If African heads of state care about their jobs, sincere about good governance, and love the people they lead, then they should get the message behind Obama’s statement, as relied via the AllAfrica’s video clips. This is what the man’s saying in plain English:
- African’s are responsible for Africa.
- Take responsibility and be held accountable.
- There’s a direct correlation between (good) governance and prosperity.
- You’re not going to get investment without good governance.
- There is a very practical, pragmatic (deleterious) consequence to political instability and corruption
Hattip to piper05 @ AfricanLoft for distilling the points
Obama did hit the nail on the his speech and to be honest African nations should read between the lines and note on fact: OBAMA WANTS AFRICA TO GROW AND BECOME A WORLD FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH.
I echo Obama in saying that Yes “AFRICA SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR HER FUTURE”.
July 11, 2009 at 10:04 am
Africa HOS do care about their jobs alright but they also know that their jobs are not threatened by what Obama says or what their people think, at least at the moment. Chances are that they’ll resume business as usual UNTIL the day their own people start making the right noises and backing their noise with action.
I don’t support MEND as such but look how quickly the FG is responding to them.
July 13, 2009 at 5:29 am
…sorry that should have read Africa’s HOS
July 13, 2009 at 5:30 am
2 Facts which Barack Obama needs to get:
1. U. S. military personnel cannot be stationed on the African continent without being held accountable to the governments of sovereign African nations.
2. Africa needs overseas markets for agricultural products and trade on fair terms but not a short-sighted “green revolution” based upon chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified seed.
July 14, 2009 at 5:40 am
Hi Don, I agree with #2. I don’t think #1 is really a big deal given the other issues facing Africa at the moment…my thoughts.
Thx!
July 14, 2009 at 3:09 pm