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Why the West is Ignoring Africa 2.0 |
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By Herman Chinery-Hesse
Herman Chinery-Hesse is the founder and CEO of SOFTtribe, the largest software company in Ghana and one of the largest in all of Africa. He is widely considered the "Bill Gates of Africa", and has recently launched www.shopafrica53.com, a website that allows African entrepreneurs and artists to sale their products to a worldwide market.
Affordable technology is helping people all over Africa propel an economic revolution. Investment is pouring in from India, China, and other emerging markets. But the West, in my eyes, is ignoring one of the 21st century’s most important stories.
There are reasons the West has historically overlooked African innovation. Racism plays a big part, owing to the West’s past of colonialism and slavery on the continent. Much of the West’s acquisition of wealth was a direct result of the colonial era, which, for all intents and purposes, is not something that has been relayed to western populations accurately. Too many people in the West are under the assumption that it is their aid or assistance that sustains Africa, without understanding the underlying structures that have been put in place, and are held in place, by institutions that serve the West.
This culture of misinformation is propagated by politicians, businesses, and media agencies that paint Africans as helpless, dim recipients of western aid. That mindset carries over into the business world, leaving the impression that African companies are incapable of operating on par with their Asian or western counterparts. To anyone who has lived in Africa, this is simply nonsense.
If Africans had access to the same government structures and resources that exist in the West, this gap would quickly close. In fact, the recent spread of mobile phones and Internet access has started a nascent wave of African entrepreneurialism. Kenya, Rwanda, and Ghana are at the front of the pack, with their gross domestic products growing by as much as 10 percent a year. The trends they have benefitted from in recent years could soon help citizens of many other countries catch up.
Technology has become much more affordable over the past two decades, and, because internet dongles work everywhere that mobile phones work, Internet access can be had in even some of the most remote corners of the continent.
Unprecedented access to mobile phones has created other efficiencies: An artisan who previously could only cater to one client a day sitting in her shop can now run a sophisticated and complex operation, as she can be reached through her mobile phone any time, anywhere. It is my belief that the recent surge in economic growth in Africa is attributable, to a large extent, to this latent and invisible game changer.
It is in this realm of start-ups and entrepreneurs that foreign governments and businesses ought to provide their assistance and expertise. Foreign aid, in my experience, typically undermines the development of local industries and facilitates corrupt practices. The way it is currently configured, aid is a distraction that gives our governments the ability to avoid doing what the population requires. |
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US doubts over Syria’s commitment to peace plan |
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 There is no sign of Syria abiding by an international plan to bring fighting to an end as a UN deadline approaches, the White House said on Monday.
Under the peace deal, Syrian troops must withdraw from protest centres by Tuesday. But US officials said the situation appeared to have worsened.
Monday proved to be one of the bloodiest days of the uprising, with activists reporting more than 100 dead.
Earlier violence spilled across Syria's borders with Turkey and Lebanon.
Turkey protested angrily, summoning Syria's envoy in Ankara after two incidents along their joint border left two dead and many injured, including Turkish citizens.
Separately a Lebanese cameraman was shot dead on Lebanon's northern border with Syria. The surge in violence came on the eve of the deadline for troops to withdraw from Syrian towns and cities under the international peace plan brokered by UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
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Ex-student kills seven, wounds three at California Christian college |
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 A former student opened fire at a private Christian college in California on Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding three others after telling old classmates: "get in line ... I'm going to kill you all."
A suspect in what was the deadliest U.S. school shooting in five years was arrested at a store several miles away from the scene of the shooting at Oakland's Oikos University.
The school's founder, Pastor Jong Kim, told the Oakland Tribune newspaper that the gunman had been a nursing student, but was no longer enrolled at the college, which has links to the Korean-American Christian community.
Authorities did not immediately offer a motive for the rampage, which came just over a month after a student gunman in Ohio opened fire in a high school cafeteria, killing three students.
However they said they believed the Oakland gunman, who police described as an Asian male with a heavy build dressed in tan or khaki clothing, had acted alone.
Witnesses said he entered a reception area of the college at mid-morning and opened fire before walking into one of two classes in session and spraying the room with bullets.
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Obama arrives in South Korea for nuclear summit |
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 Seoul, South Korea (CNN) -- President Barack Obama arrived in South Korea on Sunday for a three-day trip centered on an international nuclear security summit in Seoul.
He flew into Seoul, where he is expected to hold a bilateral meeting with his South Korean counterpart Lee Myung-bak.
Top officials from 54 countries, including China and Russia, will attend the summit meeting on Monday and Tuesday.
But its message of international cooperation has been overshadowed by North Korea’s announcement last week that it is planning to carry out a rocket-powered satellite launch in April.
South Korea has said it considers the satellite launch an attempt to develop a nuclear-armed missile, while the United States has warned the move would jeopardize a food-aid agreement reached with Pyongyang in early March
President Lee has already said he will use the summit to drum up international support against the actions of his northern neighbor
North Korea says it has a right to a peaceful space program and has invited international space experts and journalists to witness the launch. North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) cited a spokesman from the Secretariat of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea as denouncing the South for working to turn the summit “into a platform for (an) international smear campaign” against the North.
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French attacks could inspire next generation of terrorists: Expert |
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 “Lone wolves” who plot to carry out small-scale attacks on soft targets, like those in which seven people have been killed in France, could be the future of terrorism, a security expert has warned.
“We are witnessing the next stage of terrorism in Europe,” said Sajjan Gohel, director of International Security at the Asia Pacific Foundation, a London-based counterterrorism think tank.
Hundreds of French police have surrounded the home of Mohammed Merah, 23, a self-styled al Qaeda jihadist who is suspected of carrying out a series of shootings in which seven people, three of them young children, have died in recent days.
Gohel told CNN that killings like those in Toulouse and Montauban would likely inspire other radical Islamists to action.
“This has sent out the message that followers of al Qaeda can carry out successful attacks, can precipitate terror, on their own.
He said the actions of Anders Breivik, whose twin bomb and gun attacks in Oslo and on the island of Utoya in Norway in July last year left 77 people dead, had also encouraged would-be terrorists.
“Although it wasn’t linked to al Qaeda, the Norway attack set a dangerous precedent, because it showed that a plot like this could succeed.”
And Gohel said there were fears the upcoming Olympic Games, due to be held in London this summer, could be targeted.
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