In dialogue – Africa

Viewpoints and trends on key issues related to Cotton made in Africa

Breaking the Vicious Circle
The diplomat and Africa connoisseur Volker Seitz on western aid to Africa, the greatest obstacles to development, and the role of Cotton made in Africa

You were active for 17 years as a German diplomat in seven African countries. How has your attitude toward classic western development aid changed over time?
Seitz: In the 40 years I’ve been working with Africa professionally, I have learned that money from up north cannot help Africa emerge from its crises. All it does is cement the status quo. Basic societal problems cannot be solved by alms-giving, however well intended. The ruling classes in Africa use their countries’ wealth in raw materials and international development funds, provided out of a misguided desire to help, to advance their personal prosperity and power. I long believed that more money brings more development. That’s simply not true. We should focus our aid on individual and societal initiatives, especially via education and improving conditions for private economic activity.

Where do you currently see the greatest obstacles to development toward prosperity in Africa?
Seitz: What is slowing progress is not a lack of resources or the delayed effects of colonialism, but rather a lack of political will on the part of those in power, insufficient self-reliance, lacking motivation to achieve, inadequate planning, slow-moving and unreliable bureaucracies, and the feeling of solidarity, of all citizens’ being in the same boat, that is indispensable to the formation of a res publica, a community, which is still lacking in many African nations. In my book I try to explain it as clearly as possible, with the primary focus on the last 50 years, during which sums equivalent to five Marshall Plans were pumped into Africa with yielding tangible results.

When you look at agriculture, education, or the role of women, what concrete changes do you see as necessary?
Seitz: The power elites are not interested in agriculture. In contrast to oil and mineral wealth, it cannot be dominated by a small clique. Consequently, agriculture in past decades has been subjected to devastating neglect. But even development aid efforts have done little to alter the situation of the poor in Africa, especially in rural areas. On the contrary, they are doing worse all the time, as became especially apparent during the food crisis last year when several countries were faced with starving rioters. In the 1970s, 30 percent of development aid was still going into the agricultural sector. Today that figure is all of four percent, with the result that food that is not being produced cannot be eaten.
It is imperative to acquire Africa’s resilient women as partners. They are – even despite significant resistance – often the backbone of Africa’s economy. Rwanda is the only country I see as being on the right track, with 44 women out of its 80 members of parliament. Half of the judiciary is female as well. The real problem in advancing the cause of women is the imbalance in their access to opportunities, especially in the area of education. But there, as well, Rwanda is exemplary. Rwanda is surely not a democracy in the western sense, but it is a country that is doing much better economically than most others in Africa and whose reforms have succeeded in considerably reducing its poverty.
Education is the only way to change anything about the lives of Africans. Only with training, whether it means learning a skilled trade or preparing for an academic career, will the people there be able to build up anything of their own and lead self-determined lives.

Cotton Made in Africa uses a new approach to development aid called “Business and Development.” Our goal is a mutually beneficial relationship: African farmers and middlemen earn good money with their cotton, and European textile manufacturers profit by using it in products that hold their own on the market. What do you think of it?
Seitz: I am familiar with some people’s reservations about Cotton Made in Africa. Although I, too, believe that governments need to become more active, I also believe that small farmers who had previously been disadvantaged are profiting from the special programs directly and without unnecessary detours. What could be wrong with that? Higher crop yields and higher environmental and social standards have brought the rural population and the African cotton dealers better prices and with them a better income. Conventional development aid had led to dependence. Cotton Made in Africa breaks through that vicious circle.
There is still a need for help, but it must be implemented in ways that support local enterprise and enable trade that benefits those on all sides.

Book Tip
Volker Seitz.
Afrika wird armregiert oder wie man
Afrika wirklich helfen kann.
Munich: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2009.
220 pages, 14.90 Euros.

Interview: Peter Felixberger
Photo: Irmtraud Lux