President Obama made a powerful speech on governance in Ghana that he directed at all or most of Africa. While we would quibble with the idea that Africa and its people can be meaningfully addressed as a single pseudo nation-state, some of the observations he offered are applicable to all human societies. According to the Associated Press:
Speaking to the Ghanaian Parliament, he called upon African societies to seize opportunities for peace, democracy and prosperity.
“…Development depends upon good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long.”
The son of a white woman from Kansas and a black goat herder-turned-academic from Kenya, Obama delivered an unsentimental account of squandered opportunities in postcolonial Africa…
In his speech to Parliament, America’s first black president spoke with a bluntness that perhaps could only come from a member of Africa’s extended family.
“No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves, or if police can be bought off by drug traffickers,” he said.
“No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top, or the head of the Port Authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery.
“That is not democracy, that is tyranny, even if occasionally you sprinkle an election in there,” he said, “and now is the time for that style of governance to end.”
He added: “Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.”
Some reflections…
First, the President’s remarks are things that need to be said, and discussed more openly and frequently. Too often we subsume ethics and good governance to economic calculations, convenience, or fear. But the real costs of poor governance are staggering when you start trying to add them up.
Second, what a great moment for the people of Africa (our quibble above duly noted) to host (briefly) the most powerful leader in the world, who happens to be the son of an African man, and whose identity was forged in part by time spent as a young man in Kenya. The AP reporter is almost certainly right in saying that only a member of “Africa’s extended family” could speak so openly about Africa’s historic travails and paths forward. That he didn’t focus his implications on northern hemisphere powers for their historic contributions to poor governance in parts of the continent will surely disappoint some – but perhaps his relative silence on that aspect is intended to point out that, for the first time in centuries, the way forward may have more to do with African countries’ internal resources and governance than with external powers. Still, we suspect that Yao Opare-Asamoa, the skeptical Ghanaian editorialist whom we cite below, will not be alone in taking a more cynical view of the President’s visit and speech.
Third, we’d point out to the President that, although probably far less damaging, tyranny is still quite possible even under the strongest of political institutions. And though not as bad as some right wing pundits are likely to declare in the coming days, there are shades of irony in his comments, given his incredibly ambitious agenda and the costs that it will (or would) eventually force onto some within the American electorate. While the President decries tyranny of the individual and their clan – the rule of strongmen – he leaves out the concept of tyranny of the majority, a problem and concern that has been around as long as democracies themselves. We don’t disagree that there are some pressing issues that the Obama agenda is designed to address (or that ‘tyranny of the majority’ is sometimes invoked as convenient cover for private sector tyrants). But strongman rule is also designed to address pressing issues – most often experiences and/or expectations of a fixed or falling level of resources relative to population – and so its practitioners probably believe that they too are fighting the good fight, however it might look to those on the outside. But if any leader, whether strongman or duly elected, goes too far in exploiting a country’s resources in order to enact an agenda – be it clan centered or focused far more broadly on social well-being – then those resources are likely to come up short in the long run. In the case of the U.S., if the party now in power goes too far in exacting tribute from the financially successful – and/or the broad economy – then the level of success, and the number of successful people, are likely to decline, leaving society worse off overall. It’s never clear exactly where that line lies, and surely the President understands that it exists – but some in his party demonstrate a clear willingness to trample it, either blissfully unaware of the unintended consequences, or willing to accept them as trade offs against other consequences that are presumed to be more dire (e.g., climate change). Thus, while we no longer face endemic “wars over land” in the U.S., we can’t deny that our political system has been girding for a “[war] over resources” for some time. However, that observation does support the thrust of President Obama’s speech – that with well developed political institutions, those inevitable “wars” inflict far less damage on people than they otherwise would.
Fourth, the myth of ‘one Africa’ really is a curious one. While it can be a balm or a rallying cry when thinking about the damaging legacies of slavery and other forms of exploitation, it’s not very practical for addressing the diverse realities on the ground that are faced by people living there. And it seems to betray a simpler level of understanding of Africa in the northern and western hemispheres than of, say, Asia, where few would ever consider addressing, for example, China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam as a single entity (though if there’s a parallel in that list to Africa, it might be our tendency to look at China as a homogenous population and country). For those who are interested in learning more about the diversity, nuances, traditions, and futures of Africa and its people, the internet is a great place to begin. For starters, we happened across this wide ranging essay from Koranteng Ofosu-Amaah, whose diverse cultural and business experience – and apparently deep intellectual curiosity – allow him to spin some fascinating anthropology-in-reverse riffs, and develop a ‘Low End Theory of Technology’ that, while aimed at technology investments in poorer countries, seems to have broader applications to investment and development. Businesses that want to invest wisely in frontier markets should probably pay close attention to voices like his.
Fifth, governance and prosperity are very much a chicken and egg riddle. It’s not entirely clear whether one precedes the other (and which one, if so) or if they progress haltingly, roughly in tandem, or whether other key ingredients are necessary, be they aspects of political economy or happenstance factors and endowments. For example, one skeptical editorialist in Ghana offered an anecdote about a lost foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunity that revealed the critical role of business education and practices, infrastructure, and security:
Now that everybody is singing our praises, let’s take advantage of the situation and push for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). Let’s seek technical assistance to build up our Polytechnics and other vocational institutions. It is often said that ‘investments’ desire peace and stability; we do have a case good to present on this front. This is where we come in. We need to adequately prepare and provide the atmosphere for the FDIs. A few years ago, it was reported that Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital lost a big opportunity for major technical and financial assistance because the management was just not ready and couldn’t draw up a simple proposal to show how the Hospital would utilize the funds. The government should have a clear-cut vision of what it wants to do. It should have plans and proposals at the ready. We should be able to guarantee year-round uninterrupted power and water supply. Safety and security of peoples and goods should be ensured. Only after these and more should we present our case and pursue it with all the ‘clout’ that we seem to have gained.
So I would join my brothers and sisters to wish President Obama and his family well. I pray that his would be ‘change we can believe in’ even in Ghana and the rest of Africa.
The writer’s emphasis on FDI also exposes (implicitly) the need for continued development of a financial system capable of matching domestic income and savings – rather than just export dollars and repatriated earnings from abroad – with increasingly diverse domestic investment opportunities (the Ghanaian economy is still heavily dependent upon agriculture and mineral extraction). I’ve had the pleasure of meeting financial professionals from Ghana, and have little doubt that the country will continue to make progress on those counts. But it has some catching up to do in those areas with, for example, Botswana, which has a per capita GDP ten times higher, pristine public finances, and a relatively well developed commercial finance sector. On the other hand, Ghana compares favorably on things like recent domestic investment as a % of GDP and income distribution. And both countries, like much of the developing world, have relatively young populations compared to industrialized countries – while HIV/AIDS might be a contributing factor, this is still a promising endowment for future progress – as long as institutional settings permit the productive use of their time, energy, and talents, as the President pointed out.
Sixth, the Obamas also visited the powerfully symbolic Cape Coast Castle off the coast of Senegal, which was a major jumping off point for the transAtlantic slave trade. Known for its ‘Door of No Return’, an inscription there reads:
IN EVERLASTING MEMORY
OF THE ANGUISH OF OUR ANCESTORS.
MAY THOSE WHO DIED REST IN PEACE.
MAY THOSE WHO RETURN FIND THEIR ROOTS.
MAY HUMANITY NEVER AGAIN PERPETRATE
SUCH INJUSTICE AGAINST HUMANITY
WE, THE LIVING, VOW TO UPHOLD THIS.
Though he follows two immediate predecessors there, Obama’s presidential visit is made all the more poignant by the fact that First Lady Michelle had ancestors who travelled through similar ‘points of no return’, if not the Castle itself. Symbolic acts matter, and presidential visits to sites memorializing the transAtlantic slave trade and other human holocausts seem like a good idea to us.
Finally, we have to ask, does this guy – our President – plug himself into a wall outlet at night?! Travel, diplomacy, political strategy, executive leadership, negotiation, etc, are all demanding on one’s energy and resources. And a marathon presidential campaign has to be one of the most exhausting experiences there is. But Obama is like the Energizer Bunny…he keeps working…and working…and working…however, studies of health, stress, even anthropology teach us that bodies are not immune to the laws of biology (the analogue in economics is that there’s no free lunch), and even small but chronic deficits will take a toll, much as small but chronic caloric surpluses will allow us to pack on many pounds in adulthood. The U.S. Presidency seems to impose more than a small deficit on its successors, and Obama continues to go after the job with gusto. Apparently his accelerated physical aging was noted as early as last summer and again this spring (with a tip of the hat for that last link to the Village Voice, which apparently — and perhaps justifiably — feels there are better topics for seasoned reporters to cover). Still, he continues to burn brightly, and we sincerely hope there’s enough fuel there to feed the flames, as a presidential burn out wouldn’t be much fun for anybody. If nothing else, it’s a good reminder that, despite what most of us like to think and say, public service does, at least in some important ways (and for some people, some of the time…qualifications galore…) entail sacrifice. Of course one juicy book advance or a few hitches on the lecture circuit can produce an extremely positive ROI on said sacrifice – but there’s some sacrifice involved nonetheless.
DISCLOSURES: The foregoing is for informational purposes and/or entertainment only. It is not an offer to buy or a recommendation to sell any security, or to engage in any investment strategy. Please note that Symmetry Capital Management, LLC earns a revenue sharing fee of 4% from Amazon.com for any ‘click-through’ transactions. The firm, its principals, and its clients do not own shares in Amazon.com.
URLs:
http://www.ghana.gov.gh/
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090711/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority
http://symmetrycapital.net/index.php/blog/2009/07/tr2-why-well-leave/
http://koranteng.blogspot.com/2007/05/on-ibm-and-africa.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/GH.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/BC.html
http://www.modernghana.com/news/226743/1/obama-and-ghana-vis-vis-us-foreign-policy.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0708/11520.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/us/politics/05gray.html?_r=2&hp
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/archives/2009/03/breaking_obama.php
News and Views | art March 25, 2010 | 
Comments Off 
