In Africa……

I just wanted to let those of you who drop by to read my blog that I am on a lengthy mission for the UN in Africa, including stays in the newest country in the world, South Sudan, with stops in Ethiopia and Rwanda.

My days are filled with  people who give me great hope, though as always, time in Africa is ever so humbling.  Here one stands constantly in the monumental shadow of poverty, environmental, economic and political challenges so great its almost impossible for a foreigner to really comprehend.

Jarring sights are common. In South Sudan shiny Hummers pass by a proud school boy, books in hand wearing one running shoe and one sandal; tides of plastic bottles wash against water scarce market places juxtaposed against perfectly manicured gardens hidden behind razor wire and high brick fences.

More ominously, many African countries have suffered years of internal conflict denying whole generations opportunities most in Canada or the United States take for granted – to go to school, learn a trade, start a business.  Even when peace is achieved, the so called peace dividend is often illusive. In South Sudan, lack of  training and education leave most excluded from full economic participation as many thousands of foreigners flock to the country setting up shop, developing land, and taking the most well paid jobs. Only the most basic manual and least paid work is left for the South Sudanese who fought years for their own country. Economic exclusion is such that social disruption is not just likely but inevitable, and the only real questions are where, when and how large will it be.

Visions such as this can be quite overwhelming and could overcome one’s resolve to serve the global common good if it were not for legions of people working both in the private and public sectors throughout Africa (and internationally) to overcome the very dark forces of economic inequality and its partner in ruin ecological destruction.

Change is visible.

Here in Rwanda the government is committed to creating a middle income country.  Some compare it to Singapore. And despite a few seemingly democratic shortcomings, it’s hard to question the government’s commitment to this goal.  Many development agency people say as much, and find the government is pushing the pace of development faster than donors such as the World Bank, among others, can keep up.

While I can’t say if this is true, I can say that they are paying attention to details, so much so that my travelling colleague was asked to surrender a plastic bag while exiting the airport in compliance with the country’s no plastic bag law!

Private sector initiatives in fair trade tea and coffee are shining examples across the continent of what can be done, particularly when Western companies listen to personal values market demand for African products and services with some inherent sustainability. Microfinance institutions, some large others small, are increasingly delivering finance to low income people, helping them save, buy insurance, or make use of small credits.  Meanwhile, regional multinationals like Kenya Airways, Equity Bank, and East African Breweries evidence that African companies can compete with the best in the world.

In Africa, it would seem hope persists even as it grows side by side some of the rawest and most complex sustainability and moral challenges the world has ever seen.