“A humbler SA would be a good thing for Africa”

An article written by Adeyeke Adebajo with the above heading , two days before our national and provincial elections which are going to be a resounding success and declared free and fair, which appeared in the Business Day  on page 9 (Monday 5  May 2014), makes for interesting reading.

Adeyeke make various points which I agree with but there are areas which I feel that for South Africans in particular and Africans in general it would be reckless if they are left unchallenged.

The fact that now Nigeria has GDP greater than that of South Africa is an achievement which should be celebrated by all Africans. In fact, what we should be talking about is, how the other African countries could also grow their GDP. But as Adeyeke no doubt knows, in addition and probably more important than the size of the GDP, is the GDP per capital because that is a measure, at least on average, of the welfare of the citizens.

The other measures which he does not comment on, are the size of the budget deficit, efficiency of tax collection, development of the financial markets which all point to stability and maturity of an economy. South Africa must not chase size but rather the quality and sustainability of its economy.

The list of the achievements of Nigeria which Adeyeke lists with pride, and with very little humbleness, like football are quite impressive.

For South Africans though:

This notion that South Africans must be humbler must be rejected, if only because I am not aware of who else is humble in this African continent, not least my fellow Africans from Nigeria.

Whilst I admire the success of the Nigerian movie industry which Adeyeke deals with in some detail and I personally enjoy the movies from Nigeria I equally admire the impressive malls created by South African companies in the rest of the continent and as I travel around in the continent, I hope to see more for the convenience they bring. Don't Africans deserve good things too?

I have no means of measuring, as Adeyeke does, of who is a talented intelligentsia, what I do know is that South Africa has produced academics, and professionals recognized the world over. You have only to look at the scientists and chartered  accountants, to mention but a few.

South Africans must be wary of the division propagated by Adekeye between black and white. I am not convinced that it is in the interest of South Africa for black South Africans to disown their white compatriots. I have seen no benefits from that, at least from the other African countries. What South Africans must do, is to continue to work towards a truly inter grated society that shares economic benefits, knowledge and resources in an equitable manner recognizing their painful past.