The news this holiday has focused on the rock concerts holding forth this weekend around the world to end hunger, especially in Africa. The hearts of the Rockers are in the right place--Africa has been in a sorry state at least since the end of World War II and even earlier if you want to weigh in on imperialism and colonialism. Yet even as these humanitarian efforts are underway, the "dictator" president of Zimbabwe is trying to destroy his opposition by destroying homes and properties. All this will lead to is death, suffering, refugee camps, and cries in the West that something must be done. I am sure aid will pour in, but will anything be resolved?
After watching various aid programs and policies over the decades, I have come to the conclusion that the problems of Africa are not economic, religious, social, or cultural--Africa's problems are political. Somehow reasonably honest and effective governments need to be established. The Rockers can rock all they want, but until the political situation is resolved, Africa's plight will not change.
The problem is how to establish reasonably effective political institutions and elections. No one wants to go back to some kind of paternalistic western oversight; the UN has failed; regional pacts haven't seemed to work--it keeps getting more depressing. I admire Bono and the others for trying--perhaps some kind of push for internal reforms will come from this. However, it will only change when African leadership takes it focus off Swiss bank accounts and becomes a catalyst promoting a vision of what Africa can be.
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