The Second Ghana Cyber Group (GCG) Festival ended at Fair Lakes, Virginia with many agreements and disagreements on the way forward for Ghana and Africa.
Prof. George Ayittey (pictured), speaking on a panel discussion devoted to the New Economic Partnership for Africa (NEPAD) took a familiar terrain of African leaders failing the people and creating economic woes on the continent.
NEPAD has flaws. It was planned ‘without consultation from the African people, civic organizations and other African leaders or parliament ’he argued.
The $64b being sought for NEPAD’s implementation from the G8 and the Western world he explained, could be raised in Africa but for corruption.
Supporting this with a World Bank and other reports, Prof. Ayittey who teaches at the American University and serves as resource commentator on Africa affairs for some U.S. media is also an ‘internalist’ scholar (a group that supports the thesis that Africa’s problems were internally created), said, $12billion is spent every year by African leaders on weapons and $15billion siphoned out of the continent. Together the waste every year will be near the $64 Africa wants from the G8.
‘Whatever plans African leaders come up with, whether NEPAD or others, it should focus on addressing the problems facing the Continent since Africa have the resources to develop’ he said.
But Prof. Ayittey’s favorite snob of African leaders and mismanagement of the Continent was an old tune to Mr. Patrick Awuah, President of the Ashesi University in Accra.
He expressed regret that Prof. Ayittey does not talk in his often criticism of African leaders the effects of the Cold War politics on, for instance, the current crisis in Liberia or the damage it had on the Congo, Angola and other countries.
‘America helped to create the mess in Liberia and it is in order for them to help clean the mess,’ he said in reference to Prof. Ayittey’s accusation of Africa’s leader’s inability to mobilize forces to overthrow Mr. Charles Taylor as Julius Nyerere did in Idi Amin’s Uganda. Amin was even a creature of the United States Mr. Awuah had added for good measure.
Prof. Ayittey had to be excused after his presentation to participate in a CBS TV preview of President George Bush’s visit to Africa. He got more criticism from the Chief Executive of Ghana Investment and Promotion Center (GIPC), Mr. Kwasi Abeasi.
According to Mr. Abeasi, NEPAD is about new African leaders. President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal came up with the OMEGA plan which was as a result of series of workshops that took a lot of people to Senegal the last one being a 200 member legal and economic team from several African countries.
After that, Mr. Abeasi, who also did the rounds for Ghana during this preparatory stage said, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa also came out with the Millennium Africa Plan which also went through several stages before President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria joined.
The recommendations of these processes were acceptable to Ghana and others. He therefore asked for the dismissal of Prof. Ayittey’s argument of NEPAD lacking broad-base support and said further that lack of civil society participation, which Prof. Ayittey stood on, is itself very young in Africa.
‘You only need a few people to start something, digest it, form a base for discussion and come out with a product. That is what NEPAD is about. ‘NEPAD is about a new set of African leadership that is prepared to see the development of the people first.’
To prove that Africa is almost calling-off on the G8 financial support for NEPAD, Mr. Abeasi said at the World Economic Forum meeting in South Africa which he attended, the private sector in Africa decided that they were going to fund NEPAD and not wait for the G8 which could join later if they wanted to.
This new approach makes Prof. Ayittey’s argument on Africa’s dependence on G8 for money stale in Abeasi’s analysis.
Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh a Constitutional law expert in the United States and also Director of the Legal Affairs Program at the Center for Democratic Development in Ghana also spoke on NEPAD.
He said in the United States, it is always ideal for Africans to speak from a united perspective on issues affecting the Continent but there should be times that Ghanaians could speak about the good things taking place back home to attract attention. This he reasoned was because Africa could not sometimes be defended in holistic terms.
Earlier in the day, the Chief Executive Officer of the GCG Mr. Yaw Owusu paid tribute to all GCG members who made the program successful.
The Second Ghana Cyber Group (GCG) Festival ended at Fair Lakes, Virginia with many agreements and disagreements on the way forward for Ghana and Africa.
Prof. George Ayittey (pictured), speaking on a panel discussion devoted to the New Economic Partnership for Africa (NEPAD) took a familiar terrain of African leaders failing the people and creating economic woes on the continent.
NEPAD has flaws. It was planned ‘without consultation from the African people, civic organizations and other African leaders or parliament ’he argued.
The $64b being sought for NEPAD’s implementation from the G8 and the Western world he explained, could be raised in Africa but for corruption.
Supporting this with a World Bank and other reports, Prof. Ayittey who teaches at the American University and serves as resource commentator on Africa affairs for some U.S. media is also an ‘internalist’ scholar (a group that supports the thesis that Africa’s problems were internally created), said, $12billion is spent every year by African leaders on weapons and $15billion siphoned out of the continent. Together the waste every year will be near the $64 Africa wants from the G8.
‘Whatever plans African leaders come up with, whether NEPAD or others, it should focus on addressing the problems facing the Continent since Africa have the resources to develop’ he said.
But Prof. Ayittey’s favorite snob of African leaders and mismanagement of the Continent was an old tune to Mr. Patrick Awuah, President of the Ashesi University in Accra.
He expressed regret that Prof. Ayittey does not talk in his often criticism of African leaders the effects of the Cold War politics on, for instance, the current crisis in Liberia or the damage it had on the Congo, Angola and other countries.
‘America helped to create the mess in Liberia and it is in order for them to help clean the mess,’ he said in reference to Prof. Ayittey’s accusation of Africa’s leader’s inability to mobilize forces to overthrow Mr. Charles Taylor as Julius Nyerere did in Idi Amin’s Uganda. Amin was even a creature of the United States Mr. Awuah had added for good measure.
Prof. Ayittey had to be excused after his presentation to participate in a CBS TV preview of President George Bush’s visit to Africa. He got more criticism from the Chief Executive of Ghana Investment and Promotion Center (GIPC), Mr. Kwasi Abeasi.
According to Mr. Abeasi, NEPAD is about new African leaders. President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal came up with the OMEGA plan which was as a result of series of workshops that took a lot of people to Senegal the last one being a 200 member legal and economic team from several African countries.
After that, Mr. Abeasi, who also did the rounds for Ghana during this preparatory stage said, President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa also came out with the Millennium Africa Plan which also went through several stages before President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria joined.
The recommendations of these processes were acceptable to Ghana and others. He therefore asked for the dismissal of Prof. Ayittey’s argument of NEPAD lacking broad-base support and said further that lack of civil society participation, which Prof. Ayittey stood on, is itself very young in Africa.
‘You only need a few people to start something, digest it, form a base for discussion and come out with a product. That is what NEPAD is about. ‘NEPAD is about a new set of African leadership that is prepared to see the development of the people first.’
To prove that Africa is almost calling-off on the G8 financial support for NEPAD, Mr. Abeasi said at the World Economic Forum meeting in South Africa which he attended, the private sector in Africa decided that they were going to fund NEPAD and not wait for the G8 which could join later if they wanted to.
This new approach makes Prof. Ayittey’s argument on Africa’s dependence on G8 for money stale in Abeasi’s analysis.
Prof. Henry Kwasi Prempeh a Constitutional law expert in the United States and also Director of the Legal Affairs Program at the Center for Democratic Development in Ghana also spoke on NEPAD.
He said in the United States, it is always ideal for Africans to speak from a united perspective on issues affecting the Continent but there should be times that Ghanaians could speak about the good things taking place back home to attract attention. This he reasoned was because Africa could not sometimes be defended in holistic terms.
Earlier in the day, the Chief Executive Officer of the GCG Mr. Yaw Owusu paid tribute to all GCG members who made the program successful.
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