Understanding the ‘Africa Rising’ Meme

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Part of the raison d’entre for public diplomats is the creation and distribution of memes. Most of us know memes as the cat pictures with big bold text on them discussing their need for cheeseburgers. But the pre-internet definition of a meme went like this:

an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to bepassed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, esp.imitation.

This is a critical piece of the public diplomats’ toolkit because their tasks are to disseminate ideas and values that represent their nations, employers, or clients. This is not an easy task, and it is made all the more difficult by the difficulty of measuring the success or failure of memes. How well do people associate Nike with great athletics? How well do people in Africa associate democracy and civil rights with the United States? Does China’s articulation of a ‘peaceful rise’ achieve the geo-strategic goals in their foreign policy?

These answers are a bit ephemeral because of the shifting perceptions, and are often only analyzed in retrospect, or when the public can subconsciously agree as a ‘whole’ that a certain meme is associated with a certain brand, country, or person.

Recently, there have been many newspapers (The Economist), magazines (Time), andAfrica_Rising620 writers who have hailed the ‘Rise of Africa’ in the past decade. These analyses often look at the massive growth rates in GDP that African countries have sustained and they see hope for the future, especially when contrasted with the stagnant or non-existent growth in North American or Europe. This meme has been credited with increasing the focus on Sub-Saharan Africa both in the business community as well within the foreign policy community.

This ‘Africa Rising’ theme was challenged in a recent Foreign Policy article (The Myth of Africa’s Rise), that has stayed in FP’s Most Popular list for over a week after its publication fp-logo(it is currently ranked 6th). I’ve had it bred into me at USC to always research the author of any piece I read, and that habit revealed an interesting piece of info: it’s written by an author (Rick Rowden) who it appears has rejected the Washington Consensus on economic development (see his book on the Deadly Ideas of Neoliberalism) but is not an economist, not an Africanist, not a political scientist, and not a public diplomat, which may account for the frame of his thesis:

The measures of development (GDP, consumption, and trade) are wrong.

It is a claim that goes against 50 years of development work, and may in fact be a needed critique to development studies. However, Rowden doesn’t go down the path of most who attack GDP and other monetary based measures do. He could have explored the Better Life Index, the Green GDP, or simply argued that GDP and its like can’t possibly ascertain Africa’s geo-political position and whether the continent has grown more powerful in international relations. No, Rowden instead says that industrialization is the primary way to measure growth. And his rationale? Because all the other countries who grew first (the West),first industrialized in their development stages. This cross temporal comparison is shocking, because it basically makes the argument that there is only one way to growth a national economy! Which contradicts his argument against the use of neo-liberal economic markers (GDP per capita, consumption, and trade) to measure growth!

For the sake of Rowden, let’s take his rhetorial frame as not so ludercrious, and operationalize his ideas about growth. Continue reading →

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African Diplomacy: Overview of a Project

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African Union MapMy latest project originally sought to understand African diplomacy from a true realist IR perspective. Of course that’s ironic, because IR realists rarely acknowledge the pull or influence that diplomacy (or Africa) has on the IR field. My goal was to understand if there could be any benefit to African nations by pooling their diplomatic representation through a body such as the African Union, rather than conducting their own individual missions abroad. Why staff a small embassy with inexperienced diplomats when a nation could leverage the power of the entire continent and have the best and brightest African diplomats representing their collective needs? Again this runs a tad contrary to realist thinking who usually dismiss the supranational organizations of the world of holding any real power. However, I’m of the believe that in the future these bodies will be the real power holders in IR theory and practice.

Of course, this idea of a African foreign service would sound very similar to the European External Action Service that has come into being with the signing of the Lisbon Treaty in the European Union. There are now two tiers of European diplomacy: national diplomats from individual countries & EU diplomats representing the organs of the supranational body. The African Union, while modeled on the EU in some circumstances (though it was mostly a recasting of the Organization of African Unity while combining the economic capabilites of the African Economic Community and taking its mandate and supplanting it with NEPAD), the AU has yet to develop a pan-African diplomatic service. Thus I was very curious if there would be a way to argue for and against such a diplomatic organ of the AU. As it turned out, predictably, there is very little research into this idea, and while I had thought to expand my comparison to ASEAN, most papers focused on the integrationist desires, not the benefits of a collaborative foreign service, that diplomats or the diplomatic corps in supranational capitals (Brussels, Addis Ababa, and Jakarta). Thus I turned to the wide ranging literature on regional integration for my project to see how the move towards integration on the continent compares to the EU and ASEAN and what impact that would have on the respective diplomatic powers.

AU Emblem

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Africa’s Technological Potential

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I recently discussed ICT in Africa with practioners in the field during a recent morning, and had a realization shortly after about why I have a passion for Africa and for ICT. Because it can be hard to talk about my interest in the continent, I usually brush the question off on ‘Why Africa?’.

I’ve realized since the beginning of my interest, that for a young white male American to have an fixation on the continent is a fact many people find perplexing. African Studies on a whole is a threatened discipline in the United States, and I certainly don’t give off the vibe that I believe most people expect an Africanist to exude.

Another European Church

I’ve often told people that, having been taken to nearly every castle and church in western and eastern Europe as a child by my parents that I wanted something new to explore as I grew older. While it makes seem like Africa was just something to study, in reality it initially was a process of elimination (I had no interest in Asian studies, I didn’t feel I spoke enough Spanish to take up Latin American studies, and saw little future as an American specialist). However, since then, the interest that I hold in the continent has grown into a passion. It is still hard to describe why the passion exists, but I realized what captivates me about the continent: its potential.

Working in the tech industry in Los Angeles exposed me to a huge cross-section of society each day. It has been an eye opening experience to interact with different people from various socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. I’ve been able to see how there is a universal joy when it comes to using certain pieces of technology, or discovering a new way to do the things easier with technology. However, I’ve also seen a perplexing amount of trepidation, hesitation, and disinterest in the uses of technology. While this might mean you conjure up an image of an elderly American, in fact, just as many young people fail to get the most out of their technology. And when we as Americans do utilize our technology it often serves as a purpose for distraction or entertainment.

I see this hesitation and fear of learning the by-product of the Microsoft-led PC-era, where IT departments were set up to support to a workforce that was forced to embrace technology, rather than empower the users. Still, using computers was seen as dull and monotonous. This relatively forgotten video makes the best critique of the era of the Personal Computer.

While the term ‘nerd’ is no longer in vogue, the pejorative nature of the term has lost some of its cultural significance. However, I believe this lingering stereotype has still impacted the willingness of people to dive into and explore new technology. Technology is increasing being used not only to solve old problems and processes, but allow us to think and imagine in new ways. With this potential, why are there people who call themselves ‘tech-illiterate’. I think of that as an excuse used by people to excuse them from learning. Why would anyone want an excuse to not learn?! Learning is one of the most enjoyable, rewarding, and fulfilling joys of life.

The classic modern/traditional ICT picture

The potential that Africa possesses is the fact that it avoided this debilitating PC-era. There is unlikely anyone on the continent who would describe themselves as ‘not tech-literate’. This term isn’t acceptable. For example for many, the ability to use a mobile phone to conduct your business, to send money, to receive money is crucial to their lives. This reality is not realized by many in the west who are able to coast along on legacy processes and technology.

This is where Africa’s potential gives it the greatest competitive advantage in the world. If you were to hand a multi-touch tablet to a young African, rich or poor, he or she has unlikely used or owned one before. Yet, the ability to touch, manipulate, and input data with their fingers would be extremely intuitive, just as with any young person around the world. The reason is many of the adults of the continent have lacked access to personal computers. While PC-penetration has skyrocketed in the past decade, there’s no institutional memory of using unnatural data inputs like a mouse and keyboard that exists like there does in Europe and the United States.

The uses and applications for technology in Africa are part of the final piece of the potential that I see. When I see how parents are increasingly using technology as a substitute for parenting or conversation in the US, I wonder whether this is setting the child up for success, or crippling his or her ability to have the skills to one day apply their creativity in designing new technology. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with games or social networking apps, if it is taking the place of opportunities to build skills that foster creativity: group collaboration, critical thinking, or problem solving, I fear that the future will not meet its potential. While its amazing to watch a child pick up the nuances of Cut the Rope, I wonder what this is teaching them.

I see the applications being made on the continent as being more about solving the problems that have inhibited Africa’s growth which means overcoming certain logistical, budgetary, or geographical problems. While not all of them are going to be as meaningful or well promoted as those from Apps4Africa, I believe the upbringing that is experienced by a majority of Africans will cause them to focus on creating technology that will continue Africa’s trajectory of growth and property, rather than the first African killer app being an addictive game.

This possibility of technology to have a positive and significant impact on development on the continent is what drives my current passion. Seeking out opportunities to increase these possibilities for change and growth in Africa is the mission I’ve adopted. Handing a mobile phone to someone is not going to instantly bring about growth, improved health, and good governance. People need to be able to make the apps and services that will do these things.There needs to be local content and cultural relevance for any ICT product that wishes to succeed. Developers need to be in touch with culture, society, and the history of the people who are the target audience for their app, or their hardware. This is where the melding of the humanities with the tech industry can serve to propel development on the continent.

The knowledge of an area’s history, politics, and culture can be the difference maker when it comes to providing and applying technological solutions. Without it, you fail to understand your potential customers and the market as a whole. While we would like to believe that globalization is making all those who use technology into a homogenous culture of YouTube watchers, Netflix renters, and App downloaders, the underpinnings of culture will provide obstacles for those who seek to enter new markets into the foreseeable future.

Africa’s underdevelopment has hindered progress in many areas. However, for once, the lack of a PC-culture on the continent may provide a unexpected advantage. With the future in mobile technology, and in new, more intuitive interfaces, Africa has the long-term advantage. With technology being seen as a gateway to prosperity on the continent, it will not be long until Africa out innovates the world.