AFRICANEWS

Africa and the world

Africa's development: Lessons from Europe's past

By Boro Klan (Words 1,118)

Africa and Europe display different levels of development despite the fact that only a small stretch of water separates them at the Strait of Gibraltar. The answer lies in history since natural barriers prevented the peoples of both continents from mingling and thus develop at the same pace.

Culturally, Europeans see themselves as closer to the Americas than to Africa. It is a case of identity even if it involves kinsmen who fled their homeland to seek a better life. But, why is there a big difference between Africa and Europe when in fact they are neighbouring continents? Author C. Warren Hollister, in his book Medieval Europe blames it on the Sahara Desert which he says blocked European expeditions during the first and second centuries A.D.

At that time, the Roman Empire extended to Egypt, Tunisia, Israel and Greece. The Romans could not proceed south because the Sahara Desert made life impossible. Says the author, "In the second century A.D. the Roman Empire was at its height of power and its expansion from the Mediterranean Basin was halted only by the Arabian and Sahara deserts." He adds that unlike Africa, Europe has had the unique opportunity of developing on its own since 1000 A.D. Before then, Romans and Viking raiders from northern Europe colonised even England and France - the countries that were later to colonise Africa.

He says much of the credit for Europe's modernity goes to the Catholic Church which, through its Popes, ruled much of Europe and introduced reading skills. All emperors got their power from the Church. This can be seen in a decision by Bishop Ambrose of Milan (340-397 AD) to excommunicate Emperor Theodosius I after he massacred the rebellious inhabitants of Thessalonica until he begged for forgiveness. The Emperor's public repentance set a long-remembered precedent for the principle of ecclesiastical supremacy in matters of faith and morals.

Europe has developed within its Christian tradition which stresses honesty and respect for the family. The author's description of Christianity goes thus: "The central goal of Christian life is to attain the salvation that Christ has made possible. One can achieve this goal only by becoming a loving, unselfish person."

Christian tradition is what determines European culture today. The best of this culture can be seen in Italy, Germany, France, Britain and the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. It is a culture that wants no disturbance of the status quo. It is based on the fact that Europeans have a high fear of instability. They expect the bus to arrive at the exact minute with a seat available for everyone.

The big development gap between Europe and Africa can be explained by the fact that by the time colonisers carved out this continent among themselves at the Berlin conference in 1884, Europe was already at the height of the Industrial Revolution. The attitude of the colonising Europeans made things worse since they saw themselves as having a mission to civilise the continent, forgetting that it also had a history. To them, Africa started existing only from the moment they arrived. Anything that existed before was darkness.

However, any culture takes time to mature. Mr Hollister tells of how Germans used to inherit the wives of their kins in A.D. 98. He writes: "Germanic sexual equality is contradicted by the evidence from early Germanic law codes which regard women as lifelong minors under the legal guardianship of their fathers, their husbands, or, if the husband died, his nearest kinsman."

As the 20th Century ends, the people of Africa and Europe see life differently. Europeans, having a long history of modernity behind them have less to worry over as opposed to Africa where most rural societies are still traditional. For instance in most European countries, a jobless person is assured of an allowance from the government. This reduces tension in society.

Africa's predicament lies in the fact that it now has to catch up with the rest of the world while much of the continent remains traditional with high levels of illiteracy. The problem for Africa in the 60s, 70s and 80s was that it did not have good role models. The best Africans could hope for was that they wanted to be like their former colonial masters. But this wasn't possible since African economies did not have good foundations, even food was a problem.

Mr Hollister tells of the long climb to modernity. He says German society around A.D. 98 "used iron tools and weapons. Their chief activities were tending crops or herds and fighting wars. Violence was common, not only between tribes but within them as well. When someone was killed, all close relatives were bound to avenge the death by declaring war against the killer's family."

The author's description of the legal system in Germany at that time goes thus: "Innocence or guilt was determined by requiring the accused to submit to a process known as the "ordeal." One might be required to grasp a bar of red-hot iron and carry it some specified distance, or take a stone from a burning cauldron. If after several days the hand was healing properly, the accused was judged innocent. If not, the verdict was guilty. Similarly, the accused might be lowered into a pond by rope to sink or float. Sinking was a proof of innocence and floating a proof of guilt: the pure water would not "accept" the guilty."

The picture we get of early medieval Europe is that of instability. While Africans can now learn from Europe, Europeans did not have that advantage. The Roman Catholic Church was the only civilizing agent. Before their first contact with the Romans, all Europeans were illiterate and therefore barbaric.

Africa can take pride in the fact that it has preserved its culture through the drive for independence that begun with Ghana's in 1957 and ended with South Africa's in 1994. If the Europeans had stayed in Africa up to this moment what we would see is people behaving like Europeans in nice suits driving on smooth streets. But such an occurrence would not lift the African's dignity. Having preserved our culture, what we need is to modernise by using democratic principles. Europeans had the advantage of Christianity which permeated all parts of society. Africans have also adopted Christianity but the values don't run as deep as in Europe where Christianity has thrived for almost 2,000 years.

Since African countries have to develop at a time when there is a high level of disturbance by the media and other materialistic agents, a dilemma arises as to which values to pursue. One of the outgrowths of this crisis is the worship of money since people think acquisition of material goods makes them look modern.

What Africa needs now is to rediscover itself and develop within its culture the way the Japanese did from mid-19th century. Within 10 years, those African countries that take the right path today will be able to look back with pride.

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