President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda delivered a formidable critique of global leaders’ approach to African development during his keynote address at the World Bank’s International Development Association summit for African Heads of state in Nairobi, Kenya.
His remarks echoed a resounding call for a reevaluation of long-standing paradigms and a shift towards a more holistic and transformative strategy for Africa’s progress.
“The crisis which is in Africa today is because of philosophical, ideological, and strategic economic mistakes which we have been talking about since the 1960s. It is not an accident when you see the crisis in many African countries, the collapse of States. We predicted this in the 1960s – philosophical, ideological, and strategic mistakes. I don’t have time to amplify each one but I was very happy to hear the president of the World Bank talking about prosperity instead of profiteering,’’ Museveni stated, drawing attention to the historical underpinnings of Africa’s contemporary challenges.
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Central to Museveni’s critique was the prevailing focus on aid from the World Bank and other Western institutions, which he contended was often driven by motives of profiteering rather than genuine development.
“Aid has been for profiteering, this has been the problem. Now, the World Bank people and other groups have been talking about sustainable development. Even in your documents, I have seen those words there, sustainable development”, he said.
In a bold departure from conventional wisdom, Museveni urged a recalibration of the development narrative, asserting, “Africa does not need what you could call sustainable development. Africa needs social and economic transformation.” This call for a shift in emphasis from sustainability to transformative change resonated with his vision for a more dynamic and inclusive development agenda.
“I would ask you to change those words in your documents… The main reason why there’s no growth is because the growth factors are not funded, they are not even understood. What are the growth factors, we now talk of private sector growth. Yes, but for the private sector to grow what does it need? It needs a low cost of production”, he said.
Identifying critical areas for intervention, Museveni emphasized the imperative of low-cost funding for pivotal sectors such as transportation, power, and agriculture. He underscored the pivotal role of infrastructure, particularly railways, in driving down production costs and stimulating economic growth, citing successful examples of railway projects in Africa funded by China.
“Wonderful people, IMF, where will low-cost operations come from if you don’t have a railway? If you don’t fund the railway, how would you get low transport costs? I have been here for the last 64 years, I have been watching as a student leader, as a freedom fighter, and now as the leader of a country. How many railways have been constructed or funded in Africa? The few that have been was by China, the Tanzanian railway to Zambia, and recently, another one here in Kenya. Tanzania on its own is building a railway line. So if you’re talking of developing Africa, fund the railway. If you fund the railway, you will have a low cost of transport and you can produce cheap products which can be bought all over the world.
“The second cost pusher is electricity. If you don’t fund electricity and you talk about sustainable development, what are you then talking about? We must have low-cost electricity not exceeding 5 cents per kilowatts, per hour. That is what I insist on in Uganda. I am tired of all these stories, I have put my foot down saying I don’t want to hear those stories. Uganda is a developing country and it will continue to develop because I don’t entertain nonsense anymore,” he said.
Furthermore, Museveni lamented the bureaucratic hurdles hindering access to funding for vital projects such as the establishment of the Uganda Development Bank and irrigation initiatives. He criticized the prioritization of frivolous expenditures over critical infrastructure projects, decrying the disconnect between funding priorities and developmental imperatives.
In a poignant rebuke, Museveni highlighted the incongruity of certain funding allocations, deriding the notion of “capacity building” seminars held by the World Bank, the IMF, and other Western organizations in luxurious hotels, as a misplaced investment of resources.
However, his statement has not been well-received by Africans, given that it attempts to exonerate the leadership failure in the continent. Museveni has ruled Uganda for 40 years, with little development to show for it. Like in many other African countries, leadership in Uganda is mired in corruption and incompetence – significantly stymieing development.
Critics say that African leaders have developed a fondness for blaming their failure on the West while doing little or nothing to address their nations’ challenges. In most cases, they note, the challenges were created by leadership gaps.
Against this backdrop, critics say Museveni’s address at the summit encapsulated a potent call to action for African leaders. While they acknowledge that his critique of existing development models and advocacy for social and economic transformation resonated with a growing sentiment for change within the continent’s development discourse, critics believe that genuine progress and prosperity in the continent depend on the leaders.