KAIKAI'S KICKER: Talk Africa, talk.. but act!

Every major world power wants a summit with Africa. By a casual count, there are at least 12 such summits.

There is the US-Africa Summit, China-Africa Summit, Russia-Africa Summit, Korea-Africa Summit and Japan-Africa Summit, Saudi Arabia-Africa Summit and Turkey-Africa Summit, Italy-Africa Summit, and the AU-EU and AU-Arab summits. The list goes on.

You see, Africa is the world’s undeclared beautiful bride.

It seems to me that everyone, except African leaders, has discovered Africa. And the scramble for Africa makes me curious. What could it be? Is it the African minerals? Or African markets? How about the beautiful African coastline?

Now, that is a view from outside looking in. What does it look like inside looking out? What do Africans want out of these great talking festivals?

If talk or summits could transform Africa, we would be first world today. But we are not. We remain third world. The reason is simple, no country can talk its way to progress and prosperity.

Secondly, charity begins at home. Africa cannot chase big ideas globally without fixing its internal basics. Global attention cannot resolve internal challenges.

African countries, especially Sub-Saharan nations, suffer a uniform set of internal weaknesses. Weak institutions. Weak governance. Corruption. Policy inconsistency. Elite capture. Poor implementation. Fragmented bargaining. And the tragedy of exporting raw wealth while importing finished prosperity.

These are things summits cannot fix, only competent African governments can.

The problem with Africa is not the absence of ideas. Africa suffers no shortage of declarations. The problem is execution.

Singapore did not become Singapore because the world held summits for it. South Korea did not industrialize because global powers issued communiqués. China did not rise because foreign leaders applauded it at conferences.

Those nations fixed internal systems. They built capable institutions. They enforced discipline. They invested in education. They protected long-term national interests. They converted diplomacy into domestic transformation.

And that is Africa’s unfinished assignment.

Without internal reform, summit diplomacy is just theatre. No continent and no country can conference its way into development. Summits can open doors. They can attract capital. They can create partnerships. They can amplify Africa’s voice. But they cannot be a substitute for governance.

Africa must first confront the weaknesses within. As the universal African proverb advises, “When climbing a tree, one begins from the bottom, not the top.”

That is my kicker.