Lazarus Sauti

Lazarus Sauti “Blacks don’t read: They Are Still Our Slaves”, is said to be an article written by a Caucasian (white man). Part of the article reads: “ We can continue to reap profits from the blacks without the effort of physical slavery. Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: ignorance, greed and selfishness. “Their ignorance is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said that the best way to hide something from black people is to put it in a book. “We now live in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read… Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to read... By the way, don’t worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, they don’t read.”    Frankly, this article triggered this writer’s emotions and forced so many questions to pop up in his mind. Is reading culture an African c

Lazarus Sauti Overlooking the health of Africa’s soil will lock the continent into a cycle of food insecurity for generations to come, warns the 2014 Montpellier report titled “No ordinary matter: Conserving, restoring and enhancing Africa’s soils.” Published ahead of the 2015 international year of soils, the report adds that soil degradation is hindering sustainable social and economic development in the continent. “Land degradation reduces soil fertility, leading to lower crop yields and increased greenhouse gas emissions,” it observes. “ In Africa, an estimated 65 per cent of soils are degraded, and unable to nourish the crops the chronically food insecure continent requires. “Poverty, climate change, population pressures and inadequate farming techniques are leading to a continuous decline in the health of African soils, whilst the economic loss is estimated at USD 68 billion per year.” Sir Professor Gordon Conway, author of “One Billion Hungry: Can we Feed the Wor

Lazarus Sauti Corruption, according to Indian lawyer and politician Pratibha Patil, is the enemy of development as well as of good governance. Sadly, this adversary is a problem for all countries including member states in the Southern African Development Community. According to the 20 th annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released by the Transparency International on December 3, 2014, most SADC countries scored poorly. “A poor score is likely a sign of widespread bribery, lack of punishment for corruption and public institutions that do not respond to citizens’ needs,” notes Jose’ Ugaz, Transparency International chairperson. Angola scored 19, Botswana scored 64, Democratic Replublic of Congo scored 22, Lesotho scored 49, Malawi scored 33, Mauritius scored 54, and Mozambique scored 31 out of 100. Further, Namibia scored 49, Seychelles scored 55, South Africa scored 44, Swaziland scored 43, Tanzania scored 31, Zambia scored 38, and Zimbabwe scored 21 out of 100

Lazarus Sauti Commenting on innovation and technology, John Stossel, an American consumer television personality, author, and libertarian pundit, once reminded humanity that “people acting in their own self-interest are the fuel for all the discovery, innovation and prosperity that powers the world”. From Stossel’s aide memoire, one can easily infer that innovation and technology are cross-cutting issues for the SADC region , and can therefore serve as a catalyst for economic transformation. Sharing same views, Abdoulaye Mar Dieye , the Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa at the United Nations Development Programme, believes people-oriented innovation and technology is an essential constituent for the revolution of African economies. “Innovation is a key determinant of the ability of economies to sustain growth, and is critical to improving socio-economic conditions. Socio-economic transformation in Africa requires both adaption of exist

Lazarus Sauti The continent of Africa is bleeding, as it is losing a lot of money annually due to illegal financial flows (IFFs) – money that is illegally earned, transferred, or utilised. IFFs suffocate development, drain hard currency reserves, heighten inflation, reduce tax collection, cancel investment, undermine trade, worsen poverty, and widen income gaps. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in its 2014 report titled “Illicit financial flows: Why Africa needs to ‘track it, stop it and get it’”, agrees that IFFs stifle Africa’s socio-economic progress by draining scarce foreign exchange resources, reducing government tax revenues, deepening corruption, aggravating foreign debt problems and impeding private sector development. “IFFs have considerable repercussions in Africa and pose multiple threats. First, they drain resources and tax revenues by eroding the much-needed tax base for public investment and social spending. They also curb domestic saving

Lazarus Sauti The Southern African Regional Poverty Network, a non-profit organisation that promotes debate and knowledge sharing on poverty reduction processes and experiences in Southern Africa, says countries of the Southern African Development Community face major human security challenges that have the potential to reverse the region’s gains in the area of governance, stability and poverty reduction. Human security threats take in inequality, gender imbalance, drug trafficking, poaching, terrorism and unemployment, poverty, HIV/AIDS and forced migration. Officially opening the 31 st SADC Meeting on Defence Intelligence Standing Committee in Victoria Falls recently, Zimbabwe National Army Commander Lieutenant General Phillip Valerio Sibanda agreed that human security concerns have the latent to upset the stability of the region. “Human security issues pose serious security and worsen the burden of conflicts resulting in under development, starvation and poverty, ou

Lazarus Sauti With vast problems bedeviling the Southern Africa Development Community, the region, without doubt, requires a system of science teaching that is tailored to create thinkers, inquirers and innovators. The regional bloc needs to promote inquiry based science education, as it is the only system that can create thinkers as well as solving socio-economic problems hindering sustainable development. “Inquiry based science education approach encourages children to question, conduct research for genuine reasons, and make discoveries on their own,” notes Judith Johnson, an associate professor of science education at the University of Central Florida. Professor Roseanne Diab, a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, also says inquiry based science education should be promoted as it focuses on student inquiry as the driving force for learning. “Teaching is organised around questions and problems in a highly student-centered inquiry process, and students

Lazarus Sauti According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2013-2014, African countries are poor at converting research into industry due to unfair technology transfer. Countries in the Southern African Development Community are also heavily affected. Sadly, this unfair technology transfer, according to William Bitton, an information officer in Zimbabwe, is hindering development in the region. “There is unfair technology transfer in SADC and as a result, member states are suffering. Furthermore, the culture of creating and protecting intellectual property as well as transferring it into industries is very weak in the region,” he adds. Bitton, therefore, urges SADC countries to convert research into industry as well as embrace technology transfer to effectively transform the region. “If technology transfer is managed well, it will enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the region. Countries must embrace technology transfer and u

Lazarus Sauti In team sports, home advantage describes the psychological advantage that the hosting team is said to have over the visiting team as a result of playing in familiar facilities and in front of supportive fans. With the backing of singing supporters, the home team, in most cases, is considered to have a significant advantage over the visitors. Playing at home can be a big bonus in sustainable soci0economic development too especially for Africa, the continent remarked by American business magnate, politician and philanthropist, Michael Rubens Bloomberg, as the ‘continent of the immediate future’. With its vast resources, the continent can establish a strong base that can catapult countries to greater economic transformation. Devakumar Edwin of Dangote, the hugely successful Nigerian conglomerate, believes that with vast natural and natural resources, the continent of Africa is at an advantage – playing with a home advantage in terms of the path to developm