By Peter Olorunnisomo – The year 2018 was marked a difference in Africa and with Africa. It was a year in which wooing Africa became a viable past time of both governments and the world industrial players alike. Let’s start with Africa’s new found beauty or what can be said to account for the new found pleasures that coasted her shores.
Were it 300 years ago, Africans then would squirm uncomfortably at the visits she attracted and were they alive would carry placards declaring that they have become endangered species.
The year saw Africa’s romance with China proclaiming her ‘dragon’ increase. From South Africa, through Zimbabwe, to Nigeria in the west and then snaking up east to Uganda threading gowns to brides along the way in a generousity that the west slags as ‘enslaving’ or technically speaking ‘predatory lending. Loans were generously doled out and construction of infrastructural adornments executed ‘for a place in the sun’.
But migration isn’t all about Africans drifting off the coasts to find out where the ancestors once lived and if they left gold for them to inherit. The drove of China’s nationals did show that Africa does open its doors of goodwill to strangers without censuring them even though it is quite clear that sooner or later she would be milked. But hey, what’s the point, while the Chinese are getting married to beautiful Ethiopian damsels but a few Chinese still flayed the hospitality of their hosts calling them monkeys – thank God they were promptly deported.
The United Sates came with the big stick as usual and against the advice of her own diplomats conversant with the tides of the African breeze, tough Trump came talking tough but soon saw that he would lose more than a foothold. Did he do the backslide?
Putin kept on putting in more as Russia became best friends with Syria and the politics of tyranny or no didn’t seem to matter anymore as the USA and its allies as well almost made the country a no man’s land for battle.
Theresa May may have determined that Boris Johnson’s diplomatic shuttles was scoring hat-tricks as needed and so made a triangular tour strategically chosen as if to reflect the muscle-base of the Commonwealth spirit which had been starved of consultations for the future until Brexit came threatening to tear fabrics long made but not long cared for. And it did suffer some wear and tear – ask Kenyatta.
Zuma eventually left office to take up amusing himself with sports, and he did others too. He caught press attention with that and it wasn’t too late in the year to notice that he was out of office. So did feathers also fly out of Zimbabwe, whose? Don’t ask me ask Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Paul Kagame went at the African Union job like a man searching for his long lost brothers. For his efforts he was nominated Man of the Year alongside Ugandan politician, Bobi Wine among others. He was able to use needs rally round a sense of aggressive Afrocentric nostalgia though he couldn’t help having more African heads of government at the United Nations Assembly as met at the continental parley with China. He moved for a number of policies and got his thumbs up all the same.
Rwanda and Ethiopia made good strides in getting women to match up to men in their parliament. It hasn’t become 50 -50 but it certainly was significant.
Opposition to the contemporary norm of fielding leaderships by one man or ‘democratically benevolent family rules’ that would have spent eternity piloting their nations did meet popular hostility in nations like Togo, Cameroon, Guinea, Gabon, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Angola, and Niger to mention a few. Does that mean the peoples have found their voices/
Just as South and Uganda made learning Chinese in public schools a matter of policy, one wonders if the ran short of indigenous languages to learn. Or maybe they were keeping up with the rest of the world but certainly not the Kardasians.
The Chinese were amply praised for the railways projects in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia just as well booed for the airport, seaport and toll roads ones in Zambia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Kenya, and Tanzania.
Definitely at some impact to DR Congo, Chinese phone ‘Transsion’ accounted for 34.9% of smartphone sales in Africa. South Korea’s Samsung was responsible for 21.7% and again China’s Huawei made up for 10.2% leaving out Finland’s Nokia, and the US Blackberry, Motorola, and iphone in some wintry shape.
The foreign treatment saga of Nigeria’s and Gabon’s heads of government almost had security implications for their political seats and indeed the nations. Fortunately nothing ever escalated. It was just a sick leave and nothing more.
A lot more did flow on the African tough in terms of development and political responsibility but if anything is to note, it would be that Africa may very well be on the march again. The question is who is counting the cost? Happy New Year Africa.
Kindly follow us on twitter:@AfricanVoice2
