and Economic Growth. Olushola is a Fellow of The UK Higher Education Agency who has had significant experience in teaching and research within the UK University system. Olushola is currently Deputy Course Director (MSc International Business), QA Higher Education/Ulster University Partnership.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to every individual, business, organisation, or government who shares the vision of a developed Africa.

Copyright Information ©

T A Ngwana and Olushola Fashola 2024

The right of T A Ngwana and Olushola Fashola to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by the authors in accordance with Sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The story, the experiences, and the words are the author’s alone.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398494558 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398494565 (ePub e-book)

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Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the support of our families (The Ngwana’s and The Fashola’s) whose support and encouragement made this book a reality.

Preface

This volume is the outcome of a series of talks within an academic network of nascent African scholars focused on developing a fresh and emergent perspective(s) on Development in Africa. The idea originated from the observation that African scholars, especially in the diaspora, are often justifiably critical of the apparent stagnation in African Development. However, we became quickly conscious of the distinction between the expression of indignation about the situation and making a pragmatic and positive contribution to finding solutions to the predicament. There is therefore an attempt in each chapter to incorporate the notion of, going beyond the expression of grumpiness to concrete proposals in a diverse, incremental, and yet significant manner.

This also means the outcome of these reflections is the search for a theoretical prism through which these discussions can be framed in a coherent and constructive manner. New Pan-Africanism and a transdisciplinary approach were therefore adopted in a collective quest to reframe the African developmental discourse. The authors are mainly UK-based African diaspora scholars concerned with delving into those issues and problems which are seen as critical within the realm of their discipline(s) reflections and applications.

In light of the above conceptual stance, the ambition of this volume and its target audience, are woven as a constructive effort at bridge-building between Africa and her diaspora population. It would interest anyone who sees such an initiative as a movement rather than a select social, academic or professional opportunity for elitism.

Introduction

Dr Terfot A. Ngwana & Dr Olushola Fashola

African Development as an area of interest has enjoyed a significant level of academic attention from both Africans and non-Africans. This has been driven by ideological, economic, political interests and activism. Some set of facts which underlie the discourse remain problematic but equally difficult to deny about the continent of Africa. The evidence that positions the continent in the development trajectory is embedded in various global measures and initiatives. Initiatives such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are premised on the notion that there are at least 17 areas in which one could address sustainable development in Africa and elsewhere in the world.

This was adopted in 2015 by the United Nations (UN) member states as part of its 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We have also seen numerous international follow-up outlets and indicators from key organisations such as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with its Human Development Index (HDI) published annually (e.g. UNDP’s, HDR 2020). The HDI generally scores countries (between 0 and 1) based on life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling, mean years of schooling and gross national income (GNI) per capita. This would also include the calculation of purchasing power parity (in US dollars) or PPP. Additional examples include organisations such as the World Bank with its Human Capital Plan, and others.

In this volume, we argue that discourse focused on delving into obstacles in the way of development and more proactive and positive arguments for tackling development are neither contradictory nor mutually exclusive. A (w)holistic approach would therefore entail embracing empirical and fundamental discussions that are derived from multidisciplinary and transdisciplinary sources, proactive as well as reactive approaches. Another fundamental thrust of the volume is examining these perspectives in tandem with a fresh conceptualisation of development in Africa with a broader breadth which aims to achieve a more pragmatic effect or addition to the literature such as New Pan-Africanism.

The New Pan-Africanism

Our reflection demonstrates that a reviewed and renewed notion of African Development has recently emerged out of frustration, stagnation and persistence of racial tension, as witnessed in campaigns such as Black Lives Matter (BLM), in mainly developed countries. This is exacerbated by equally unsatisfactory and problematic relations of the African homeland with the global structures (economic, social and technological). Championing this rhetoric has been African diaspora activists, intellectuals and other professionals. The tone pitched within this context is that of a polemic discourse which presents defensive or offensive arguments with a dedicated effort to offer evidence in support of such.

These have been articulated through both African and non-Africans alike and in the directions that reflect their ideologies. For the Africans, their polemics tend to call out historical and contemporary forces such as slavery and slave trade, colonisation and neo-colonisation, psychological, structural, and institutional disparities in the treatment of the black race and a host of other factors. These have been captured as an obstacle to development in Africa or the development of Africa entails (Karlsson, 1997).

Despite the above, there is no dearth of commentaries on what ought to be developmental in Africa. However, the persistence of the scholarly entries to urge or highlight different angles is a fruit of change in the reflective landscape and, perhaps new perspectives emerging from existing, and usually insufficiently critiqued views. Key perspectives have been forwarded by different centres for development studies around the world (mainly Western universities) and think tanks such as those articulated by commentators and researchers like Moss, Gelander and Walle (2005) and others. However, this does not exclude individual scholars with a historically keen interest in articulating their professional and scholarly perspectives.

For example, Fagerlind and Saha (1983) reflected on the role of education; Kifle et al. (1997) reflected on partnerships for Africa (especially with Sweden and the developed world); and Mabogunje (1989) reflected on notions around human geography. The fundamental ambition of this volume is not primarily to be comprehensive about the extant literature in a narrow sense but aims at highlighting the potential for a rounded or (w)holistic and pragmatic approach to discourse that might get nearer to driving reforms in Africa and in partner systems/countries around the world based on this new approach.

The recited frustration, stagnation and persistence of racial tension, in mainly developed countries, reflects an outcome rather than whether scholarly efforts have been made or not. This has also included debates and issues around institutional racism (generally towards ethnic minorities but also towards people of African descent). We are not also suggesting that there has been no impact so far in the direction of reducing these vices. To extend this further, we note several critical narratives in this direction.

Firstly, the contention that after independence, in the aftermath of World War II, which for most African countries took place in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s with very few and maybe no African country literally colonised by a European power left, the issue of colonisation and even neo-colonisation is resolved (Mabogunje, 1989). This means attention and empirical research efforts should be shifted to seeking ways of dealing with other contemporary challenges such as the alleviation of poverty, hunger, education, energy shortages, gender issues etc. We observe that this sounds relatively plausible because of the illusion that the contemporary challenges enumerated are a given, colonisation is seen as historical and unfashionable and neo-colonisation is abstract and nuanced. Nevertheless, whether these observations are robust enough or in other words, assume that these vices are unconnected may be unfolded in the various contributions as the discussions depict.

The second premise is that the advent of mass independence of African countries was buttressed by the creation of a Pan-African organisation, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) now known as the African Union (AU) in May 1963 by a group of 32 independent states. Furthermore, though discussions had been ongoing since 1962, the inaugural board meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB) was held in November 1964 in Lagos, Nigeria. The implication of this premise is that the continent had developed the capacity to emancipate itself from the political, social, and economic vices holding it back. In 2023, one would imagine that these efforts in addition to the widely publicised and international efforts creating a partnership with global/international organisations and systems such as the United Nations and the Breton Wood Institutions, created in 1944 with the formation of the International Monetary Fund-IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development-IBRD, today part of the World Bank Group are sufficient.

Economically, this meant African countries were ready to stand on their feet in accordance with the monetary rules which would essentially be set by these institutions. Once more, the simplistic conclusion would be that these joint-up efforts would be enough to make the changes that African countries would aspire to. These, in addition to other political, social and environmental conventions, in which Africans would be involved could presumably see Africa in an unproblematic development trajectory. However, we argue that it may not be as unproblematic after all.

The third premise is that it is a well-known tendency to take as axiomatic that, the notion of development in general and African Development can and should be applied interchangeably with that of economic development. It is understandable that earning and garnering enough savings to invest for rainy days or priority projects is a significant mark of development. However, the New Pan-African perspective brings a significant departure from this discourse by arguing that issues of debt overhang and other international structural discrepancies sometimes attributed to either colonial relationships, neo-colonial connections and deliberately crafted imbalanced trade/economic relations prevent this from happening.

By propounding this type of argument, we are expanding the scope to include aspects starting with the minds, to institutions, the nature of advocacy, political emancipation, and other structures. Another fundamental dimension is that of prescribing a more active role of the agency (people involved). The key drivers of change in this wise would now include an African diaspora, which has hitherto been under-represented or undermined in both the debates at the international and national levels, as key stakeholders.

Conceptualisation of

Development Theories

A reflection on how African Development has been conceptualised follows from the notion that fundamental questions are likely to emerge that would help in the robustness of our (w)holistic discourse in this volume. We are conscious of the proliferation of conceptualisations of African Development, especially as part of the pervasive lack of progress over recent years. For our purpose, we will limit our analysis to the most frequently used and applied conceptualisations, for example, economic growth theory, modernisation theory, and the socio-economic theory.

Economic Growth Theory of Development

The Development Economists’ fundamental thrust of reflection on economic growth as a perception of development is based on the premise that most of the countries in the continent do not have the adequate savings to invest in priority areas. This predicament is calculated and read from macroeconomic measures such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and income per head within the economy (Pass & Lowes, 1993). This has been articulated and put into various perspectives by various scholars. As far back as 1997 and even earlier, scholars such as Nureldin Hussain and others noted that the main factor that determined Africa’s lagging behind in global economic competitiveness in terms of growth and other aspects of positioning was primarily the income dimension.

They go further to explain, unsurprisingly, that this is due to disproportionate dependence on primary commodities as a source of income and economic growth (Hussain, 1997; Mabugunje, 1989). However, the development would generally be conceptualised as an increase in the volume of production within these categories of commodities.

Mabugunje goes further in elucidating that this perspective of conceptualisation of development as economic growth regards individuals as unimportant in the context of the drive to ensure development through this means. This is because it disproportionately focuses on a quantitative increase in export production of raw materials and minerals, for example, as a means of raising what he describes as real output per head. He draws from the African Caribbean economist Sir Arthur Lewis (1915–1991) to argue that this perspective reasserts the central problem of the theory of economic growth which is that of converting a ‘community from being a 5% to a 12% saver with all the changes in attitudes, in institutions and the techniques which accompany this conversion (p.36).’ It then follows that a suitable political system that would suit this pursuit would be a tyranny which uses coercion and violence to drive people towards greater real output while taking away their investment and saving surpluses.

Modernisation Theory of Development

The central feature of development as modernisation is embedded in social, psychological, and political change. The underlying assumption of the dynamics of this change is that it would engender economic development. The emphasis here is on the human agent rather than the commodity. This means that when humans observe new rules of the social, psychological, and political game(s), the outcome would be an increase in productive capacity.

One of the main critical contentions about development as modernisation, especially as it concerns Africa is that it presumes a process that is reminiscent of the colonial tutelage. This implies that the processes or journeys undertaken by the colonial powers in terms of their own social, psychological, and political change would or may need to be replicated in Africa. Since the thrust is in the renewal of rules of the game at the human level, for example, consumption patterns, use of technology, and other lifestyle options would be the direction. Hout’s (2016) observation that this goes together with dependency has been criticised in various ways, for instance, the presumed notion that Western experience would be emphasised as a pathway for guiding countries of the South, notably African countries.

Hout further points out that this emphasis is not isolated, and imports an additional layer of consideration as a pre-condition for development which is dependency. The extension to this analysis is that the African countries would be interested in reaching the goals of modernisation, but as it stands, requires substantial investment which they cannot afford, especially considering the obvious economic barriers.

In practice, the implementation of the modernisation theory plays out in the concentration on the building of schools and colleges, expansion of mass media, health facilities, good housing and recreation facilities. These structures and infrastructural dimensions accentuate and define attitudes towards consumption, production, and the development of the human agency. The changes in appetite and patterns of prioritisation in society meant a general gravitation towards facilities that accompany the modernisation movement (schools, colleges, recreational facilities etc). The outcome of this in the African context meant massive movements or exodus from the rural to the urban centres. Rural exodus means a significant reduction in rural and agricultural manpower, which is the backbone of the economy and increased engagement of the mainly youthful population in industrial and import-based economic activities in the cities.

The decrease in agricultural manpower happening concurrently with the increased urban unemployment would then be blamed for the inability of these countries to feed their population satisfactorily. Furthermore, the concentration of the vibrant and youthful energy on modernisation-related activities (e.g. industrialisation, and other service-related areas) which are mainly controlled by multinational companies add less value to the economy from the point of view of growth. Furthermore, this has proven to accentuate a huge disparity between a minority of extremely wealthy individuals and a very poor and destitute majority within these urban areas.

A further evolution in terms of development and modernisation is the development and application of structural modernisation indexes through practical constructs and attributions. An example is one proposed by Lavopa & Szirmai (2018). They posit several specific arguments, firstly that structural change and technological catch-up are central to economic development and must stay in tandem and alignment. Secondly, they argue that development, for example, from a lower middle-income economy to a higher middle-income economy can be reversed if the tandem and alignment between components (such as modernisation structure and technological absorption and catch-up structure) are not sustained. They further elaborated in their longitudinal time series analysis between 1960 and 2014 in 114 countries that a symptom of ineffective alignment in these countries resulted in what they referred to as the "development