Page 14 - Provoke Magazine Vol4

INSIGHTS FROM THE SAHARA
Kwabena Sarkodie
War, disease, corruption and of course Bono. When one asks Non-Africans to describe the continent these tend to be common viewpoints. As a child growing up in the United States, these were images I even began to associate my homeland with. Could you blame me? Whenever I saw Africa on the news the coverage rarely was positive, unless a third party was on the scene to “save” Africa. This is not to understate the challenge of the road ahead, perhaps I’m an optimist. I returned to Ghana as an adult in 2014. I immedi- ately felt at home within the crowded hustle & bustle of the streets of Accra. During my stay, I was fortunate enough to secure an invite to the birthday party of an investment banking CEO. Naturally, I did what all ambitious young men do, I proceeded to charm and work the room. That night would change the trajectory of my adult life. Within the few years since my fateful trip, I’ve attended college, started my career in Finance and most importantly began build- ing relationships with politicians and professionals across the con- tinent. This network has allowed me to gain insights from political and economic developments from a localized view.
The narrative that African nations are wholly dependent on out- siders to think for them is outdated and patriarchal. Nevertheless, it’s one that has been prevalent in western media for decades. So it came as no surprise to anyone when Secretary Clinton, gave her infamous “Africa should beware of doing business with countries that are only interested in exploiting its resources”. What the West must understand is African foreign policy is not a monolith, as each individual country has its own strategic rationale for outside en- gagement. The fact remains, Africa is a young continent that in-
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creasingly becoming more tech proficient. This proficiency was recently shown with a too young to run movement when faced with opposition from local Nigerian assem- blies. They simply exposed the situation on Twitter and within twenty- four hours the bill was ratified in that state. It’s easier to an- alyze the Continent by focusing on the six Regional Economic and political Blocs. I in- vited Liberian Politician and Philanthropist Ambassador Macdella Cooper to discuss the current state of West African politics and Economics.
Kwabena (KS): Belt and road initiative? Net positive or negative for Africa.?
Macdella (MC): Anyone who comes with the right deal is welcome. Doesn’t matter who it is, if the opportunity is right for the larg- er good of Africa. Historically, we haven’t had as many options, so now we need to be smarter
KS: -When you hear the Asian century, what are your thoughts?
MC: If we consider having specific people as a benchmark for human progress we are limiting ourselves. If we have the can-do at- titude any century is the African century. *In the past we had no control, now we do, it is our century.
*I view things from a pan-African mindset.
KS: Africa has some of the highest mobile money penetration in the world. Five years from now where do you see Fin-tech on the continent going?
MC: Transforming the economy from cash- based to digital. Any means we can lever- age is a good tool to help with the goal of a cashless based society. With a cash-based economy, it’s hard to implement policy. Cash-based economies are vulnerable, par- ticularly to corruption and weak tax income for governments.
KS: With east Asian incomes rising, the need to find a low-cost manufacturer is on. East African countries have made large capital infrastructure investments (Partly B&R Im- itative). In order to attract a larger share of the FDI pie, which includes low-skill man- ufacturing and tech. Strong Asian influence