Africa’s Industrialisation Day tied up with children’s future

They stood convinced that reaching this goal would substantially contribute to poverty eradication through employment and creation of wealth creation.

This was among the aspirations laid out in the framework of the Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa (1991-2000), after the 1980s were deemed to be a ‘lost decade’ in development terms, with atrocious civil wars.

Too bad, much of this has only been marginally corrected till now.

When this proclamation was made, contending aspirations involving the supporters and opponents of the structural adjustment programme mooted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and implemented along with the World Bank were vibrant as to what Africa should do next.

These organisations were somewhat divergent in their aims, with the IMF demanding that Africa reform deeply enough to move from resource economies, large public sectors and a spiralling debt – as reform makes capital investments viable.

This adjustment vision involved the provision of systematic privatisation so that capital freely moves into Africa and creates conditions for generalised industrialisation.

Yet, this isn’t the reason for the UN General Assembly vote in that direction. Adopting Africa’s Industrialisation Day proclamation had more to do with the contrary vision of capacity building, where improving infrastructure was held to be the key to enabling industrial take-off.

What we are witnessing – in Tanzania and other places – is road building, better communications, health and education preparing the ground for industrialisation, but with jobs as ever scarce.

That is why the fact that Africa Industrialisation Day is observed in tandem with World Children’s Day is helpful in reflecting about both themes.

Just as the 1980s constituted a lost decade in economic terms, so can it be said that the past decade (1990s) has more strongly signalled a lost decade of unmet expectations especially from schooling.

Children learn at an early age that schooling is pointless, and that contacts on social media assist a person to meet one’s goals than school certificates. Thus, life is regarded as largely an issue of connections, not merit.

Admittedly, many objectives that the world set out specifically targeting the plight of children have been worked upon since the early 1950s.

A case in point is in respect of universal vaccination drives being upped lately – as some conservatives were refusing polio vaccines, just like some groups now refuse Covid-19 vaccines.

We have made great strides in the education of children but, by contrast, stunting is still very much around even in urban areas.

The fact is that solutions for industrialisation and jobs for all those who want to work are vital if we are to address the hunger situation comprehensively and conclusively enough.

It is crucial for us to lay emphasis on nutrition as a priority, where for children it is stunting that most quickly comes to mind, while for a breadth of adults it is over-nutrition that rears its head.

This will surely work, but the problems and challenges at play are so varied and daunting that this will help only to some degree. We will be duty-bound to do much, much more to be safe enough.