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African Solutions for African Problems

Their country. Their people. Their culture.

Those of us who were involved in attempts to regenerate UK's older cities faced entire
communities who exemplified 'acceptance' as a way of coping with their 'repressive' stage.

Much of what people call apathy is not apathy, it’s a repression of true feelings.

Politicians continually generate a lot of repression.
Significant numbers of people come to believe that politicians don't hear them, don't

listen to them. And so these people stop talking to the politicians. The essential flow of a
dialogue has broken down. And if talking to you is useless, then there's no point in talking.

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(And in the African context those m'zuŋ u working in the rarefied context of the World Bank, IMF and
DfiD/FCDO, need to accept that as a result of the imposed 'Structural Adjustment Programmes' and
'conditionalities', many ordinary Africans feel that the Bretton Woods Institutions are 'deaf' to Africans.
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And the more astute of these m'zuŋ u will realise that this adversely reflected on the relationship
between ordinary Africans and their own political leaders )
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m'zuŋ u from the most developed economies where self-expression has almost become a
'human right are totally disconnected from the emotional state of mind of the populations

in Africa's least developed countries.

Even in the UK, this specific disconnect was the greatest problem someone like me
came across. Civil Servants, living a cosseted and 'guaranteed' way of life, needed to be

introduced to the idea that the people they were trying to lead through a major life-change

could not be expected to welcome, and join in with, what the civil servants themselves
envisaged as being 'the answer'.

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Disconnects -Intergenerational relationships
“ Its worth bearing in mind that the median age in much of Africa is less than 25 and societal

stability may depend on the retention of respect for the older generations
African cultural values are based on a foundation of the past and present, a leading reason why

elders are so well respected. Always acknowledge an elder, let them ask questions, and during
mealtime elders should be served first.”
"17 African Cultural Values (To Know Before You Travel to Africa)," March 28, 2011. 431
Migrationology - Food Travel Blog.

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Intergenerational relationships in much of the m'zuŋ u world could not be more different
from those in Africa’s least developed nations.