Is Sub Saharan Africa Ready for Democracy?

A Perspective

I had business in Nigeria and first visited it many times in the late 1970’s. I was as struck by the faded beauty of old Victorian styled buildings in plush green settings as I was disheartened by the condition they were in now which echoed the poverty displayed in the outer areas of Lagos and other cities we visited in the Northern part of the country. During later visits, the situation worsened. In the best hotel in Lagos, some of the rooms could not be used any more because the utilities weren’t working. In another hotel, which was only two years old when I stayed there, three of four elevators were no longer working and the rumor was that once the fourth also broke they’d just erect a new hotel. Another example of the way things had deteriorated was a government office located in a building I’d visited only three years before where access to the office of a high government official was directly through a large door. The glass of the door had fallen out and had never been replaced. I could share many more examples, but you get the picture.

You might ask why I tell you this. It is certainly not to belittle people. I have met many very nice, very bright people from that country and that general area. The fact is that, until relatively recently, the mid-eighteen hundreds, these people lived their lives basically untouched by what we call civilization, in an environment full of natural resources. On the other hand, this is an area full of different tribes which were not necessarily friendly with each other.

As you know, whites came to Africa, detecting the huge natural reserves and other opportunities, and they started to take possession of different areas. Obviously, the different situations were handled in different ways, and it is very difficult to establish a simplified analysis of what exactly went on. Generally, the tendency was to use the indigenous people as servants for the imperialists. On the other hand, many of them got not only the opportunity to visit schools built in their countries, but also abroad. Generally, the countries developed way beyond what the people themselves seemed able to achieve. On the other hand, some of this imperialism certainly also led to human tragedies and inhumanities.

With and without pressure from other nations and/or international organizations, the imperialist countries withdrew from these countries and let these countries govern themselves.
The result can only be called a complete disaster. Immediately after withdrawal of the European “imperialists” the tribes started to fight with each other again, maintenance of the infrastructure was completely neglected, and once flourishing countries fell back into the Middle Ages, for want of an easier, nicer way to describe it.

Instead of analyzing each country in detail, let us just characterize three countries very briefly to make the point:

Nigeria was a flourishing country with a very good outlook for the future, especially with the oil reserves discovered in the country when the British sent the country into independence in 1960. After the Brits left, it’s a fact that the old tribal fighting started again, the country’s infrastructure deteriorated fast, the food supply deteriorated, and everybody started relying on the country’s oil reserves to pay for everything. Since then, the fighting goes on about who owns the oil and internal terrorism, criminality and piratery are rapidly completely destroying the country. As an aside, Mrs. Z met a woman recently who came from Nigeria. Interestingly, and against popular Western thinking, this woman complained the country was so much better off when the British were there, criminality was down, buildings were in good repair, and her family had enough to eat.

Rhodesia was called the bread basket of East Africa when it ultimately became a country independent from Great Britain in the late 1970’s. Since then, a dictatorial regime was established under the communist Mugabe, and white farmers were disowned and sent out of the country. The combination of dictatorship, communism and cronyism sent Mugabe’s followers into ownership of the farms, with the result that the farms are not used anymore, and the former very rich country has sunken into complete anarchy and poverty. In addition, in a seeming attempt to distance itself from an illustrious, healthy and flourishing past, the country was renamed Zimbabwe. The ruler is crueler than one can imagine and the people are his unwilling victims.

The third and most amazing example is South Africa, particularly because it was a very rich and prosperous country until the communists under Mandela came to power. Of course, a cruel and unfair apartheid had made it easy to convince everybody in the world that Mandela was on the right path. Since he and his adoring sycophants have come into power, reverse discrimination has settled in, the wealthy white people are leaving South Africa in droves, and it is on its way to following the hideous example of Zimbabwe, a country where people live in fear and destitution.

The current president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, is a supporter of Mugabe and recently arranged that Mugabe could get his weapons from a Chinese ship which had been en route for Zimbabwe which nobody would unload due to or even provide fuel because of international pressure. Mbeki’s navy provided the fuel, the ship landed in Congo Brazzaville, and an Antonov airplane of undefined origin then flew the weapons to Mugabe.

Many more examples could be cited here, but you get my point. In summary, it can be said that the Sub-Saharan countries in Africa generally are not ready for democracy as we know it: They are unable to organize their countries and use the rich resources at their disposal to their benefit, they are extremely corrupt, they are generally governed (if one can call it that) by dictators who themselves live in unbelievable richness while their countrymen are starving to death, and they are unwilling to give up the fight between the different tribes. Very few people know that the poor African country embassies in Paris are some of the most expensive real estate and luxurious situations there. This all has led to indescribable human tragedies as can be witnessed every day in the newspapers, the latest being the hunt for foreigners (from Zimbabwe and Mozambique) in South Africa.

To answer the question in the title of this post: No, most of the countries are not ready for democracy Western style. And most countries in Africa cannot rule themselves.

In my judgment, one can draw two possible conclusions: (1) Let the countries alone, and don’t intervene, UN style. That would lead to even more human catastrophes, and a complete waste of resources. (2) A managed imperialism should be implemented (Imperialism Light) for which agreements would be made to use the possibilities to be offered by industrialized countries in close cooperation contracts with the different nations involved, thereby securing the ownership of the countries to the indigenous inhabitants, but allowing the “light imperialists” certain rights in the country, running the country while at the same time teaching the indigenous people the skills which they need in the future. They need to stop brain drain.

There are brains there. They just need help.

Mr. Z