On 5 October 2024, during the inaugural Thabo Mbeki Foundation’s Africa Peace and Security Dialogue
(APSD) I had the opportunity to launch my book titled Reflections on the Ten Years of the Tana Forum on Security in Africa, and its companion – a coffee table book titled Tana at Ten: A Celebration. Both books were published by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), (2024) (Photo below).
The main book documents and analyses the 10 years of the Tana Forum on Security in Africa since 2012, with a focus on the genesis of the Forum, its successes and challenges. It presents insights on the Forum from selected leaders and experts in the areas of governance and peace and security in Africa. Importantly, it also provides recommendations for the future of the Forum.
Note: The two books can be accessed and downloaded here:
SELECTED KEY MESSAGES
During the launch event, the key messages and lessons learned from my involvement with the Tana Forum that I reflected on and believe are worth sharing include:
1. Africans must take responsibility for funding the continent’s peace and security agenda.
I started by posing a question: Given the vast resources the continent has, how is it that these resources are continuously parceled out to external entities under the guise of foreign direct investment? Once these external entities have added value to these resources, Africans then beg the same entities for money to finance development and the peace and security agenda. This makes no sense.
It is high time Africans to adopt innovative ways of resourcing their development. The two examples I presented for consideration are:
i. In 2016, the AU Commission appealed to AU Member States to make financial contributions to the newly established AU Foundation. Then, Zimbabwean President H.E. Robert Mugabe donated 300 cattle instead of cash. This was meant to end the AU’s donor dependency syndrome and to promote self-sufficiency. The cattle were later auctioned in Zimbabwe and the AU got its cash. This both simple and innovative workaround demonstrated how Africans can be innovative and how the resources at their disposal can be used to advance African interests and priorities – including the continental peace, security, and development agendas.
ii. In the 1970s Botswana initiated a “One Man One Beast” fundraising campaign to raise funds for the construction of the University of Botswana. The initiative required every family in Botswana to contribute something – whatever they could – to the university’s construction costs. It took several years for the required funds to be raised and for the university construction to be completed. Today BaTswana can be proud that they built the university by themselves, for themselves without needing to rely on aid. Their resolve is a source of pride and a sense of ownership to the people of Botswana for having done it themselves, for themselves, without external support.
Based on the above examples, I challenged the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Zimbabwe, Honourable Fredrick Shava to extend the same innovation and donate a farm to the AU. The farm would provide a predictable source of finance, and employ youth from Zimbabwe and the region. Other countries could do the same, donating the natural resources they have in abundance (e.g. a mining concession). African youth can then be employed and work on farms and mines as a way of adding value to these resources for the benefit of the Union and its citizens.
2. Strong and undeterred leadership
The build-up to the inaugural Tana Forum demonstrated to me that if you want something badly enough, you will get it done. A few weeks before the final decision on the venue and date were communicated to guests and attendees, the construction of the Avant Nile Hotel was still on-going; it was still being painted and there was no cutlery.
The state of the hotel was one of the reasons the technical team had initially recommended a different venue for the Forum. However, Prime Minister Zenawi insisted on the hotel along the Tana River and he made sure that by the time the Forum was held a few weeks later, the hotel had been painted, cutlery and bedding were in place, and the garden was pristine. This was possible through a partnership with the Addis Sheraton, which had to import some of the finishing’s from Dubai. Africans are resourceful – we just need to be more consistent about it. Let us want more, more often.
3. The role of women in peace and security
The Tana Forum has had three coordinators since its launch in 2012. In the book, I acknowledged the role played by Michelle Ndiaye, Lettie Longwe, and I in coordinating the Tana Forum for the past 12 years. Our leadership over the coordination of this flagship forum during this time demonstrates that women deserve space in the decision-making spaces related to the continent’s peace, security, and development agenda.
4. The importance of youth participation
I referred to President Obasanjo’s message to the youth, which he raised during my interview with him: “Do not let them tell you that you are a leader of tomorrow. Your time is now.” The youth must come forward to claim their leadership spaces, particularly young women leaders. When we started the Tana Forum, most team members were young men and women, demonstrating that young people can deliver, if given the space.
5. Managing diversity
One of the first agenda items of the Tana Forum in 2012 was “managing diversity” in all its forms. This continues to be one of the major causes of instability and conflicts on the continent. I recommended that the Africa Peace and Security Dialogue pick this as an action point for the future.
6. Effective leaders know when it is a good time to leave office – and they go.
Delayed departures from the leadership stage lead to tensions, instability, and conflict. I cited the example of former Ethiopian Prime Minister H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, who noted in an interview I had with him that he realised when the time was ripe for him to step down, for the sake of stability in the country.
7. Action between summits
Concerning the Africa Peace and Security Dialogue (APSD), I recommended that next time discussions should centre on the results of implementation, not on further discussion of problems, as these are largely known. Otherwise, the APSD will end up being a talk show. Yes, it is called a dialogue, but let it lean towards a dialogue of action and results. This can then complement the focus of the Tana Forum, the focus and mandate of which are to explore and exchange ideas and set the agenda on peace and security in Africa.
8. Partnerships
When the Tana Forum started in 2012, it had six partners. As of the last Forum held in 2022, it had 26 partners. While it is a good sign that many partners are buying into the ideals of the Forum by wanting to be associated with it, the multiplicity of partners may also dilute African ownership and leadership of the Forum, and other initiatives like it.Partners will always want to influence the agenda of the Forum and speak at the Forum.
I ended my short presentation by telling a story I had read on Facebook on resilience and self-reliance, below:
A STORY
One cold night, a billionaire met an old poor man outside. He asked him
“Don’t you feel cold being outside and not wearing any coat”?
The Old man replied,
“I don’t have it, but
I got used to that.”
The billionaire replied,
“Wait for me, I will enter my house now and bring you one.”
The poor man got so happy and said he would wait for him. The billionaire entered his house and got busy there and forgot the poor man. In the morning, he went out to search for the poor man, but he found him dead because of the cold, but the poor man had left a note, which read:
“When I didn’t have any warm clothes, I had the power to fight the cold because I was used to that. But when you promised me to help me, I got attached to your promise and that took my power of resisting”
MORAL OF THE STORY
“Don’t promise anything if you can’t keep your promise. It might not mean anything to you, but it could mean everything to someone else.”[i]
I want to turn this on its head: To Africans, your aspirations will not be realised if you rely on other people’s promises, you will lose resolve. Work with what you have. It is more than enough.
THINK ABOUT IT.
[i] Lectir Ogellag, February 13 at 2.15 pm. Accessed on 4 October 2024.