I am back in Finland again.
(Have I ever mention how much I like this place? – If you have never been to Finland before, you need to reconsider your life goals) 🙂
Part of why I like the University of Joensuu is because of their strong international programs, and in particular their connection to Africa.
I recently accepted a position as the coordinator of the EDULINK ICT4D Consortium of African and European Higher Education Institutions.
Last year we wrote a grant proposal to the EDULINK funding call 
(a part of the European Union’s efforts to support and develop ties with the developing world), a couple of months ago we heard news that they accepted it, and this last week I sent out an official confirmation of the EU funding to each of the partner institutions.
The current partner institutions include:
- the University of Joensuu, Finland;
- Tumaini University/Iringa University College, Tanzania;
- the University of Southern Denmark, Odense;
- UNESCO Centre for ICT4D at Royal Holloway, University of London;
- the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana;
- Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique;
- Maseno University, Kenya;
- C. A. Diop University, Senegal
And with the following two associates:
- the Association of African Universities (AAU)
- and Entertainment Robotics, a private company that develops ICT4D.
The specific objective of this project: To strengthen each of the partner institutions potential for effectively producing and utilizing ICT for development; specifically improving academic curriculum and research capacity through (1) workshops, (2) student and faculty exchanges, and (3) online contributions to a virtual hub (for collaboration, resources, and open sharing of results).
I am excited about the position because it allows me to be flexible in where I live (as I can do most of the work online), and the project is focused on an area that I feel passionate about. I feel we can make a difference, even though progress usually turns out more slow than we would hope (it is more like sitting and watching a tree grow than it is like watching a train pass).
As you can see from my previous blog entries, instead of western countries simply offering aid to the developing world (and often unintentionally making things worse than before) – I’m a strong believer that it is MUCH better if it is a two-way flow of ideas and communication, synergistically coming up with solutions together 
that no one partner could on their own, helping with the “development” of the European partners as much as with the African ones.
We need to get rid of the idea that Africa is a poor person that we need to pity and help! In my opinion, such an attitude is patronizing and simply fosters dependency. Africa is truly rich, and they have all they need and more!
In a sense they might benefit from association with Western countries, but in that same sense Western countries need Africa just as much or more. It seems much more healthy and helpful to have relationships and attitudes that encourage a two-way synergistic sharing and implementation of ideas and resources (where the end result is better than either party could come up with by themselves).
Hopefully the fruits of this consortium experience will be ICT4D innovations, curriculum, and research that meet real needs and contribute to improving the quality of lives and the human potential of all involved.
Questions:
Along those lines, my questions for you in this blog entry are ones that we asked at the TEDC conference participants in August:
- What do you think are the unique strengths of Africa and its people?
- In your opinion, what is it that Africa and Africans can share with others, to help “develop” even Western countries, and make the world a better place?
- (I ask these questions about Africa, because that is where a lot of the EDULINK project partners come from, but you can answer them with regards to any another “developing” area too.)
I recognized a glimpse of your opinion on this when you didn’t just give me the address of the school in Uganda so we could send a package from my school, but talked to the teacher and let them know it was a 2-way experience and that they should send something, too. I’ve wanted to send water and paper and other things that probably aren’t feasible (due to weight and things), but wishing to meet their immediate and important needs to the best of my ability and understanding.
My dad has always felt similarly, that people receiving aid should be looked at more as equals and contributing members of society rather than patronized to whatever degree. For instance, that church buildings which are cleaned by all the members should be providing that work more as an opportunity for those receiving welfare from the church to feel they are working for it and are not being patronized but blessed with an opportunity to use their time and energy to receive support after putting forth their effort in contribution.
Though I really do believe that there are circumstances where relief should be given to people and families and countries without any concern along these lines, I agree with you that synergistically coming up with solutions is better, and that it fosters dependency to have attitudes which are patronizing.
Though I don’t have direct experiences yet with Africa and can’t specifically answer your questions, here are a few quotes I liked from my recent reading which help me appreciate the differences in fundamental philosophies behind different cultures:
“Despite all that they lacked, the Balti still held the key to a kind of uncomplicated happiness that was disappearing in the developing world as fast as old growth forests.”~Greg Mortenson
“I used to assume that the direction of progress was somehow inevitable, not to be questioned. I passively accepted a new road through the middle of the park, a steel & glass back where a 200-year-old church had stood, and the fact that life seemed to get harder and faster with each day. I do not anymore. In Ladakh (part of Tibet that belongs politically to India) I have learned that there is more than one path into the future, and I have had the privilege to witness another, saner way of life–a pattern of existence based on the coevolution of human beings and the earth.”
“Western development workers should not blindly impose modern ‘improvements’ on ancient cultures. Industrialized countries have lessons to learn from people like Ladakhis, like building sustainable societies. I have seen that community and a close relationship with the land can enrich human life beyond all comparison with material wealth or technological sophistication. I have learned that another way is possible.”
~Helena Norberg-Hodge (linguist from Sweden, International Society for Ecology and Culture) She talks about localization rather than globalization in economic circumstances and trade/exportation. I like her ideas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gUMT7m7skw
The legendary Nelson Mandela once stated that “Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our fear is that we are powerful beyond measure”
Unfortunately, many African’s have not realized this. This explains why for a long time, we have looked to our developed counterparts for solutions.
But exchange of ideas as was during the TEDC 2008 conference is helping Africans realize that they are powerful beyond measure.
With this new belief, the west can find solutions to their problems in an Africa style. Take an example, with the escalating conflict in the world, countries waging war against each other, Africa’s conflict resolution mechanisms could be the next solution. I remember people talked about the Harambe system in Tanzania and now the Mato put in Uganda to try hard core criminals.
For a long time, the US thought it had the brainpower. One CEO of a big American corporation said business is harder now because CEOs of most companies are people you don’t know and may be whose names you cannot pronounce – underscoring the fact that many CEOs are coming from Asia.
It is only Africa with untapped knowledge. Africans being people who have experienced some of the most difficult times on Earth, will be in a better position to provide solutions that no one has seen or heard before. Not Europe or Asia.
When it comes to Technology, it will be developed based on the African experience that has not been heard of elsewhere. For the technology beat, Africa has been largely a consumer. Given chance, this trend will be reversed.
Africans have potential to emerge victorious even in the face of adversity – poverty, hunger, disease name it. There are many things the world can learn from this. It is not tangible but fundamental. All we need is an ear. I hope they do as I think they have started.
I think to you the ‘Clints’ of this world, it is your call…
My two cents
Good heavens Clint,
Westafrica is a musical superpower that has influenced and “developed” Western music for centuries, but most importantly since the onset of the digital age. Western Africa is one of the key linchpins in what could be called the “Atlantic triangle” composed of Westafrican griots, the Carribean/Brazil and European sound studios along with European musicians.
Just walk through any music shop. Hard to find any disks outside classical music that can’t be traced to African roots (and even then)….. And West African pop now is quite literally top of the heap! How can anybody miss this?
Clint, not to hog the debate, but just another intriguing pointer:
I was once told that the complexity of religious thought in Africa is way beyond the rather simplistic theological concepts of the West. Since then I have become more alert. And sure enough: If you care to listen carefully, the level of abstraction and complexity in the way (traditional) Africans explain the world is astounding. Never mind the veneer of evangelical or other organized religious movements. They tend to be an “easy” surface that is spread over huge depths of ritual and social (and often hard historical) experience. Too easy. Misleadingly easy. I was blown away for instance by ritual drummers in Togo and what they were telling me – or rather couldn’t tell me because these are things you can’t talk about – not because it’s secret or anything, but because language has a tough time to grasp it (“I can’t explain that with words”). Just listen to the drumming and its modulation and you get it…. (uh-oh, don’t tell me about magic, I’ve been through that, both black and white magic. Very interesting and very rich).
Ah, and that historian in the old Basel Mission in Basel (which started sending missionaries to Westafrica in the 1860s, who then mostly died within months). What he said was very revealing: They trained their missionaries in theology and philosophy. The very very very best got to learn Mandarin and could hold their own in philosophical debates with the court people there – in Mandarin. The next best might be able to learn Sanskrit well enough to learn the Indian languages, and were therefore sent to India. Oh, and the duds and practical guys whom they couldn’t trust to be exposed to a “mature” culture were sent off to Africa, because Africa wasn’t a challenge – or so they thought. Now they discover that the challenge is coming right back: It’s the Africans who are now challenging Church dogmas in a fundamental way that neither Chinese nor Indians are doing. Hm…..
The other day I was walking over a market in Iringa (Tanzania). A woman was selling clay pots. My sister in law is a potter so I always take a second look at pots. Hey…. these pots looked very simple and haphazard at first sight. Take a closer look: The design of form and usage and colour was perfect, couldn’t be better done by a high-grade designer in Europe. Wow, take these pots and put them on display in some high-end designer shop and you’d get 800 USD a pot. I keep discovering this in traditional African crafts: A no frills simplicity combined with a design elegance that speaks of an abstract grasp of utility and beauty that looks very “modern”, even avant-garde – very unlike most of what I see anywhere else. It took Picasso to make us understand that Africans aren’t interested in depicting something as it meets the eye but to capture its inner (abstract?) essence to make it accessible.
Fazit:
Africas traditional psychological, philosophical and cultural diversity is just barely being scratched yet, but will undoubtedly come into its own. The level of complex abstraction that underlies most of what I see and hear in Africa makes me believe this is the cultural basis for a power that will fundamentally enrich science and culture on a planet-wide scale. Culture is already happening in the arts. Science is coming along too, make no mistake. The first half of this century may see the Asian rise (or demise if they overreach with inefficient resource use), the next half of the century belongs to the Africans.
Personally I believe Europe should build a strategic partnership with Africa. We’re so near to each other….
Ueli
These ideas are really helpful for decentering many technical coopeartion approaches (though let’s not forget technical cooperation between developing countries agendas – anyone at UNDP still supporting TCDC?). In conversation the idea of “collaborative capacity development”, where each comes to the process with something to learn and share, has begun to crystalise for me. The particular example from Africa I think about is the Nollywood video film industry in Nigeria which has pionered networked digital production and distribution approaches. Much here for European cinema to learn and an opportunity to share experience in areas like sound production. Thanks for this post.
Carl
Hello Clint, KM4Dev,
“Mountain Voices: From The Panos Oral Testimony Project” – URL:
http://www.mountainvoices.org/
This project is part of Panos’ Oral Testimony Programme, which aims to
amplify the voices of those at the heart of development: people who are
disadvantaged by poverty, gender, lack of education and other inequalities.
Collecting and disseminating oral testimonies allows the least vocal and
least powerful members of society to speak for themselves, rather than
through outsiders or “experts”.
Collections have been gathered from communities in the Himalaya (India and
Nepal); the Andes (Peru); the Sierra Norte (Mexico); Mount Elgon (Kenya);
the highlands of Ethiopia and Lesotho; southwest and northeast China; the
Sudety mountains (Poland); and the Karakorum mountains of Pakistan.
This might be a useful guide for your work.
Thanks Clint for pointing that out.
In the Philippines, we scanned and studied 10 best practices from more than 950 anti-poverty projects. Why were they successful?
The answer surprised us: the communities concerned were successful because the projects leveraged on the wealth of intangibles that the “poor” communities already had: network of relationships (social capital), access to natural resources (natural capital + social sanction), dedicated leaders (human capital), useful linkages outside (stakeholder capital), collaborative practices (cultural capital), indigenous knowledge (intellectual capital), etc. All these are described in our freely-downloadable e-book: “Community Wealth Rediscovered: Knowledge for Poverty Alleviation” from our website.
Many local communities are “poor” only in tangible assets — they are wealthy in intangible assets. People who call them “poor” are people whose development paradigm is based on financial or material mental models. They have a blindfold and I suspect many of them don’t know it. “Poverty” is a concept inside their heads.
Our research also opened our eyes in another way: KM for development is not just a matter of facilitating information/knowledge flow — this is a mental model that belies a development practitioner mindset, which is basically an outsider perspective. If we take an insider or community perspective, KM for development is suddenly different: it is now a process of recognizing, appreciating and leveraging on the wealth of intangible assets that a community usually already has.
Interesting –
We have been involved with the EU for a couple of years. Frankly, your questions need thinking about but here are some knee-jerk reactions:
1. The EU system [as we have experienced it] is slow, cumbersome and tends to reduce imaginative input from either side;
2. Their emissaries are often very technical type people from Eastern Europe or somewhere equally distant with little or no experience in Africa;
3. The EU tend to work through a local government department with its own idiosyncratic culture which – in our case – has done nothing to encourage mutual sharing of ideas;
4. The objectives of the relationship are often predetermined and do not provide a space for mutual sharing of knowledge / ideas;
5. So – your objectives require a totally new style of management which is possible but has to be very high on everyone’s’ agenda from the outset.
On the plus side – if yr doing ICT….this university is a historical disadvantaged one in South Africa and I am involved with a project called the Living Lab that is planning to push ICT across the province – based from an ICT Institute here on the campus. The Finnish government is also sponsoring ICT in the province but I don’t know that much about it at the momment.
So – if you want a link to people who would like to push the type of relationships you mention then let’s talk more [it might be good therapy for me after my recent EU-related frustrations]!
This is a great and provocative question. As a West African, one of my bigger adjustments to life in the Western world was to that of a less socially rich fabric. That is to say, although the need to cultivate human relationships is universal, I find this plays out in much more interesting ways in Africa. I missed getting into full taxis and striking up conversations with total strangers. I found it appaling that somebody I had been introduced to one day could pass me the next day with barely a nod. I realized that sitting together with friends and neighbors in the evening telling stories was not something that happened in the US, where for the most part I didn’t even know my neighbors. Though there are many things I have come to appreciate about more individual-centered cultures, I believe the world (especially the Western world) would be happier place if we could all adopt the best elements of African social interaction. We all know happinness is not about material wealth and I remember how much joie de vivre there was in the poor country in which I grew up. I in no way want to condone inaction against poverty but as someone else on this blog has said, let’s understand true wealth beyond material terms.
Clint,
This is a theme which I believe is not just related to development. It seems to be a kind of an arrogant attitude (“What you could you possibly offer me which is of value?”) and applies to many business relationships. To break this pattern we use Value Network Analysis (see http://www.valuenetworks.com for more information…or google Verna Allee…one of the global thought leaders in this space). The Value Networks movement focuses on a balanced (reciprocal) flow of tangible and intangible value between roles within a given system (could be between countries, organisations, teams etc). We have fine-tuned the VNA approach for different business relationship scenarios (read the Partnership Scorecard on http://www.optimice.com.au/publications.php for more information).
There appears to be so many opportunities to ask people how they can contribute. I worked for 8 years with a large professional services company and back in the 2001-2002 there was a big push for ‘customer intimacy’…but no one bothered to ask the clients what they thought it meant. I am not sure if it really is arrogance, or if they just forget about it. Using the Value Networks approach at least you are ‘forced’ to think about what all the players in a given system/network can provide, or need, for the overall system/network to provide maximum value.
Rgs,
Cai
Clint
While I’m sympathetic to what you are trying to do, I’m uneasy about talking about a whole continent and its people.
922 million people will have a lot of strengths – and weaknesses – between them. Perhaps telling one narrative for “Africa”, “Africans” – or “Western”/”Northern” countries for that matter – may be part of the reason why some organisations and individuals are blind to good local, contextualised practices which we could all learn from, regardless of where in the world they are taking place?
Thanks for the excellent thoughts and resources shared by everyone!
As for the comment from Bev, I also agree completely. I think the nuances and contextualizing is absolutely key. I’m so glad that you are sensitive to that.
I do think, however, that people can even focus on contextualized, localized “solutions” that are still very one-sided, somewhat condescending, and foster dependency more than anything. Too often even these well-intentioned local approaches still come from a mindset that the flow is from the “developed” to the “underdeveloped”.
It seems like what is needed is a transformation so that the general attitude sets up relationships which are more healthy and synergistic (recognizing that each party has strengths and things they can contribute to improving the life quality of the others involved and to quality and sustainability of the overall project).
I think when this happens, the relationships and efforts will more likely lead to innovative approaches that are healthier and create solutions to problems that are better than either could have come up with on their own, and which naturally include the nuances of contextualization.
I really am appreciating everyone’s thoughts so much! Feel free to continue to share ideas with me (and everyone).
These are exactly the kinds of ideas which I think will help us make the most out of our resources in doing something that helps more than it otherwise would.
Careful Clint,
The demand that we should reconfigure out general attitude to achieve relationships that are more synergistic can in itself be condescending and patronizing.
This is tricky and weird, but it indeed is a very hidden and powerful form of what I call the “helper syndrome”: I mean the “modern” attitude of wanting to enter into a synergistic relationship assumes that there isn’t such a relationship and therefore the initiative for it must come from the north? That’s just like assuming help must come from the north. So even this modern “leftist” notion can meet deep distrust, rightly so.
My breakthrough came when assuming we already ARE in a synergistic relationship, it’s just that I’ve been blind all along. And sure enough….
Talking with villagers as a businessman out to make money with them makes a huge difference. It’s kind of “I won’t make any money unless you guys make money. So let’s figure this out?”. This makes me much more graspable, my intentions are VERY clear, no condescension, no patronizing, and it makes me trustworthy in their ideas: Wanting to make money is an acceptable motivation for interacting (oh yes, with all the KM that implies).
Now guess who has the most problems with me wanting to make money for myself together with poor African villagers….. ??
Ueli
Thanks for sharing your thoughts from your experiences Ueli.
I think you point out some helpful ways to look at the whole situation a little differently.
On an earlier blog entry, Matti also pointed to his view that business might be the best way to sustainable development too.
Bonsoir,
Comme Bev je pense qu’il est difficile de parler d’un – pour – un continent de 30 millions de km2 habité par plus de 900 millions d’habitants… d’autant plus que ne suis pas africain ! Par contre j’ai la chance de pouvoir échanger depuis une vingtaine d’années avec un réseau d’amis et de partenaires originaires d’une dizaine de pays d’Afrique de l’Ouest. A l’occasion de rencontre, en vivant et en travaillant avec eux dans leur pays ou en Europe, ils m’enrichissent de connaissances, de pratiques, d’innovations, de croyances, de comportements… dont beaucoup devraient figurer dans les manuels scolaires et universitaires des pays africains (ces savoirs “non académiques” en sont très largement exclus) et européens. Les critiques portant sur le développement de leurs pays ne sont pas absentes de nos échanges, et de plus en plus elles se focalisent sur deux points : i) la mauvaise gestion des ressources (humaines, naturelles, minières) par les gouvernements nationaux et les organisations régionales, ii) le faible intérêt porté au renforcement des organisations issues de la société civile pour qu’elles puissent intervenir dans la gestion de ces mêmes ressources. Pour documenter nos débats critiques, je suis en permanence à la recherche de “bonnes pratiques”, de “leçons d’expèriences” qui pourraient nous éclairer, nous inspirer, nous faire avancer. L’essentiel de ce que je trouve de pertinent est issu de pays africains, le reste d’Inde et de pays sud américains.
Donc pour conclure, disons que la richesse des savoirs et des innovations du continent se transmet bien à travers des réseaux de confiance et à petite echelle, que cette même richesse doit être intégrer dans le “savoir académique” des pays européens, et que le plus urgent est de renforcer les échanges des “bonnes pratiques africaines” entre les habitants – les organisations de la société civile – des pays du continent africain.
Thanks Gilles for your comment!
I think the two areas you pointed to are also ones that I have been very curious about. Now you have also peaked my interest to do a better study of “best practices” in each.
A very powerful contribution Ueli! This is indeed the attitude we should take, honest, frank, open to criticism, and use it in own circles to lobby for a change in attitude among those that have a bit more (money or political or otherwise) power!?
As today is Gandhi’s birthday, I thought I would share this quote, which I think applies to the discussion.
“I am wedded to India because I owe my all to her. I believe absolutely that she has a mission for the world. She is not to copy Europe blindly.” – Gandhi
I think a similar thing could be said of each part of Africa, etc… – there is a mission to fulfill for the world.
In most cases Africa may lack the physical resources to meet various needs in the society but definitely not the brain power on how to go about solving the problems. So the aid that is often offered to African or developing countries will be far more beneficial if the recipients are part of the decision making process, not only that, but actually driving the projects themselves because they understand the context better. I do not think the initiative to enter into a synergistic relationship should come from the north, rather I think Africa has a huge responsibility to empower its people to believe in themselves. As Africans, we are partly to blame for the ‘helper syndrome’ I am a strong believer that you teach people how to treat you. In most cases, people are not eager to say something or object to anything because they are afraid if they do then the aid or whatever is being offered will go away and I think that is not right. So if the two parties can sit together and share ideas I believe there is a lot that the donors will learn from the Africans that would also benefit them in some areas of their development.
Unique strength of Africa and its people.
1. Africa has resources both natural and human which are unique to itsself. Africans will always be Africans and will never be less or more African hence unique to ourselves. There are unique natural resources that are only found in Africa. Africa is still a virgin land not fully exploited and with huge potential to sustain itself. Africa is less populated and could add more people to the land and still be able to feed them provided the leadership realize this potential and agressively exploit it. Africa has unique resources of water and as water becomes scarce in the near future Africa could be the source of supply of fresh water. Africa has the capacity to feed itself and feed other parts of the world and as the global warming will have less negative impact in Africa compared to other countries such as Europe. Therefore in the very near future Africa will be the food basket for other countries in particular Europe.
Another unique strength of Africa is that since it is still underdeveloped its learning curve cost could be cheaper hence could copy technologies already developed in the developing world and be able to benefit from the use of the technologies much faster and cheaper compared to the cost of developing and benefits accrued to the developed countries.
The technology development in today’s world makes it possible for closer collaboration, alliances, partnership and linkages as the world becomes flatter and informaton being easily assessible by many at no or affordable cost. Therefore the flattening of the world makes easier for Africa to acquire appropriate technologies faster and modify these technologies to suit their environment with lesser cost which makes them benefit more than the developing countries as cost per unit becomes less compared with other countries.
Last unique strength is that we have an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others to improve our performance
Question 2
What Africa and African can share with other to help “develop” even Western countries and make the world a better place.
1. Use the mistakes made by Western countries to show them the impact of their mistakes and how they could avoid them in the future. For eample how they destroyed their environment as they pursue wealth and good life while sacrficing the future.
2. Africa has a lot to share with Western countries in terms of the importance of sticking to culture and natural social behavior, attitude and perception. For example why clan leadership is important to build cohesiveness, cultural identity, values and culture that will provide high quality life than the material wealth that is worshiped by the Western cultures.
Herment
Here is an interesting example of celebrating African art and
ingenuity which coincidentally happened in Amsterdam only a week ago.
Africa, Surprising Africa
Cross media storytelling, vibrant, social and creative development
from cities across Africa
http://www.picnicnetwork.org/page/22316/en
@Ueli – I agree with your point about entrepreneurship. Makes me
think that aspects of development assistance have something deeply
broken about it. At the same time, philanthrocapitalism tends to
throw the baby out with the bathwater. Michael Edwards has an
interesting publication on this entitled Just Another Emperor: The
Myths and Realities of Philanthrocapitalism
(http://www.justanotheremperor.org/). I think he goes too far in his
critique though.
Venture philanthropy is harder than it sounds. At the Shuttleworth
Foundation we sit cheek by jowl with Mark Shuttleworth’s venture
capital company. Different skillsets, different outlooks. To date, I
have failed where I expected to succeed in making common cause with
them. We need new hybrid venture philanthropic organisations that
will lend money to risky, pro-poor enterprises and expect to make a
return. I don’t mean as a replacement for traditional assistance
which is still fundamentally important in areas like education,
research, etc but as a complement.
-Steve
Hi Clint,
Its a plesure reading some materials I wrote sometime back which to me still are relevent in out todays world.
Congs for the new position.
Kindly convey my regards
Herment