Indeed, this was Africa’s week in Washington DC

This was Africa week in DC. Evidence of Africa’s presence in the otherwise dour Capital was obvious from the amount of colour the continent wrought. Everywhere one walked the flowing Agbadas and Kaftans spoke of the beauty of the continent. The other unusual thing the continent brought was human sound in the Washington streets and Metro.

For some reason, the African is boisterous, even in his worst moments. He talks loud and laughs with etiquette-less gusto, even in amid crisis. And of course, Washington is definitely much the richer. In true “shared prosperity”, which was the conference buzzword, DC departmental stores especially those with exotic international brands have been overwhelmed. Americans should look forward to positive  economic performance numbers at month end!

On a more serious note, this particular “coming to America” was different from previous visits. The Africa of 2014 is worlds away from what The Economist magazine described in its May 2000 Edition as the “hopeless continent”. It is a more confident Africa aware of its potential, alert to its successes, less apologetic about its failures and sitting on the table as a partner, even if not yet an equal one.

The fact that Obama ate humble pie and filed away the  “essential contacts” doctrine for Kenya is a pointer to a different narrative of Africa’s changing relations with the America and the West generally. Which is why the New York Times article entitled “Africa’s Slide towards Disaster” earlier this week completely missed the point when it encouraged Obama to “talk tough” to the African leaders.

Granted, Africa has some serious human rights and governance issues, but they will not be solved by lectures and finger wagging from Western Capitals. It will come from acknowledging that the various African publics, whether State or non-State must own and drive solutions to Africa’s problems.

Most times all that the West can do is assist in capacity enhancement for effective engagement by these publics with government, support with incentives to facilitate faster implementation of identified solutions and more substantive support for governments that are effecting positive change in challenging circumstances.

No one summed Africa’s situation better than Senagalese new President Macky Sall when he outlined the many successes Africa has accomplished within the short time of it’s independence, despite numerous odds, many created by the same Western governments!

What  Africa mostly need are partners, he said, not prefects. The new African reality was also obvious from the absence of conversations on debt waivers and increased donor aid; common themes in American-African conferences.

The word “partnership” was restated over and over, this time sincerely by all. There was a real celebration of the continent’s many assets including it’s  youthful population, it’s natural resources, its innovations and even its social norms. Yet African governments must approach this new found rapprochement with caution. Anyone who thinks America is in this primarily to prop up African economies lives in dreamland. America’s interest in Africa is naturally driven by it’s own geo- political, security and economic interests.

To it’s credit America has realised that it’s own fortunes are tied to Africa’s success. As was eloquently expressed by President Uhuru  in his Richard Quest interview, the interests of the World dovetail with those of Africa on issues like security. If the threat of al-Shabaab and other extremist groups is not eliminated, it will ultimately injure even Western interests including their economies.

What African governments must therefore do is to identify areas where their interests and those of Western economies coalesce and to unashamedly exploit those opportunities for the benefit of their populations. No one, other than Africa, will look out for its interests; not China, not America, not Europe.

Indeed, I  must end this piece on a sour note. Much of America’s  view of the continent is still stuck on negative mode, best exemplified by the fact that at his final press conference on the Africa Summit, the only questions asked of Obama about Africa by American journalists was on Ebola before they quickly moved to questions on Gaza and Ukraine. One hopes that this conference hastens the journey towards changing those broad brush negative optics.