Help is at hand for Africa in Dar es Salaam Consensus

Africa is endowed with a largely youthful population – more than 60% of its population is under the age of 25, with 70% aged 30 years – living in the sub-Saharan part of the continent.

While Africa is a major producer of mineral resources – platinum, gold, diamond, copper and oil – no beneficiation takes place; a sad state of affairs.

The continent’s picturesque views and its bush and marine wildlife, should present an advantage for it to unleash its tourism and economic growth potential.

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But the continent is still exploited by its former colonial masters, especially when looking at mineral-rich parts of Africa, which continue to be ravaged by economically inspired wars.

Western governments have historically pushed their economic interests in Africa, sometimes contributing to conflicts, with their corporations on a hunt to extract the continent’s natural resources.

This has been at the core of current wars for the control of Africa’s mineral resources.

Against this background, the Dar es Salaam Consensus – an outcome of a recent Tanzania gathering of African and Chinese thinkers to find solutions to challenges faced by the continent – should serve as an inspiration on how to shake off shackles of the past.

The China-Africa Think Tanks Forum (CATTF), a brainchild of revered scholar and expert in China-Africa affairs Professor Liu Hongwu of the Institute of African Affairs of Zhejiang Normal University, has called for action to redress injustices suffered by African countries in global relationships.

Through consensus, CATTF wants to build an equal and orderly multipolar world, to facilitate common development. It has advocated for:

• Greater democracy in international relations – increasing the representation and voice of developing countries in the international system – timely redressing historical injustices;

• Defending each country’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and right to development; and

• Optimising global resource allocation and addressing the imbalance in development between countries in the context of the Global Development Initiative (GDI).

The gathering called on the international community to “deepen development cooperation based on the principles of mutual respect, solidarity, win-win cooperation, openness and common prosperity”.

Advocating for common values on peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy, freedom for all humanity and the implementation of the GDI, delegates endorsed a resolution to support countries in exploring modernisation models.

These should be based on cultural characteristics and development needs, enhancing dialogue, rather than conflicts.

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“We call for the promotion of reform of the international financial system actively to bridge the development gap.

“We agree that there is a need for multilateral development banks, such as the World Bank, to improve their financial conditions and enhance their financing capabilities,” read an excerpt from the consensus.

“We also agree that they should provide more support for poverty reduction and development through financing tools that would be based on respecting the policies, philosophies and actual demands of all parties.”

In line with fairness, the gathering called for an increase in the shareholding and voting rights of emerging markets and developing countries in the International Monetary Fund, establishing a third executive director seat for African countries.

Given the myriad of challenges tormenting Africa, the Dar es Salaam Consensus is certainly the way to go.