Africa Up Close

Over the past few weeks the international community has been reeling from Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir’s visit to South Africa, which is largely being touted as a flagrant disregard for international law. Al-Bashir is wanted on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in connection to the Darfur conflict, responsible for 300,000 deaths and the displacement of over two million people since 2003.

I recently attended an international conference in Pretoria, which, in addition to the excellent presentations and deliberations on the foreign policies of so-called “African driver states”, also featured a passionate exchange between a former South African diplomat and an Ethiopian intellectual. The exchange took place in the context of a session that was dedicated to interrogating challenges to South Africa’s regional leadership. Not surprisingly, the issue at hand was whether South Africa’s diplomacy in Africa was in sync with the expectations of other countries on the continent or, at least, was conducted in a manner that recognized the leadership of other African regional heavyweights. Earlier, a delegate from neighboring Botswana, citing examples of regional development projects that were supposedly derailed by South Africa, had in the same context likened South Africa’s behavior in the region to that of a self-interested hegemon. But, it was a suggestion from the Ethiopian scholar that seemed to have hit a nerve, and prompted me to reflect on the significance of historical bonds of solidarity to contemporary relations among African states.

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On November 17, 2014, the Minister of Constitutional Affairs under President Nelson Mandela and Chairman of the South African Defence Review (2011-14), Roelf Meyer, opens a two day symposium on the challenges of southern oceans governance and economic opportunities while exploring maritime security and naval cooperation issues. Co-hosted by The Institute of Global Dialogue at the University of South Africa (IGD-UNISA) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation: Policy Research and Analysis Unit in partnership with the Open Society Foundation, the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and its Southern African Defence and Security Management network, the symposium’s theme covers: ‘The Blue Economy and Maritime Security challenges in South and Southern Africa: Leadership dilemmas in promoting a global South dialogue on Indian and South Atlantic Oceans governance.’

On May 7, 2014, 17 million South African streamed to the polls to cast their votes for National, Provincial, and Municipal level leaders. Except for a few minor disturbances and one large protest in the Johannesburg township of Alexandra, the day went without incident. The elections are being hailed as an “overwhelming” or “decisive” victory for the African National Congress (ANC). In fact, by almost any democratic standard, the ANC did blow its opposition away, taking 62.15% of the national vote and winning 8 out of 9 provinces, as well as the vast majority of municipalities. One can forgive the street celebrations that burst out in Johannesburg and elsewhere, and the speech the President Zuma made taking his naysayers to task with no small show of swag. The ANC is fully in charge, even though its parliamentary majority has been chipped down a bit, and shows every sign of striding into the next 5-year term with confidence.

The immediate future of Swaziland’s duty-free export market to the United States (US) through the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is hanging by a thread this month. In April 2014, the US AGOA delegation and senior government officials in Swaziland, including the country’s long serving Prime Minister Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini, met over the country’s eligibility status as an AGOA beneficiary. The meetings assessed progress made by the Swaziland government in implementing five benchmarks related to the country’s continued eligibility for AGOA concerning labor and political rights law and regulation, before a May 15, 2014 deadline.

My Experience as a Foreign Service Officer in South Africa during the Apartheid Era

I knew Nelson Mandela long before I met him – not an uncommon feeling amongst those who had lived and worked in South Africa.  I arrived as a young political Foreign Service officer at the American Embassy in Pretoria in 1976.  I was assigned to cover “black political affairs,” which meant getting to know and interacting with the majority population and its leaders during the height of the racist Apartheid government’s rule.

I came to know dozens of important and influential African leaders at this time, such as Steve Biko, Mamphela Ramphele, Cyril Ramaphosa, Smangaliso Mkatchwa, Barney Pityana, Nthatho Motlana, Winnie Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Frank Chikane, Murphy Morobe, and a myriad of township and student leaders.  I visited many individuals in prison, like Percy Qoboza or Enoch Duma, or in internal exile like Ramphele, Biko, or Winnie Mandela.

May has been a busy month for us at the Wilson Center, with a trip to Kenya that served to convene new and original members of our Southern Voices Network, as well as hosting a number of local events. One major conference held here in DC on May 1 was on the subject of technology and innovation as tools to elicit social change amongst women and youth populations in Africa. A report of the whole conference can be found on the Wilson Center website, as well as some related interviews of conference.

This month’s blog posts reflect this theme through the eyes of a practitioner, African scholar, and mentor.   First, you will find a piece from one of our partners in the Southern Voices Network, “Paying It Forward: How to Sustain New Generations of Female and Youth Leaders in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in Africa,” by Edith Kirumba of the African Technology Policy Studies Network.  Along with Edith’s piece include a submission by Liz Ngonzi, titled “Mentorship, Coaching, Board Service, Sponsorship…How Will You Pay it Forward TODAY?” and “Transformative Effects of Women, Youth and Technological Innovation” by Gregor Young of Management Systems International.   Our monthly “Lessons from the Field” column was provided by Vivian Lowery Derryck titled, “Mali Matters.”

However, the big news this month, of course, is the President and First Lady’s trip to Africa in June, including a trip by Secretary of State John Kerry.  In a short, precise statement issued last week, the White House announced that he and the First Lady would visit Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania from June 26 – July 3.  The stated purpose of the trip was to “reinforce the importance that the United States places on our deep and growing ties with countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including through expanding economic growth, investment, and trade; strengthening democratic institutions; and investing in the next generation of African leaders.”  It further stated the President would meet leaders from  “government, business, and civil society, including youth, to discuss our strategic partnerships on bilateral and global issues.”   There were no further specifics, just a confirmation of the United States’ desire to cooperate in advancing “regional and global peace and prosperity.”

By Francis A. Kornegay
Senior Fellow, Institute for Global Dialogue, Pretoria

Before Daniel M. Kliman and Richard Fontaine of the German Marshall Fund (GMF) and the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) unveiled their foreign policy advice to the re-elected Obama administration, perhaps they could have saved themselves the effort by going over the speeches of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Indeed, what may have been Secretary Clinton’s valedictory address at the Foreign Policy Group’s “Transformational Trends 2013” Forum on the 29^th of November might serve as a counterpoint to Global Swing States: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey and the Future of International Order by Messers Kliman and Fontaine. In other words, the administration might do better to continue doing what it has already been doing than get itself think-tanked into a foreign policy modeled on American ‘swing state’ electoral politics.