African Development Issues: Has President Obama tell us anything new?

It is not a hidden fact that Africa as a continent is full of natural resources and potentials to become an economic powerhouse but sadly we seem to be the architects of our own misfortunes. When President Barak Obama took to the podium for his historic speech as the first sitting US President to address the African Union, he made a series of remarks as to the continent’s growth potential and what is holding us back. Below we analyse if President Obama indeed tell us anything we did not already know and if the African leaders will listen to him at all.

On Dignity: President Obama reminded the leaders that every person has a worth and every person matters. Therefore every person has to be treated with dignity and respect. He stressed that the basic idea that by virtue of our common humanity, no matter where we come from or who we are or what we look like, we are all born equal, touched by the grace of God. President Obama also took a swipe at the evil of slavery and colonialism which he claimed skewed Africa's economy and robbed people of their capacity to shape their own destiny.

President Barak Obama addressing the African Union, Source: AU

The US President went further to mention that, throughout much of history, dignity was seen as virtue reserved to those of rank or privilege, kings and elders. According to him, it took a revolution of the spirit, over many centuries, to open our eyes to the dignity of every person. And around the world, generations have struggled to put this idea into practice in laws and institution. Obama, being ever diplomatic went on to remark: So too here in Africa.

I understood the diplomacy in his speech trying not to offend his hosts but  I would rather had him hit the nail on the head by saying exactly that, 'unfortunately this is still the case in most parts of Africa' where dignity is reserve to only those in power. 

However, Mr. Obama was more direct on the issue of corruption and leaders wanting to stay in power forever stressing that no one should be president for life. This is a very important point giving the fact that we have many countries in Africa whose incumbent presidents have been in power for the best parts of three decades. The issue of term limits for president was recommended by ECOWAS recently but this was apparently blocked by two member countries in the region.

On the issue of corruption, President Obama echoed that 'nothing will unlock Africa's economic potential more than ending the cancer of corruption. He appeared a bit patronising though by stating that, 'this is not unique to Africa - corruption exist all over the world including the United States'. That corruption exist all over the world is no news really but it is safe to say that it's rife and more rampant in Africa. He however rightly mentioned that corruption drains billions of dollars from African economies - money that could be used to create jobs, build hospitals and schools.

In a nutshell, President Obama did not tell the African leaders nothing new, rather he simply reminded them things they are very well aware of. It's about time for these leaders to step up the mark and take their responsibilities seriously bearing in mind that they are servants of the people they represent and they will be accountable for their actions in office.