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VALUING REMITTANCES AND RESOURCES FOR AFRICA

Dr. Desta Meghoo
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“COVID19 has generated an unintended consequence of speeding up the digital innovation in Africa led by the youthful population with the common market as their reach and the returning diaspora as the icing on the cake…” Eric M.K. Osiakwan, Africa.com

Most on the continent are familiar with the term “remittance – a payment or amount of money sent as a gift,” often used in relation to the financial contributions of Africans Diaspora sent back home to families from Algeria to Zimbabwe. But remittances are much more than that according to the African Union who states, “The African Institute of Remittances develops the capacity of Member States of the African Union, remittance senders and recipients and other stakeholders to implement concrete strategies and operational instruments to use remittances as development tools for poverty reduction.” But regardless of these lofty goals, as of 2020 remittances have been markedly reduced based on subsequent economic effects caused by the pandemic. Though the crisis is felt in all countries, affects on African are immense. And for the typical sender, who may live a few paychecks away from scarcity, the problem is compounded and the near future numbers are bleak according to Yinka Adegoke, qz.com Africa Editor who writes, “African countries will see remittance flows drop by 23.1% to $37 billion in 2020 in the wake of the Covid-19 economic crisis according to a World Bank forecast.”
I have been thinking about the reconciliation of remittances and resources for over a decade, frankly incensed by the notion that African Diaspora was “valued” by the amount of $’s contributed with minimal accounting for overall contributions based on resources we bring to the table in Africa, beyond bank accounts. Resource, as opposed to remittance, is defined as “stock or supply of money, materials, staff, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively.” In these difficult times, it is the resources that should be both quantified and qualified and certainly valued. Hence I share for the purpose of encouraging and hopefully shifting the narrative of value exclusively from remittance to include resources.
The Association of Nigerian Physicians in America, 4,000 strong, has pivoted their annual visit to West Africa where care was provided to collecting and sending Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and providing telemedicine care and training. While in Ghana, Eric M.K. Osiakwan, presents the silver lining around the dark covid19 cloud in his Africa.com article, sharing four major trends helping Africa address and overcome the pandemic. “COVID19 has generated an unintended consequence of speeding up the digital innovation in Africa led by the (the four major trends) youthful population with the common market as their reach and the returning diaspora as the icing on the cake… . Dr. Marcus Manns moved to Ghana in June 2000 to start his chiropractic and wellness center which is now a successful business and in the process met his wife – they now live between Accra and the US with their five kids. Ingrid LaFleur who once ran for the mayor of Detroit could not return after her “Year of Return” visit…has gone on to launch The Afrofuture Strategies Institute (TASI) with a triangulated location in Accra, Kigali and Johannesburg. Derrick Ashong and Lucia Brawley, co-founders of Amp Global Technologies, moved from Los Angeles to Mauritius to launch The Mic: Africa, the first multi-platform TV format created in Africa to be exported around the world, all powered by their Take Back The Mic (TBTM) app.” Ethiopia and her Diaspora are also moving the needle on social responsibility from the Diaspora with US based Ethiopian physicians actively engaged with the country’s health head honcho, Dr. Lia Tadesse and Ethiopian Diaspora High-Level Advisory Council on COVID-19 and Ethiopian Health Professionals Advisory Council on COVID-19 hosting zoom meetings in Partnership with the Ministry of Health and Ethiopian Public Health Institute addressing topics from policies to preparedness. Additionally, the recently launched “Prints for Ethiopia” by German based Ethiopian artist, Gelane Dissassa and US based filmmaker Edelawit Hussien is an initiative to raise awareness and funds through art to help feed homeless children in Addis Abeba.
Too often the Diaspora discourse has been narrowed to remittances or entitlement, with little to no regard for the resources at hand including education, experience, access and opportunities for development and the list goes on. However, as we prepare to create our “new normal” in Africa it is my hope that the Diaspora will be credited for taking action on our burning desire to help build Mother Africa, full stop. Our loyalty to the land which historically was robbed of the best, so we could build the west; combined with 20th century stories of migration, resulting in success stories, create a powerhouse. Time for recognition and reintegration of Africans at home and abroad, the best way to build Africa.

Dr. Desta Meghoo is a Jamaican born
Creative Consultant, Curator and cultural promoter based in Ethiopia since 2005. She also serves as Liaison to the AU for the Ghana based, Diaspora African Forum.

Africa’s fight against COVID 19

Staff Reporter
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Africa’s fight against COVID 19

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a specialized technical institution of the African Union established to support public health initiatives of Member States and strengthen the capacity of their public health institutions to detect, prevent, control and respond quickly and effectively to disease threats. Africa CDC supports African Union Member States in providing coordinated and integrated solutions to the inadequacies in their public health infrastructure, human resource capacity, disease surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, and preparedness and response to health emergencies and disasters.
Established in January 2016 by the 26th Ordinary Assembly of Heads of State and Government and officially launched in January 2017, Africa CDC is guided by the principles of leadership, credibility, ownership, delegated authority, timely dissemination of information, and transparency in carrying out its day-to-day activities. The institution serves as a platform for Member States to share and exchange knowledge and lessons from public health interventions. Africa CDC Deputy Director, Dr. Ahmed E. Ogwell talked to Capital about his institutions activities and the current fight against covid 19. Excerpts;

Capital: How well are African countries prepared to respond to the covid 19 compared to the rest of the world?
Ahmed E. Ogwell: To respond to the covid 19 in a better way is to prepare. We did not compare ourselves with other parts of the world but I can share with you how we are prepared so that you can have a better understanding. The first thing we did when we got the information this virus has been identified in China is we started to develop the capacity of Africa CDC that we secured our health system health expertise and experiment that will enable us to respond.
The second thing is, we started doing capacity development at all the 55 identified African member states. We have been building their capacity in preparing for the arrival of the virus, we have been doing things starting from January up to now. If we see where Africa was in January and where Africa is today in terms of preparation to respond to this covid 19 pandemic we can say that we have improved our ability and we are now confident that we can quickly identify people who has the virus, we are able to quickly test them and has prepared quarantines and isolation centers depending on the laboratory result.
Although if we have compared to the other parts of the world and the number we can say Africa is doing something right. Because the number of the cases in the rest of the world are increasing very fast but the number in Africa is rising but not fast so it mean that we are doing something good and it is because of the preparation that we have made when the covid 19 was identified in China.

Capital: what are the main challenges facing Africa so far in the fight against the virus?
Ahmed: The challenges are several. The first main challenge is that our health system is weak that means our health experts are few, our hospitals are few also that we don’t have enough capacity to reach the community that are affected so one of the challenge is out health system. The second challenge is that the test kits that are used to test the Covid 19 are manufactured out of Africa and taking hold of them are becoming very difficult as every country wants the test kits so we have been working to find companies which can be able to work with us to be able to secure test kits for Africa.
The other challenge is the protective equipment that our health workers need. Most of the personal protective equipment like face mask, hand gloves and coverings that health workers use in the hospital are manufactured In Europe, China or America and because they also have the same disease they are not able to release to the world competitively. We need a lot of protective equipment.
The other challenge is resource. We need people to prepare, to prepare our hospitals, our health workers and to be able to communicate with the public resource are our challenge so we are trying to mobilize resources from governments, African countries and other parts of the world.
The final challenge I like to share is wrong information, there are so many rumors outside that is causing fear and panic to the public. We are trying very hard to identify the rumors and we are trying to provide the correct information to the public. But nevertheless wrong information has become a very big challenge in managing the covid 19.

Capital: There are some stories that Chinese made test kits failed in some parts of the world, how are you coping with this as most test kits in Africa came from China?
Ahmed: I think it is important to know as CDC Africa we have a protocol when we buy our test kits. We don’t go to the open market that you may be able to find test kits that would fail. We have our usual supplier that we have been working with from the beginning and all the test kits that are coming to Africa through Africa CDC are good in quality and no country is complaining that they have problems in our test kits. At a time like this when demand is very high and supply is very low we find somebody who will be going to that space with our standard and as African CDC and African Union we have suppliers we know who give good products and we don’t go to unverified supplier unless they are being verified and known.

Capital: How is the African CDC and African Union providing support?
Ahmed: The African Union and the African CDC are providing support to member states in several ways. One is we have develop a continental studies on covid 19 outbreak and we are using to support our member states. So all countries in Africa are aligned and using the study, the second thing we have is a platform for the African Union member states meet in two weeks and provide directives to us as African Union and Africa CDC. So every action that we take is as a group and this helped assuring that there are law measurement and guide. The third thing is the Ministries of Health, Finance and Transport in Africa are coordinating to the platform and are giving guidelines on the activities that we are doing.

Capital: How is the CDC Africa collaborating with the WHO and other international organizations?
Ahmed: Through the task force Africa CDC is coordinating and closely working with the WHO and other organizations such as the ILO, UNDP, UNICEF and other organizations. It is part of the task force over the mitigation of the covid 19. We are working closely with aligned plans.

Capital: What is the worst case scenario expected?
Ahmed: We are preparing for the current situation our planning our support and all our activities are for the current scenario. We did not give room for the worst scenario. We are doing everything we can to respond at this stage. We are not planning to any other scenario.

Capital: Locust swarm, malaria, polio and hunger are looming again in Africa do you have any plans to tackle these?
Ahmed: In fact we are talking a lot about covid that the reality is all other disease are still popping up in the continent. In Africa CDC we have been working with our member states to respond on the other diseases to ensure that the health system still remains functional to address the diseases and covid is providing special case by identifying specific cases while the rest of the health system continue to functional and to address all the other diseases.
Lastly I have two comments. One is that the response is going to be effective when member of the public get correct information and following government directions. This discipline is the one that is going to ensure the number of the case in Africa to remain low. The second thing I have is that we have to protect our health workers because they are the ones who are looking after the patients who have the virus. So we have to make sure that we give them the correct motivation to continue to work.

Why hubris and political grandstanding undermine Egypt’s Nile interests

admin
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By Berhanu Abegaz

Egyptian folklore and delusionary grandiosity about water rights never cease to amaze (and amuse) the seemingly hapless residents of the upper Nile Basin. This is especially so for independent-minded Ethiopians who, despite their debilitating poverty, have for millennia provided massive and unrequited development aid to the Sudan and Egypt. You see, Egypt may be the gift of the Nile, but the Nile is the gift of Ethiopia. Ergo: An ungrateful Egypt is ultimately the gift of Ethiopia, which contributes over 80 percent of its waters and invaluable silt to underwrite the desert civilization.
Professor Mohamed Nasr El-Din Allam’s recent commentaries (Ahramonline, May 10, 12, and 13, 2020) are the latest examples of willfully distortionary and condescending pronouncements, by those who should know better, regarding Ethiopia’s credible challenge to Egypt’s well-cultivated sense of entitlement and hydro-hegemony. A casual reader of the jaundiced commentary by the former Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation will be forgiven for not recognizing that:
The Nile Basin is the only major world watershed without an internationally recognized comprehensive treaty among the 11 riparian states. The defunct colonial (1929) and bilateral (1959) agreements that involved only Sudan and Egypt, and the withdrawal of the two lower riparians from the Nile Basin Initiative betray Egypt’s futile intention to sustain an untenable status quo.
Egypt and Sudan, whose inputs have been invited in the filling schedule of the GERD, had never consulted Ethiopia when they built their dams or engaged in massive and misguided diversions (e.g., Toshka) and recklessly wasteful utilization of Nile waters.
Mohammed Ali’s Egypt was defeated twice when it invaded Ethiopia to occupy the Blue Nile basin, and its current diplomatic offensive, is the latest example of a long campaign to keep Ethiopia weak by denying it access to water-development financing and destabilizing it politically. Needless to say, Ethiopians remain unimpressed by the saber-rattling and compassionless diplomatic overkill-even with a full appreciation of Egyptian military capability and geopolitical influence.
Believe me when I say that Ethiopians recognize to a fault the existential angst Egyptians feel about their overdependence on the Nile. We also feel equally passionate about the cause of eradicating mass poverty in Ethiopia. But Ethiopians remain bewildered by the lack of empathy for the Ethiopian poor and the mean-spirited disregard of their sovereign rights by Egyptian officials and intellectuals. So, when it comes to needs, who would accept the odious notion that Egyptians must eat and live in lighted environments while Ethiopians should continue to starve and live in darkness? If Egypt’s claim to 100 percent of the Nile waters just because it needs it, how come it does not volunteer to give 100 percent of its oil to Ethiopia because the latter has none? And, why do we keep hearing clever arguments that Ethiopia can use its non-Nile waters (only 10 percent of Ethiopia’s rivers are non-transboundary) when no Egyptian would accept the cruel idea that Palestinians should be resettled in Arab countries just because their brethren have plenty of land?
The crux of the issue is the crafting of an agreement, based on the applicable international laws that govern transboundary waters so that the 200 million-plus people in the two African giants can sustainably and equitably utilize the precious Nile. Based on the templates provided by other international treaties (Mekong, Euphrates, Ganges, Danube, Colorado, Panama), a comprehensive agreement envisaged by the Cooperative Framework Agreement of the Nile Basin Initiative will have three pillars:
Equitable allocation of the Nile waters. This is the stickiest issue since Egypt stands to lose as much as half of its current use. Egypt would be wise to brace itself to accept the inevitable-pay for the above-allocation tapping of waters, eliminate water-intensive crops such as cotton, abandon its reckless water-diversion projects, investment in preventing the Mediterranean from infiltrating the Nile Delta, invest in range management to mitigate the drying up of many tributaries in the Ethiopian highlands, and tap prudently into its massive underground waters.
Collective inspection of all dams in the Nile Basin. A framework needs to be developed within NBI to ensure that all economically sensible dams are technically sound and financially viable.
Collective investment and management of the ecosystem of the Nile Basin. This should include all riparians, big or small, to as the only legitimate approach for ensuring environmental sustainability and adequate water supply in the face of global warming and increased demand. The greatest danger facing Egypt and the Sudan is, in fact, the alarmingly rapid drying up of the Nile tributaries as the Ethiopian highlands become denuded and Lake Tana is being suffocated by water hyacinth.
As Yoweri Museveni likes to say, Mubarak forgot that Egypt is an African country-geographically and economically. Egyptian strategists are, therefore, well advised to recalibrate their bullying posture toward the hinterland by recognizing as equals the likes of Ethiopia and Uganda. An African solution to an African problem is far superior to one imposed by the Big Powers or fellow Arab states on behalf of a sniveling Egypt.
Yes, Egypt is a regional power, but it certainly is not a superpower. It should learn to act like a responsible big neighbor seeking a win-win solution under the applicable international laws. It will surely suffer the diminishment of its de facto water share. Still, such a self-limiting addiction to other countries’ sovereign assets should be replaced by an ambition for a fully industrialized and modern service-providing Egypt. If and when it does, Egypt will be in a better position to lead the Greater Nile Valley to the brave world of peace, freedom, and prosperity for all.

The writer is Professor of Economics, William & Mary, USA.

The Art Of Survival The Art Of Adire Gave This Textile Artist Global Fame, She Now Educates Generations Of Women In Nigeria

Staff Reporter
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The Art Of Survival The Art Of Adire Gave This Textile Artist Global Fame, She Now Educates Generations Of Women In Nigeria

Textile artist Nike Davies-Okundaye worked as a construction laborer and carried water and firewood to survive. The art of adire gave her global fame and she is now educating generations of women in Nigeria.
There was no way Nike Davies-Okundaye could look the other way. For after all, she too had been a victim in her early teens.
Too many women were being pushed down the traditional path of marriage and child-rearing in her country.
Born in 1951 in Ogidi-Ijumu, a small village in western Nigeria known for its spectacular rock formations and traditional art industry, Davies-Okundaye resolved to fight this practice four decades ago.
“By the age of 13, they wanted to marry me off because my father had no money. I had to run away from home and join a traveling theater. I said I didn’t want to marry and wanted to pursue art,” recalls the internationally-renowned Lagos-based artist.
Not wanting to become one of six wives to a minister, Davies-Okundaye found her escape through adire, the name given to the Yoruba craft of tie-and-dye where indigo-dyed cloth is made using a variety of resist-dyeing techniques. Growing up in a predominantly art and craft household, Davies-Okundaye is a fifth-generation artist who decided to take the craft seriously due to poverty.
“I had no money to go to school and the first education parents give you is to teach you what they do. So, when I finished primary six and I had no support to go to secondary school, I said to myself, ‘let me master art so I can teach other women to also use their hand to make a living through their own artwork’.”
Davies-Okundaye was forced to work in the male-dominated construction sector, carrying concrete in pans to builders in order to save one shilling, just enough to buy a yard of fabric to create what she called wall-hanging art.
Her goal was to use the traditional wax-resist methods to design patterned fabric in a dazzling array of tints and hues. The adire design is the result of hand-painted work carried out mostly by women and through that, Davies-Okundaye saw a way to help women to become economically empowered. After all, her first break in life came as a result of that.
“There was no other job I was doing apart from adire. I was lucky the American government came to Nigeria to recruit an African who will teach African Americans how to make traditional textiles or crafts in the state. That is how I was lucky and got picked.”
Davies-Okundaye was the only woman in a class of 10 men who were flown to Maine in northeastern United States in 1974. That is where her whole outlook on life changed.
“Before I went to America, I used to carry three drums of water every day and carry firewood to be able to survive. It was like a breakthrough in my life when I reached America. I said ‘is this heaven?’ I was the only woman in the class and all the men were learning women’s looms and I kept telling them ‘this is for women’ and they said ‘yes, in America, what a man can do, a woman can also do’.”
This was in stark contrast to what she knew to be true in Nigeria at the time.
“If your husband is an artist, you are not allowed to do art. In the 1960s, if your husband has a PhD, you are not allowed to also have a PhD. You had to give room for your husband to be your boss.”
She decided to beat those age-old stereotypes.
As one of 15 wives to her then-husband at the time, Davies-Okundaye, with her newfound knowledge gained in America, started a revolution at home. She encouraged the other wives to create their own art business using adire.
“I said ‘if you learn this, you can earn a living by yourself and get your power because your money is your power’ and that is how they also started learning it. I didn’t stop sharing the knowledge there. I gathered girls on the streets who were selling kola nuts and peanuts and started training them. I said ‘if this textile can take me to America, let me teach other people’,” says Davies-Okundaye.
And that has been her calling ever since. Davies-Okundaye is the founder and director of four art centers, which offer free training to 150 young artists in Nigeria in visual, musical and performing arts.
One of the centers is the largest art gallery in West Africa comprising over 7,000 art works.
“They used to get the police to arrest me because they said I was trying to teach feminism in Nigeria because I went to America. They said I was going to corrupt our Nigerian women but I believe God sent me to liberate a lot of women who have the passion for what makes them happy but are afraid to do it because of what people will say. I say do what makes you happy always!”
(Forbes Africa)

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