Wednesday, April 9, 2008


Les récents événements du Kenya, l’actualité du Zimbabwe me poussent à reprendre cette question qui fut posée à un groupe de quelques anciens chefs d’Etat africains lors d’une table ronde organisée à Wits University en 2006. Parmi eux, on pouvait compter l’ancien président zambien, Kenneth Kaunda, le ghanéen Jerry Rwalings, le burundais Pierre Buyoya, le botswanais Sir Keth Masire, et d’autres.

Réagissant à cette question, Kenneth Kaunda faisait remarquer que sa volonté de rester au pouvoir était guidée par le sentiment de mener au bout une mission, celle de libérer l’Afrique du joug colonialiste. Rawlings tentait d’expliquer son retour au pouvoir par le souci de remettre de l’ordre dans le pays à un moment très critique, où l’autorité de l’Etat devenait dans la rue. Dans un humour quelque peu cynique, Sir Keth Masire faisait remarquer que lorsque les Occidentaux, tels que Margaret Thatcher, Elmut Khol, Jacques Chirac ou Tony Blair font dix ans ou plus au pouvoir, personne ne s’en plaint; mais quand il s’agit des Africains, tout le monde s’inquiète. Pourquoi une telle attitude? s’interrogeait-il. Il concluait par ces mots: “as long you can perform, you can remain to power” (tant que vous pouvez diriger, vous pouvez demeurer au pouvoir).

Probablement, c’est ce sentiment qui motive des hommes comme Mugabe au Zimbabwe, Kibaki au Kenya ou Kabila en RDC. Mais que veut dire exactement le ‘diriger’ du président Masire? S’agit-il d’un désir inassouvi du pouvoir pour lui-même? Quand on sait que Mugabe n’a pas réussi à garantir aux Zimbabweens leurs droits les plus fondamentaux pendant ses 28 ans de règne, on se demande bien ce qu’il peut encore faire pendant un nouveau mandat.

C’est ici qu’il devient important de s’interroger sur l’essence de la politique en Afrique. Est-ce la politique est vraiment le lieu de recherche d’un “vivre-ensemble” harmonieux? Or si la politique cesse d’être cela, il nous sera difficile, en tant qu’Africains, de sortir d’une culture des politiciens opportunistes et affairistes, sans idéal ni conviction. L’Afrique, aujourd’hui, a besoin d’un nouveau type d’homme politique: des hommes de conviction, à l’exemple d’un Nelson Mandela. Des hommes capables de sortir leurs peuples de situation d’aliénation, d’asservissement et de pauvreté vers plus de dignité et de respect. Et cela, non pas par des discours idéologiques, comme l’aurait fait Thabo Mbeki avec sa ‘Renaissance africaine’, mais par des actes.

(Recent post-electoral events - in the DRC 2006, in Kenya 2008 and currently in Zimbabwe – are quite insightful. Why do most African leaders think that things cannot go ahead without them, without their ‘leadership’? A tendentious response by Sir Keth Masire, former president of Botswana, during a “Former African Presidents Round Table”, held at Wits University in 2006, is suggestive: “as long you can perform, you can remain to power”, said the former Botswana President. Probably, this sentiment influences leaders, such as Mugabe to cling on power even without any perspective for the country’s recovery from the economic collapse and subsequent development. It is, therefore important to question the nature of Politics in Africa. Is Politics in Africa a locus for harmonious ‘living together’? And yet, if politics ceases to be that, does it become difficult for Africans to get rid of a culture of opportunistic and business politicians, without any ideal and conviction. Today, Africa needs new leaders, inspired and driven in mind; we need leaders who are able to fight for poverty alleviation, to reconcile Africans and stop conflicts. We need other MANDELAs.)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

A point of view on the 2010 Soccer World Cup Finals in South Africa

Although discussions have focused on crucial issues, such as the quality of infrastructures (stadiums, hotels, transport, etc.), the anticipated economic benefits that might accrue to the country for hosting this mega-event, and the implications of the rate of crime in the organisation, I would like to argue that the success of this event lies on one important factor: the celebration of the event as an “African Festival”.

This does not mean that the infrastructural aspect, the economic benefits, and other aspects mentioned above are less important. We really believe that South Africa, as a responsible State and with 2/3 of all African GDP, by accepting to host the World mega-event, will mobilize all the necessary means to overcome all the obstacles which still exist. I, therefore, believe that the material side of the overall investments will not be the reason of any failure.

What I strongly support is the view according to which, the success of this event depends on how the whole continent will come together to celebrate it as a continental Festival. We know how soccer, today, affects the everyday lives of millions of people throughout the world in many similar – as well as quite different – ways. Soccer also retains the capacity to re-invigorate ‘national pride’. The 2010 World Cup is, therefore, an opportunity for the continent to give to the World another image, different of all forms of negativity that people abroad have of Africans. This is an extraordinary opportunity for Africans to tell to the rest of the world that Africa is not a land of misery[1], poverty, disease (HIV/Aids, etc.), crime, death, and so forth… Africa is really a continent where people can live joyfully, connected to each other; ready to help those in distress; a continent where life is celebrated with joy, and a continent where life is sacred and respected; a continent, where the stranger is welcomed with dignity and is associated to celebrate the joy of life with the natives. However there is ongoing debate as to how all this will be achieved?

Obviously, certain conditions should prevail in order for the festival to be a success. First of all, it will be important that poor people have access to the games, directly or through media (TV and radio). Fortunately, on Monday 31 of March the Fifa General Secretary, Jerome Valcke, announced that the SABC – the Official Fifa broadcasting partner – does not need a licence to broadcast the 2010 World Cup and, therefore, all South Africans will be able to watch the games for free on SABC TV. Secondly, Africa will come together as a whole to the 2010 World Cup, if at least two or three African teams cross the quarter-final. The performances of African teams during the tournament will play a major role throughout the continent and will, of course, re-invigorate the pride to be African all over the continent. Thirdly, it will be also important for the host country to reach at least the semi-final, in the absence of reaching the final. As I said above, South Africa is able to mobilize the necessary means to reach such an objective. The appointment of an experimented coach, with numerous achievements at his side, for the national team is a predictable sign that a miracle can happen to Africa, especially to South Africa, to reach this stage of the tournament. Of course, much more needs to be done to consolidate and to unify the team, particularly regardless the relatively poor results in recent Afcon in Ghana. However, there is more optimism than pessimism for the team’s performances during the tournament. “Two years are enough to build a team”.

Finally, the tournament is expected from mid of June to mid of July 2010. This is a crucial period of winter in South Africa. Naturally, the climate will affect the atmosphere of fans and spectators. FIFA might consider reviewing the possibility of delaying the event for two months, as this can contribute to bring more joy and more colours to the event with the sunshine of the earlier summer 2010.

To conclude, I believe that the 2010 Soccer World Cup success depends on how Africans will unite to celebrate this mega-event.
[1] In 1994, an Ivorian student in the USA - Myriam Montrat – was writing that ‘the vision of Africa in the American mind is shaped by mostly the news media. If by chance you find an article about Africa in the newspaper it will probably be five-line article or an article about something negative that happened there. The emphasis is generally put on corruption, poverty, civil war… On the contrary, the African culture and history as reflected in African art, poetry, music, dance and movies is rarely a topic for media discussion. (…) Misery is the media’s favourite topic of coverage: starvation, disease, deaths of millions of people, homeless problems and AIDS” (Myriam MONTRAT, “From the Heart of An African”, Issue: A Journal of Opinions, vol. 22, No. 1, Winter 1994, p. 5-6. This view is applicable to the rest of the world.

What did I learn from previous presentations?

Previous presentations included talks of Dr Tanya Abrahamse (CEO of the South African National Biodiversity Institute) on the "World of work", of Dan Sonnenberg (General Manager of Matrix Plus Consulting) on "Introduction to Business", of Abey Mokgwatsane (Group CEO VWV) on "Building Sustainable business", and that of Fiona McDonald (Independent Management Consulting Professional) on "Networking".

From all of them, there is one thing that I have learnt in order to feel comfortable at the workplace: ‘self-confidence’.

First of all, it is important to do not confuse ‘self-confidence’ with ‘arrogance’. ‘Self-confidence’ goes with humility and the feeling that you know what you are doing or what you want.

Second, ‘self-confidence’ is a key step to improve your networking skills. Self-confidence is about how to start a conversation with people you don’t know, how to be curious about people in a confident but humble manner. With enough ‘self-confidence’, your network can grow as quickly as possible and your chance of success is higher. Self-confidence is a key component of communication. As communication skills are, nowadays, so vital in the world of business, it seems therefore important to build his/her self-confidence.

But the key question remains for me: ‘how can someone build this self-confidence when he/she is by nature shy or when he/she does not trust himself/herself’?