In retrospect, Africa has almost returned to a time of repeated coups from the past. To the great misfortune of the people.
It was in Paris this week. Africa was the guest of honor at a summit to raise awareness among partners and other donors of the need for significant funding for the revival of economies damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Why then come back here to the decline of democracy, when the news is about debt, special drawing rights and other favorable loans??
Because the economy is an extremely political issue. And that it would be pointless to hope for the start of nations, in an unhealthy or uninviting political environment. African governments do not commit to quality investment, which is still the best barometer of a nation’s credibility. Let us therefore forget this storage of the colonial pact on investments in oil or in mines, which are extracted and exported to distant destinations, where their transformation will create jobs. This type of investment nevertheless illustrates a country’s attractiveness, as some states do not stop selling deposits for long periods, in exchange for scornful cash advances and sometimes dubious arrangements.
Where the rule of law is optional, the economy is deadly gloomy. Do you remember this unique message from Nana Akufo-Addo to investors looking for unreasonable profitability in Africa that they dare not demand elsewhere on the planet? “We do not want you! Go and look elsewhere! “The President of Ghana said to them. You must be a serious country, with a credible and reliable legal system, to attract quality investment, enough for the President to allow such firmness.
What then remains for those who are not … serious?
Do you mean the thumps of the rule of law and democracy? They suffer from unscrupulous investors, gamfonds … They suffer from contracts filled with Leon clauses, against the background of bribes. The reorganization of political life is therefore an economic imperative. Because respect for the public interest necessarily requires the rule of law.
But why be worried today, when democratization has been going on for thirty years?
It is enough to dare a brief overview of the continent, to realize how the political situation in many West and Central African states is similar to what many people have experienced in the last 70s and 80s. It must be acknowledged that most countries that cheat with their laws and principles, are nations of our French-speaking Africa, unfortunately! Just like some regimes that mistreat their people and constantly remind them that they are democracies and that deviate in certain exaggerations that are worthy of dictatorships and other obscure despotisms in the golden age without being touched by them.
Here and there you will find the answer that this is the price to pay for economic well-being, for development and even for a more perfect democracy. Promises without any guarantee, apart from the words of the leaders who, once they reach the highest office, consider themselves legitimate to reorganize the institutions when it suits them, sometimes even for their sole benefit, which they assimilate, without closing an eyelid, to general interest.
Africa is making little or no progress on the rule of law and democracy. So to believe that an individual people on this continent would accept that we are abandoning its freedoms and democracy, even imperfect, is a risky venture. All the more dangerous because Africa has subsequently returned almost returned to a time of repeated coups from the past. To the great misfortune of the people.
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