AFRICAN BUZZ
much is publicly known. A quick glance at the websites of the
World Bank, the African Development Bank, South African
firm Africa House, and Interact Media Defined’s African Mines
Online (African Mines Handbook), shows the extent of current
developments in Africa. According to Dedasaniya sub-Saharan
Africa continues to be the second fastest growing region (after
South Asia) in the world at 6.8%. vulnerable often take up arms, because governments have
failed to listen, she said.
According to Deloitte’s Africa Construction Trends 2020, Kenya,
Tanzania, Egypt, South Africa and Ethiopia are the top countries
by number of projects. East Africa has the largest number of
projects (40.3% of projects and 29.5% of project value
(USD146-billion) followed by Southern Africa (USD113-billion).
The top three projects are one in the oil and gas sector and two
projects in the energy and power sector. These three projects
alone account for a total value of USD66-billion. The greatest
number of projects fall into the transport sector (33.4%), followed
by real estate (21.9%), energy and power (17%) and shipping and
ports (8.4%). The energy and power sector is the most valuable
sector across the continent at USD133.6-billion, almost 27%. Thomas White, from the Centre of Human Rights at the
University of Pretoria, analysed the disconnect between the
African reality and African revolution. During a period in which
eurocentrism dominated, White argued that Pan-Africanism,
led by institutions such as the Pan African Parliament and the
African Union, was in nature extremist.
PAN AFRICAN:
PARADIGM SHIFT IN CONFLICT
MANAGEMENT
Makgale emphasised that transitional justice and peacebuilding
need to be a continuous process, and that countries
transitioning from conflict states to peace need on-going
mechanisms in order to succeed.
However, he said Africans have forgotten the post-colonial
revolution, which was driven by macro and micro factors.
At a macro level, discrimination by the UN Security Council, the
prevalence of US military bases in Africa and the perception that
Africa is only good for producing raw materials are contributing
factors. He also highlighted that external narrative production
about Africa from news channels such as CNN, the BBC, FR24
and Al Jazeera implies that the African story is always defined
and rebutted by actors outside of the continent. On a micro
level, issues such as ethnic tension, poor governance, corruption
and economic inequality contributed to the incompletion of the
post-colonial revolution.
A recent panel discussion at the Pan African Parliament’s
Sitting of Committees at its headquarters in Midrand, South
Africa, called for more radical inclusion of women and youth in
African peacebuilding and the completion of the post-colonial
African revolution. White concluded that if Africa’s young people cannot rely on
institutions such as the Pan African Parliament and the parliaments
in its domestic countries to resolve their issues, it results in an
‘unspent revolutionary energy’. If this energy is not being directed
into something positive, it will find its way to extremism.
According to the panel Lucia Mendes dos Pasos, the four
presenters demonstrated a paradigm shift in how the continent
is moving towards the African Union objective of ‘silencing the
guns in Africa’. She lauded the fact that the panel was led by
women and youth. “The positive revolutionary energy that formed the African
Union and that was demonstrated by leaders over the course
of Africa’s independence, has not been transformed into its
completion, but it hasn’t dissipated either. It only moved to less
constructive means,” said White.
Both women presenters highlighted the importance of
human development and socio-economic considerations in
peacebuilding processes. Bonolo Makgale from the Centre of
Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, spoke about the
factors driving violent extremism in Africa, saying that religion
and ethnicity is but the tip of the iceberg and that the human
development aspect of extremism needs closer attention. ZIMBABWE:
ZIM ASKS TO LIFT SANCTIONS
There is a school of thought that inadequate access to healthcare
and education, the denial of basic human rights, and the exclusion
from political participation lead to extreme behaviour, she said.
Additionally, many liberal democracies have failed to deliver
on their promises and have become ‘a hope deferred’. The
Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International
Trade Dr David Musabayana has called upon members of the
Pan-African Parliament (PAP) to lobby for the lifting of economic
sanctions against the Republic of Zimbabwe.
In a detailed presentation to the PAP’s Committee on
Cooperation, International Relations and Conflict Resolution
in Midrand on the first day of the Sitting of Permanent
Committees, Deputy Minister Musabayana shared the dire
economic consequences of the imposed sanctions by the
United States and the European Union since 2001.
The Southern African Caucus first raised the issue on
25 October 2019 calling on the International Community to lift
the sanctions, when a motion was raised by a Member of the
South African Parliament, Amos Masondo.
A panel at the Pan African Parliament showed a ‘paradigm shift’ in
African conflict management.
www. africanmining.co.za
African Mining Publication
“It was decided to move the matter to even higher dimensions
by adding it to the order paper for the May session. The
committee is now tasked with this as an agenda item for the
May Plenary Session,” said Charumbira.
African Mining
African Mining April 2020
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