The opening game of the World Cup at Soccer City in Johannesburg between the host nation South Africa and visitors Mexico, was an exercise in careful mutual respect, and measured engagement.
The motivation for this controlled encounter was the fact that the world was keenly looking to judge the winner or loser and set a tone for world opinion thereafter. Gladly for both sides, the result was a one goal all draw which not only gave each side a positive review, but also treated the world to two goals as an added bonus.
After the opening game, the rest of the world cup games demand strategy, innovation when required, and measured and deliberate engagement. This is much the same as starting a new business. The key issue is to respond to the challenges, and not to react to the unfolding outcomes.
The world cup games show some insights on how Africa reacts rather than responds to evolving situations.
The Argentina versus Nigeria game recorded that Nigeria took half the number of shots at goal than Argentina. Possibly due to the weaknesses in the Nigeria defence, the Nigeria goal keeper Vincent Enyeama was forced to single-handedly defend the goal, and as a consequence, became Man of the Match.
The South Africa versus Uruguay game saw South Africa go down by three goals to nil. The game saw the South Africa goal keeper sent off and a penalty awarded to Uruguay. South Africa shots on goal amounted to half of those shot on goal by the Uruguay side. The South African supporters reacted to the goal keeper send off by walking out of the stadium before the end of the match and abandoning their national team to absorb the then imminent defeat on their own.
The Nigeria versus Greece game recorded a red card for a Nigeria player which motivated the commentators to characterise him as Monster of the Match, and thereafter Nigeria was exposed to a battering from the Greece strikers. The game ended with a two to one score line in favour of Greece, and a gruelling amount of work for Vincent Enyeama yet again as he was left to defend the goal line single-handedly.
Much of the analysis of the three games comes down to reactions to the evolving situations in the games, rather than responses that require re-planning, innovation, strategy, and calculated actions.
Africa may exhibit the most prized soccer players in the world today as they play in Europe and the Americas, but engaging these players in Africa and for Africa, becomes an elusive dream much like the development of African economies which have vast resources but continue to struggle to survive.
African economies are plagued rather than blessed with resources. Much of Africa finds itself entrenched in reactive action when faced with economic challenges rather than responsive motions that should lead to incremental improvements in the development of local economies.
The lessons to be learned from the experiences of member states of the Southern African Customs Union are seldom incorporated in the design of new similar initiatives such as the COMESA Customs Union or the ECOWAS trading block. Africa seems to want to learn by individual personal experiences even though history informs us of some dangers to look out for than can be avoided.
It may be useful to critically analyze and assess the roles of the Bretton Woods institutions and other donor partners that have a foot in African economies.
Like in soccer, we may want to look at the statistics. In soccer we look at how many corners for and against us, we note how many shots on goal for either side, and we keep a record of the number of yellow cards issued, all in an effort to strategically play a better game with the ultimate goal of winning the match.
With the economy, African countries often look to their outside partners to support them with infrastructure development where the partners feel it is useful, and thereafter most of the support is focussed on reacting to social and economic disasters that affect the daily lives of Africans across the continent.
As Africans, it may be worth considering and taking stock of the contents of our own developed strategies. We may want to step back and look at our own goals and develop a home grown program that addresses our own special conditions. We may consider re-engineering our options such that outside intervention becomes a supplement to our own efforts, rather than letting the intervention become the primary program for our development.
China, India, and the Asian Tiger economies have developed on the basis of following their own goals while responding to the global challenges. The sustainable future will be determined by a focussed attention to carefully developed responses to the evolving domestic, regional, and global economic conditions.
The African Union looks to experiences across the world which has impacted on the social and economic development of selected countries. South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Libya are examples of countries that were excluded from interacting with the wider majority over several decades. History revels that these countries focussed on developing domestic capacity to fill the gaps that are usually filled by foreign intervention. The net result has been that these economies have developed more rapidly than those that remained good members of the world club of nations. There may be some lessons to be learned from these experiences.
The continent of Africa is the last bastion of a wide range of resources available to the world. The choice of programs that each African nation selects as a means to trade the resources for various forms of social and economic development will determine the future well being of their nationals for decades to come. A program based on responses rather than reactions will prove to be the way forward.
Africa to Africa collaboration is the primary mandate of many regional economic groupings across the continent. The last two decades have taught Africa that there are more efficient ways to trade by eliminating the middleman in Europe and North America, and trading directly with the source which as been clearly defined as Asia in respect to the vast majority of goods imported into the African continent.
Similarly, African countries can eliminate the need to always process development initiatives through the west and seriously adopt some milestones set by the African Union where the movement and transfer of human resources and knowledge moves directly across the continent thereby developing capacity within the continent. When will African countries cooperate, collaborate, partner, share, support, and embrace each other in the quest for Pan African development through deeds that backup the rhetoric often marketed at continental conferences and meetings?
By the end of June, the World Cup games in South Africa will have eliminated all the African nations. It will be ironic that yet again, Africa will be the playground that Europe and the Americas will have free reign over, while Africans stand on the side lines and sit in the galleries as they gasp at the great achievements of those exploiting their fields.
Published 22 June 2010
No comments:
Post a Comment