Focus on democracy and globalisation

A globalisation conference in Addis Ababa has noted that the phenomenon - for good or bad - is here to stay and it must be used to the best advantage for Africa.

Speakers at the Development Policy Management Forum (DPMF) conference on democracy and globalisation this week noted that globalisation could be “one of the major challenges that can
impede progress towards democratic governance".

At stake, they said, are the newly formed poverty reduction plans in Africa, which are built on the bedrock of democratic reforms. African leaders also warned that governments would become “more vulnerable” as organisations use the influence and muscle of global communications.

GLOBALISATION BENEFITS CIVIL SOCIETY

However, Amara Essy, the interim head of the newly-formed African Union (AU) said that rather than fear globalisation, it should be exploited by governments and civil society on the continent.

“It is clear that while some may argue that globalisation may have brought few benefits to Africa, it has brought surprising opportunities for civil society on our continent,” he stated.

“Because of the information technology, and in particular the internet, it has made it easier for the civil society to establish linkages with like minded organisations across the globe."

“We shall not just be driven by the processes of globalisation or moan about its negative affects,” he said. “Rather we shall attempt to control and manage it and harness it for our own benefit and achieve our won goals and objectives in a way that will enable us to claim the 21st century as Africa’s own century.”

Ethiopian Finance Minister Sufian Ahmed echoed his views, stressing that Africa must seize its opportunities within the global market – both politically and economically. And he warned that the globalisation cannot be ignored.

“The world today has become a small village,” he said. “The rapid advance in information technology has been in the forefront of the revolution that is making physical distance irrelevant in many walks of life.”

Sufian added that the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) had laid the ground rules for democratic reform.

Noting that the "lion’s share” of the benefits of globalisation traditionally go to countries which already dominate the market place, he pointed out that globalisation already permeates almost every sector of society and cannot be rejected.

DEMOCRACY "CANNOT BE IMPORTED"

Yet critics fear that globalisation - particularly through information and technology - could see western institutions “transplanted” onto Africa.

The DPMF, an independent pan-African think tank funded by the Dutch government, UNDP and UNESCO, believes that democracy in Africa must be built and cannot be imported.

“Clearly an institution that evolved or was built in one country with particular philosophical principles, traditions and history cannot be expected to function effectively or meaningfully in another country that is totally different from the one in which it originated,” it said.

It called on civil society to hold African leaders accountable to the challenges posed by globalisation and to ensure that "poorly devised democracy" is not imposed on Africa.

“The extent to which the unfolding political processes produce stability and help institutionalisation of democratic governance in Africa will depend largely on the globalisation process," it said.

But it warned: “Globalisation as a process is dominated by the few developed industrialised countries of the north.”

USING GLOBALISATION TO BENEFIT AFRICA

Kingsley Amoako, head of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, said the success or failure of democratic governance in Africa "is tied inextricably to how well the issues the human privations are addressed".

“After several fits and starts the trend towards pluralistic, competitive, accountable, transparent modes of governance are on the ascendancy and perhaps irreversibly," he added.

Democracy was an “enabler” in bringing about development by allowing people the freedom to choose what is best for them.

“One thing is clear,” he said. “Globalisation, in spite of all its varied interpretations and connotations, is a phenomenon that is here to stay. Our challenge is to engage and shape it to Africa’s benefit.”