Page 15 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 31

Leadership
digital infrastructure, will facilitate trade and
cooperation.
3. Promoting African-Led Solutions:
African unity should not be about mimicking
Western or external models of development.
Instead, it must be about finding solutions
that are tailored to the continent’s unique
context. This involves promoting indigenous
knowledge systems, supporting African
entrepreneurship, and encouraging
investment in sectors like agriculture,
technology, and renewable energy.
4. Cultivating a Pan-African Identity:
Education and media play a critical role in
fostering a sense of African unity. Schools
and universities should emphasize African
history, languages, and values, while media
platforms should showcase African success
stories and shared challenges.
5. Open skies and a borderless Africa:
It does not make sense that an African still
needs a visa to visit another African country
or that any African should be called a
foreigner in an African country that is not his
home country. Even though much of Africa
was not very connected by modern transport
before the coming of Europeans, Africa
was one entity before the balkanization by
colonialism. Also, it does not make sense
that airfares within Africa are costlier than
airfares going to Europe or that flights have
to go outside of the continent in order to
connect to another African country. Why
can we not have open skies that allow easy
connection between African countries? For
example, a couple of weeks ago, I called a
courier service to ask about sending a book
from Nairobi to Goma in DRC. I was told it
would cost me 17,000 Kenyan Shillings. I
was like “What are you talking about”. The
book itself costs 2,000 Kenyan Shillings. I
could not believe my ears. Then I asked the
lady why the high price and she responded
and said that flights don’t go directly to
Goma DRC from Nairobi but that flights go
to South Africa and then from there to DRC.
That made no sense at all if you understand
that there is only one country between Kenya
and the DRC. But this is the madness that
we are allowing in Africa and then we speak
of economic growth. Imagine what open
skies and a borderless Africa will do for our
collective growth as a people. Growth is
not magic, it’s a result of good planning and
execution.
Is unity in Africa really that difficult to
achieve or is it that some benefit from the
disunity of Africa? We must look into all
these things and make the changes required.
Conclusion
Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of a united Africa
remains one of the most powerful ideas
for the continent’s transformation. As he
rightly noted, “The independence of Ghana
is meaningless unless it is linked up with
the total liberation of the African continent.”
Today, the total liberation of Africa includes
not only political independence but also
economic, cultural, and social unity. Only
through collective action and solidarity can
Africa overcome its challenges and realize
its potential as a global leader in the 21st
century.
Unity is Africa’s power to change its future,
and the time to act is now.
ISSUE 31 | NOVEMBER 2024 15