ACCORDING to the UN, industrialisation with strong linkages to domestic economies will help African countries achieve high growth rates, diversify their economies and reduce their exposure to external shocks and will substantially contribute to poverty eradication through employment and wealth creation.
While this is a true assessment, what are we doing, as Africans, to control our destiny?
The 42nd SADC Heads of State Summit met this week in Kinshasa, the DRC, to, among other issues, discuss the progress made in the implementation of the region’s Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063).
It is time, as a bloc, as a people, black people take serious stock of our situation.
The EU always, without fail, will speak with one voice.
They might disagree but all will adopt a common principle and will stick to it.
And it appears, as blocs, as a continent, we cannot do that.
Every country in Africa has grand designs and programmes seeking to eradicate poverty.
But these will succeed, in a sustainable manner, through creation of linkages with fellow African countries.
It is time we start thinking of what is best for the continent and African people instead of being engrossed in, and obsessed with, being in the ‘good graces’ of the whiteman.
It is time Africa stops being content with coming second and putting the West first.
When outsiders sneeze, we must not catch their cold; instead let them come to us for a cure for we have everything they want.
We are a continent richly endowed and not short of anything. Through co-operation, we can survive and thrive without the West.
It is unfortunate that outsiders, thieves and soldiers of fortune have exacerbated our suffering because they know that if we are united, they will find it difficult to loot and exploit us.
But that is the curse of the riches we have to fight.
The most important thing is that we all know, with certainty, that we are capable people.
Sons and daughters of the soil of Africa are doing wonders all over the world, pioneering some breakthroughs that are improving the quality of lives of the whole wide world.
These can assist Africa accelerate its development.
At one time, almost the whole continent was under colonial rule and we successfully co-operated to dislodge the imperialists.
And the current generation must work to honour the sacrifices made by the founding fathers and mothers to bring the independence that restored our dignity.
Challenges and difficulties are a reality that must not send us running for cover.
As Africans, we have never cowered or retreated but emerged victorious despite the odds stacked against us.
Many of us never saw the squalor, the deprivation and sub-human conditions of the colonial era; no colony was better than the other.
There was never, and will never be, anything beautiful about that dreadful era.
We have a duty to deliver on the economic front.
Future generations must have something to smile about and, most importantly, to build on.
It is time we do away with the Francophone, Anglophone, Arabophone and Lusophone tags; we are simply Africans, a people together.
The solutions to our challenges are not with anyone but us.
Let’s look within.
Our past suffering and hardships must not be forgotten. Most important are the actions that we took to dislodge colonial rule.