Issue 9 February - May 2002by Paul Jones

Over the years I have been inspired by numerous authors as they have shared their wealth of knowledge through the art of writing. No author has inspired me more than Charles Handy, the English business professor. It is difficult to describe Charles Handy’s writing other than to say that it is prophetic in the true sense of the word. He confronts the values of our business community while suggesting new ways to do things. He is the first to admit that he does not have all the answers and as those of us in Africa are well aware, there are far more questions than answers. I have recently been listening to a series of short talks given by Charles Handy on BBC radio and was once again challenged by what he was saying. He was speaking about great leaders being able to “reframe the future.” He was referring to great men and women like Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, etc, who had the ability to change the way people see and think.

As I listened intently, more than once, the question dawned on me, “How can I/we reframe the future, particularly in Africa?” I thought of some of the issues facing us right now and wondered how it would be possible for us to make a difference. I would like to highlight a few issues in this article and I trust that together we will accept the challenge of finding new and better ways of doing things.

Education
One of the biggest challenges facing Africa today is how to compete in a global society. Our young people are not finding jobs, and developed nations are not investing in developing nations. If anything, they seem to be disinvesting. The reasons for this are numerous and I will not elaborate at this stage. The fact remains that our young people are struggling to find jobs. The colonial style of education that we are committed to is not helping much. We need new ways and methodologies in order to prepare our children for life in Africa. Perhaps our only hope in Africa lies in helping young people to become entrepreneurs. If we could produce, manufacture, create, develop more products ourselves, we would or could import less and become self-sufficient. Entrepreneurs would employ more people and hopefully our people will not be exploited.
Apart from entrepreneurship we need to teach our young people “life skills”. Old fashioned values like ethics, integrity, honesty, principles and productivity need to be taught in our schools. Unfortunately, we know that these skills are better caught than taught, therefore, education must start at home, in our communities, clubs, churches and schools. Education is not only the task of governments, but it is our responsibility to develop our young people.

Capitalism
I asked myself recently if there is such a thing as a “Proper Capitalism”, ie where the people who create the wealth actually get to partake of its fruit. One of the down sides of capitalism is the fact that the decisions made in public companies are not always made in the best interests of the people who have built the company. How do we in Africa compete with huge multinational organisations operating worldwide? In the USA you have 52 states working together to create “The American Dream”. Europe has just come together in a show of solidarity. In Africa, which is but a small slice of the global pie, we fight to hold onto a little market share. Every country insists on having its own policies and regulations. African leaders fight to hold onto its national airline, its national telecommunications, mining rights etc. Most times our leaders don’t care whether our airlines make a profit or not, as long as we look important. Will we still be fighting for our slice of the pie when there is nothing left?

What if African leaders decide to stand together to create a United States of Africa? Would we not be able to determine the price of gold, platinum, diamonds, tobacco, etc. Why should the developed nations determine the prices of these products? Standing together would give us huge bargaining power. The African Union and the New Africa Initiative aim at these very objectives.

Pride and Dignity
As Africans we tend to think that everything that comes from the West is naturally better and more valuable. I am often amazed that people will spend hard earned cash to go overseas on holiday, but many of these people have never experienced the beauty of their own country or surrounding countries. We will spend a fortune on something if it is imported. Ironically, many brand names do not come from the West, but are manufactured in poorer nations where labour is cheap. Why is it that we take no pride in what we manufacture?

Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that we have no pride in ourselves. Our productivity in Africa is one of the lowest in the world. Often we have to do something a second time because it wasn’t done right the first time. The Germans and the Swiss are known for their quality products, why can’t we use them as a benchmark and take some pride in what we do? Or perhaps our political leaders and their counterparts in business should behave in such a way that we as Africans can restore pride and dignity. Let’s stop corruption, lying and cheating. It might take a generation or two, but let’s start building some pride into what we do and what we do not do.

Leadership
Leadership is about influence, it is about vision, it is about courage, it is about making a difference, it is about ethics and it is about responsibility. Gandhi once said that “we cannot do right in one department of life, while we are involved in doing wrong in other departments. Life is one indivisible whole”. Africa needs leaders who have the courage to make tough decisions and to stand by those decisions.

Corruption, greed, dictatorship, murder and dishonesty are not the words that one would normally associate with leadership and yet in Africa many of these words could be used to describe some of the leaders in our society. I am not referring only to political leaders, but I am referring to leaders from all walks of life.

We need men and women who dream of a new day dawning in Africa, where our children will receive a good education and go on to be examples in our society. The danger is always to think that we are insignificant—we are not. If we all did our bit I am sure the world would be a better place.

By working together, I believe we will find the ability to “Reframe our Future”.

Author's Contact Details
Author: Paul Jones
Tel: +27 11 807 4851
Email: paul@transformer.co.za