I become quite sceptical whenever the old argument that Africans must find African solutions to their challenges is invoked. The argument’s biggest proponents have been the many obnoxious dictators that our continent has been cursed with over the past few decades, who are wont to trot it out to ward off calls for international scrutiny of the manner in which they govern their nations. With African bodies like the African Union (AU) – and the Organisation of African Unity before it – having proven to be veritable trade unions for the dictators, there is little likelihood that they will account for their excesses.
That said, an ‘African solutions for African problems’ scenario that is really lekker is playing out. It involves the impoverished nation of Chad in north-central Africa, where nearly half the population lives below the poverty line, and Angola, which is ranked the third- largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated gross domestic product of $114.5-billion in 2018.
Now, Chad is indebted to Angola to the tune of $100-million but does not have the means to settle this debt. But it has an endowment that Angola lacks: its substantial herd of cattle. In a win-win transaction, Chad has committed to delivering 75 000 head of cattle to the former Portuguese colony over the next ten years to repay the loan, which was extended to it in 2017. The first 1 000 beasts arrived by boat in the Angolan capital of Luanda during the third week of March and, at the time of writing, a further 3 000 were due to arrive in a few days’ time. Under the agreement, Chad will deliver 3 500 cattle each quarter until 2029.
This deal values each beast that Chad will hand over to Angola at about $1 300.
Angola agreed to the proposal because it comes at a time when it is seeking to restock its herd on the so-called Camabatela Plateau, which covers three provinces, namely Kwanza-Norte, Uige and Malanje.
Angola experiences frequent droughts, causing livestock to die of hunger and thirst, leaving many villagers destitute. Although it is one of the top oil producers in Africa, Angola is still reeling from the effects of a 27-year civil war that ravaged the country after its independence from Portugal in 1975. The war ended with the killing of rebel leader Jonas Savimbi by government troops in 2002.
Chad, which is described by the World Health Organisation of Animal Health as “a livestock farming country par excellence”, with a 94-million-strong herd of cattle, derives just under one-third of its export earnings from the livestock sector, making livestock production the second-largest foreign currency earner after the oil sector.
The Chad-Angola transaction is an example of an African solution to an African problem – a shortage of cash in this instance – and not what our leaders had in mind when they threatened to pull out of the International Criminal Court when it insisted that South Africa, as a member of this Netherlands-based court, arrest Omar Al-Bashir when he attended an AU summit in Johannesburg in 2017.
Another noteworthy example of an African solution to our challenges is what the Ethiopians are doing to finance the Grand Renaissance dam, which is being built on the Nile river and, when completed, will generate 6 000 MW to relieve Ethiopia’s acute electricity shortage and also export to other countries. Instead of relying on foreign funders, they have raised funds through various schemes, including bond sales, athletics events and lottery draws.
This megaproject, however, has sparked a diplomatic fallout between Ethiopia and Egypt, which lies downstream of the dam and is concerned that it would deprive its more than 100-million people of the waters of the Nile, on which they depend. But I’m confident an African resolution will be found, with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed having requested President Cyril Ramaphosa to play a mediating role.