5 minutes read
· This year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting, the 50th
edition of the event being hritualistically held at the snowy climes
of Davos, Switzerland, was significant in more than one way.
· Many Africa experts whom www.trendsnafrica.com talked to also
expressed the view that there was no such brownie point scored by
Africa as a continent at Davos.
· The argument that WEF has regional meetings to focus on
regional issues like the one held recently in Johannesburg will not
cut any ice since the crying need of the region is to attract
investments, create employment and deepen the private – public
partnerships.
· Africa has yet to become a focal point for global
development. Will that happen sooner or later, is something what
experts are debating now?
This year’s World Economic Forum WEF) meeting, the 50th edition of the
event being ritualistically held at the snowy climes of Davos,
Switzerland, was significant in more than one way. First, it took
place at a time when the US-China trade war is showing signs of
bottoming out. That permeated a cheerful mood among the participants
from the developed world, who were downcast at the last edition of the
event failing to figure out what would be the consequences if the war
continued unabated. Undeniably, the cheerful mood was also on account
of the lesser degree of pulls and pressures being experienced by the
developed and emerging economies, which are gradually coming out of
the long spell of gloom cast by financial meltdown and uncertain
traction of the world commodity prices. US President Donald Trump was
aggressive at the WEF in pitching for his country and questioned the
rationale of categorizing China and India among the developing world
and argued that way the US also fitted the bill as a developing
nation.
Did Africa have any takeaway from WEF ? Many Africa experts whom
www.Trendsnafrica.com talked to also expressed the view that there was
no such brownie point scored by Africa as a continent at Davos. First,
the presence of the African political leaders and business honchos
were few in the much hallowed precinct of Davos.
The President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix
Tshisekedi, President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, and Macky Sall,
President of Senegal, were amongst the African heads of state who
participated in the forum. Domestic woes must have kept South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on
their toes to skip the meet. But being the two largest economies in
the continent, their presence even for a brief while would have lend
some luster to the event, which is often criticized as a club of the
rich, privileged and mighty. Equally significant is the notable
absence of African tycoons like Aliko Dakote, who is adjudged as the
richest African and the 89th richest man in the world. Africa’s
richest woman’- Isabel dos Santos – was also absent. She always made
it a point to attend and meet the world leaders to discuss business
prospects. The present enigmatic situation that she is in, haunted by
the tax authorities , could be the reason for her conspicuous
absence.
That does not mean the agenda of the 50th edition of the WEF is less
relevant to Africa. The theme: “Stakeholders for a Cohesive and
Sustainable World” is designed to focus on the most pressing global
challenges with the aim of influencing policymakers’ choices for the
year ahead. Implicit in the theme are the need for fair taxation, zero
tolerance to corruption and respect for human rights, areas that have
great contemporaneous relevance to all countries irrespective of their
stages of development. This year’s discussions were centered around
stakeholder capitalism, laying emphasis not only maximizing profits,
but using their capabilities and resources in cooperation with
governments and civil society to address the key issues of this decade
such as unemployment, poverty, deprivation etc. Indeed, these are
highpoints that have universal application from the United States of
America to Angola and Benin to Belgium.
The World Investment Report 2019 had clearly pointed out that while
the cross border movement of capital had shown a declining trend, flow
of FDI to Africa, particularly in the sub-Saharan region had picked up
and is showing prospects for further increase. That way, no country
can ignore Africa as a destination for channelizing investment, if not
now in the coming days. Should that call for WEF or any other global
investment and business meet to have special sessions on segments
that have more relevance to Africa especially when private sector as
the stakeholder in the development process has yet to make its strong
footprint in the continent. The argument that WEF has regional
meetings to focus on regional issues like the one held recently in
Johannesburg will not cut any ice since the crying need of the region
is to attract investments, create employment and deepen the private –
public partnerships. Indeed, Africa has yet to become a focal point
for global development. Will that happen sooner or later, is something
what experts are debating now?
