By Nnanda Kizito Sseruwagi
USAID has one of the most appealing organisational commitments ever encapsulated in a mission statement. On behalf of the American people, they commit to promoting and demonstrating democratic values abroad and advancing a free, peaceful, and prosperous world. They are devoted to supporting America’s foreign policy by leading the U.S. Government’s international development and disaster assistance through partnerships and investments that save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance, and help people emerge from humanitarian crises and progress beyond assistance.
USAID aims to support its partners to become self-reliant and capable of leading their development journeys. They are dedicated to fostering sustainable development and advancing human dignity globally. USAID is also keen on inclusion, supporting programs that advance equality of all people in communities regardless of their gender, sexual orientation or physical abilities.
Europe and North America pour billions into Africa to promote good governance and support the fight against poverty and corruption. Western intentions seem genuinely supportive and innocuous for Africa. So, why are African leaders and an increasing number of African elites drastically reacting negatively to Western policies? Are Western values under threat by this backlash? If so, why?
Firstly, the West needs the humility to accept that they are ignorant of how Africa (by “Africa” I mean “Sub-Saharan Africa” to be more specific) functions and how Africans’ world view & values, despite deep Western acculturation through colonialism, remain traditional in fundamental ways. The assumption that Western values are inherently right and universal is simply wrong. The West needs to first put these assumptions at bay before they profoundly engage Africa if they genuinely intend to help it.
The U.S. and Europe should support Africa based on African realities, not their Western ideas of what Africa must be like. Doing otherwise would be like medicating a dummy.
As an African, I understand fully that democracy, inclusion, human rights and governance are very necessary for my well-being. But my living conditions, economic status and cultural sensibilities are the fodder out of which these values must be manufactured, not from lectures, statutes, or sanctions from the West.
The West should be patient with us as they were with themselves while developing these aspects of governance in a manner compatible with their cultural values and living conditions. Sanctions are not going to instantly groom African homophobes to love homosexuals or respect their rights. But there are so many Africans who respect and advocate for minority rights by virtue of their humanity, who are now unfortunately opposed to the West on nationalistic grounds because Western interventions under the guise of defending minority rights undermine an even greater ideal- the sovereignty of African states.
These states, with their elderly ruling elite class, have a fresh memory of colonial occupation and barbarity. They are therefore reasonably going to be opposed to the West, erupting into the backlash we see today.
Whereas well-intentioned, Western support for Africa with its intended effect of modelling African states in the image of modern Western states, especially about governance, is misplaced. The West views governance in Africa generally based on cliches. Cliches always have an element of truth, which overrides nuance for the analytically feeble analysts who reproduce these cliches as the full picture of Africa in scholarly work, human rights activism, and social commentary.
There is a rational explanation for how African leaders behave and how our politics organizes itself. The West should not think of this organisation as backward or irrational. Though imperfect in several ways, often the ways our politics works are not intended or designed by our leaders based on their virtues. Rather, this politics curves itself out of the realities it finds on the ground.
Western governance values evolved out of political contestations on the ground. They did not befall on them like manna from heaven. Both the ground and the nature of political contestations in Africa are unique from those out of which the Western experience was shaped. Therefore, we cannot function the same way, even though we find certain Western values attractive and indeed, we aspire to embrace them. But we need to embrace them on our terms, not on dictates and conditionalities.
We should not and cannot de-historicize the past realities out of which our current experiences emerge. But we can work together to shape a better future for governance in Africa.
If Western powers maintain the stance that African countries are in disarray and must first conform to particular Western governance models and principles to earn their aid, they will have failed on the first step for rendering transformative support. It may be that the constitution and functionality of the state in contemporary Africa will never conform to Western notions of political modernity. Yet, the same state could evolve synonymous values as those cherished in the West. The evolution of states in Africa will not necessarily take the form of modern Western states, and that should not be the basis for punishing us with aid cuts or economic sanctions.
The writer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Development Watch Centre.
