Interview
Emmanuel Nnadozie, executive secretary, African Capacity Building Foundation, ACBF, in an exclusive interview with Maureen Chigbo, editor, Realnews, at the just ended 52nd Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank, AFDB, in Ahmedabad, India, speaks on why development partners should recapitalise the bank; the renewed bid to industrialise Africa and What the ACBF is doing to strengthen leadership and institutions in Africa among other things. Excerpts
Realnews: How do you see the opening ceremony of the AFDB meeting that Just took place. Do you think much have been achieved with regards to the theme of the conference: transforming Agriculture for wealth creation in Africa?
Nnadozie: I think the opening was very solemn and inspiring, especially that interventions that came from both the president of the AFDB, Dr. Adesina and the prime minister of India Narendra Modi . They were excellent The president of the AFDB really made the case of agriculture being the engine for wealth creation in the continent and how that can be especially by making agriculture a business and getting young people involved in agriculture and paying more attention to the agro industry and industrializing based on agriculture. And the prime minister gave an interesting historical perspective of the relationship between India and Africa that has been dating for centuries and how they two continent have a lot of similarities and experience in their struggles, in their colonial history, and in their modern history; and how there are more or less there is a lot of opportunity for improving the cooperation and the partnership.
Realnews: Every year experts gather at the AFDB annual meetings. Last year the AFDB High 5s target was launched. Do you think much progress have been made in developing Africa since the last meeting of the AFDB and in meeting some of the objectives of the High 5s?
Nnadozie: I think we have. You heard the president of the AFDB highlight what the AFDB has achieved since the last time we met; about the millions of people who now have access to electricity; millions of people who have access to water; the amount of things they have developed. I think a lot of progress has been made because you rightly pointed out. Last year was to launch the High 5s officially and I believe that a lot of things have happened since them in terms of implementing those High 5s whether it is in terms of energy, electricity for all; agriculture, food, infrastructure, integration and improving the welfare of people. And we ourselves as a very strong partner of the AFDB have been doing our own part in helping to build the capacity necessary to really implement the High 5s, especially in regard to strengthening institutions and building the critical skills that are needed across the continent.
Realnews: How do you see the Indian/African partnership with regards to agriculture?
Nnadozie: I think Africa has a lot to learn from India because India is one continent where the green revolution really worked in a very short period of time. The country that was dependent on import of food and food aid immediately became food sufficient and was able to export food to the rest of the world. And given the fact of the type of agriculture in India that is based on small holders is similar to what exists in Africa. So there are a lot of similarities there. And African countries can learn about the phenomenal transformation of agriculture in India and take advantage of that to really achieve what the AFDB is trying to do which is to feed Africa and transform African agriculture into a full-fledged business and then industrialise the continent based on agriculture.
Realnews: Industrialisation seems to be one of the new themes. Yesterday a book was launched on Entrepreneurship and Industrialisation of Africa. Why the new call considering that industrialization policy has been in African all along?
Nnadozie: You are absolutely correct. Actually, African was industrializing and this is what most people do not remember or want to pay attention to. After independence, African countries went into the development of agriculture and industry. That was a critical part of development agenda of almost all independent African countries. From the 60s up to the 70s you began to see industries mushrooming everywhere. If you take Nigeria for example, if you went to Lagos in those years that I mentioned, you will see industrial estates, you will see how things were manufactured in Nigeria. Until 1970, when African countries adopted the structural adjustment programmes; Washington Consensus as they called it and suddenly there was de-emphasising of industry and infact Africa became de-industrialise. There was a decade in the 80s that became Africa’s lost decade; that all the achievements made in industrialization was completely lost. But in any case there some attempt made to industrialise that didn’t work so it is doesn’t mean that every effort worked. But there some that worked especially in terms of transforming agricultural produce whether they are peanuts or palm oil and the rest of them, and so having lost that industrial momentum, Africa has to start all over again. This is why you are hearing on more this call for industrialization. Keep in mind that whether it is foreign aid, or it is the MDGs or some of the strategies, none of them emphasized industry. The Washington consensus and the neo classical theories was simply that African did not have competitive advantage in industrial production and therefore they should stick to export raw material. And you know that in my past job as chief economists to ECA, I promoted this agenda of industrialization in Africa very strongly. The argument was that instead of saying let us try and diversify out of our primary commodities, let us industrialise based on our primary commodity because it is doable. It has been done before in many places and African can actually do it. So I believe in this momentum is warranted and it is necessary. It is through industrialization that you can have the high levels of growth that we want and sustain that level of growth so that it is not vulnerable to external shocks. There is no way you are going to create millions of jobs for the young Africans by exporting only your raw materials you have to industrialise.
Realnews: What about the entrepreneurship angle?
Nnadozie: They go together. Entrepreneurs are the creator of industries. When you say industries you are talking of large ones, it be manufacturing. It could be value addition to primary commodities or agricultural produces. These are done by entrepreneurs. This is why entrepreneurship is important. Entrepreneurs who are they? Those the risk takers. They usually have the vision and abilities to put together strategies to start up a business, grow the business and create wealth and employ people and contribute to growth in the process. This is why entrepreneurship is extremely important. If you look at countries that have done very well you will see they have a lot of high supply of entrepreneurs who are working in conditions that are favourable. I think what has made entrepreneurship more clear is those who are in the dot.com area, internet based or the IT industry when you see them the Bill Gates and the Mark Zuekabergs who start from nothing and create massive amount of wealth and jobs by supplying services that solve problems or help people to do their business. So don’t forget that when we talk about factors of production or what creates wealth in a country we say land and natural resources, labour of humans, we talk of entrepreneurship as well as capital. So entrepreneurship is one of the key critical resources needed for economic growth and transformation
Realnews: One of the things mentioned here is the need for the African Development Bank to recapitalize. Is it feasible and where is the money going to come from?
Nnadozie: I certainly hope it is feasible because this is the time for all development partners who say that they want to support Africa’s development to put their money where their mouth is. Because if you say that you are worried about migration to the west from crisis affected places including some African countries you have to look at the root causes of the problem, which means that if millions of young people in Africa do not have the opportunity in Africa, they are going to risk their lives. Some of them will die in the Mediterranean sea trying to go to Europe. So it is important to create the opportuites here in the continent. This is precisely what AFDB has been focusing attention on to create these opportunities in the continent so they can nip the problem at the bud. So we want these partners to recognize that it is in their best interest to fully support AFDB drive to raise more resources so that it can do what it intends to do. I think that what has happened with the African Development Fund is less than encouraging. But I think they have an opportunity to try to re-capitalize the bank. The role of the bank is far more crucial than it was when it was created. And you can see that the leadership of the bank has a vision that is clear; that can unleash transformation in critical areas of the High 5s. In any case, if African countries are more developed, they will have a higher income and if they have higher income they will have higher demand for good and services produced in the West and therefore it will benefit everybody and therefore there will be less migration from the continent, lesser political instability, violent crimes and conflicts.
Realnews: Is there any other information you will like to give about the meeting?
Nnadozie: I was overwhelmed by the huge attendance at the opening ceremony. And also the kind of messages that came from there which are encouraging. As you rightly pointed out, we should not stop at talking about issues about Africa, or coming out with nice sounding policies and strategies. We should do everything possible to ensure that we implement them and in that regard we at the African Capacity Building Foundation believe that we need to pay attention to the issue of leadership, issue of critical skills and the issue of institution because all three put together will bridge the gap of having a plan and implementing the plan. We are making sure that we strengthen the ability of countries to implement all the best strategies that are there.
— Jun 19, 2017 @ 16:10 GMT
Tags: AfDB African Development Bank Emmanuel Nnadozie Industrialisation of Africa
