The African Renaissance is over & never was, so can we please stop pretending…

The United Nations has a measure of a country’s success called the Human Development Index (HDI).

A little like America’s Declaration of Independence (it takes a view on what our species needs and wants but on a global scale: A long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living)

Seems pretty obvious right?

In parallel, there also exists a concept called the ‘African Renaissance’, a concept that the African people shall overcome the current challenges confronting the continent and achieve ‘cultural, scientific, and economic renewal’.

The former president of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, took the lead in articulating the elements of the African Renaissance movement at his I am an African speech in 1996.

As an African of mixed black-white descent, I’ve long been skeptical of the concept of a single Africa.

The reality of my lived experiences in Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, South Africa, Swaziland, Australia, Hong Kong, London and America have showed me the fallacy of the one-Africa-fits-all idea.

Everyone knows that Africa is very diverse, so stop pretending that Pan-Africanism is a realistic solution to improving Africa’s HDI from the distant last place which it perpetually occupies.

Since the descent of Sudan into civil war on 8 April 2023 (last f***king week!), Africa’s third largest country has confirmed my view that the African Renaissance is over.

A new solution to Africa’s problems is needed, preferably rooted in reality (what’s the other choice?)

The diverse continent is mired in misery and has been for a long time. Why pretend otherwise?

There, I said what most people can see on their phones and tv screens. The emperor has no clothes so stop pretending otherwise (Eurocentric analogy I know but ditch your Benz or light bulb and then we can talk self-sufficiency)

Most African people would leave for Europe, North America or Australia in a heartbeat if they could. And despite what their largely-illegitimate leaders say, very few want to actually go to Russia or China or the other despot-led non-Western regimes.

Warlords in the Central African Republic may like Russian mercenaries helping them kill their opponents, but the kids want to play football for Barcelona and not Dynamo Moscow.

As any decision maker knows, recognizing the problem is the first and crucial step in addressing solving the problem.

So, let’s take a look at the large-scale misery that besets this amazing continent (disclaimer: everyone and everywhere on the planet is amazing so let’s stop fetishizing certain places and not everyone)

And let’s continue to celebrate this cultural powerhouse and its creations and history.