Africa Quarterly-Aug-Oct-2012 by India Africa Connect

Volume 52, No. 3 Aug-Oct 2012

africa Q

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DEMOGRAPHY: HARNESSING YOUTH BULGE INNOVATION: REVAMPING AFRICA’S HEALTH GENDER: THE UNSUNG WARRIORS BILATERALS: INDIA-ETHIOPIA TIES STABLE

A F R I C A Q U A R T E R L Y

Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan Indraprastha Estate New Delhi — 110 002 E-mail: africa.quarterly@gmail.com Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India Regd No. 14380/61

N D I A N

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F O R

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E L A T I O N S

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africa Q

Indian Journal of African Affairs Volume 52, No. 3, Aug - Oct 2012

INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL RELATIONS NEW DELHI

contents

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Aug - Oct 2012

The economics of demography: Africa, India and China Africa can reap the demographic dividend of its youth bulge by learning the right lessons from the demographic transitions of India and China, says Dr Sudhir Kapoor

Revamping Africa’s healthcare India’s innovative capacity building initiatives and the supply of affordable medicines are playing a critical role in revamping Africa’s health sector, says Renu Modi

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

The unsung warriors Taking a historical neoview of the Mau Mau movement, Nandini Sen brings to fore how women were marginalised both by the British colonisers and the revolutionary Kenyans, and how they became agents of change

India-Ethiopia relations stable: Envoy

The new leadership in Ethiopia is committed to deepening ties with India, says Ambassador Gennet Zewide in an interview with Manish Chand

58 ● ● ●

●

News

regular features

United for Women’s reservation ‘India to share expertise with Egypt’ World War II Indian heroism recalled in Egypt Africans laud India’s capacity building efforts Cheers for Africa at biodiversity conference Indian NGO to push sanitation goals in Africa Injecting economic revolution

64 Doing Business 71 Books & Ideas

Aug - Oct 2012

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Rates of Subscription Annual Three-year Subscription Subscription Rs. 100.00 Rs. 250.00 US $40.00 US $100.00 £16.0 £40.0 (Including airmail postage) Subscription rates as above payable in advance preferably by bank draft/MO in favour of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi. Printed and Published by Suresh K. Goel Director-General Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan, Indraprastha Estate New Delhi — 110002 Editor: Manish Chand ISBN 0001-9828

Aug - Oct 2012

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), founded in 1950 to strengthen cultural ties and promote understanding between India and other countries, functions under the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. As part of its effort, the Council publishes, apart from books, six periodicals in five languages — English quarterlies (Indian Horizons and Africa Quarterly), Hindi Quarterly (Gagananchal), Arabic Quarterly (Thaqafat-ul-Hind), Spanish bi-annual (Papeles de la India) and French bi-annual (Recontre Avec l’Inde).

Africa Quarterly (Indian Journal of African Affairs) is published every three months. The views expressed in the articles included in this journal are those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICCR. All rights reserved. No part of this journal may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any from or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the permission of the ICCR.

Editorial correspondence and manuscripts, including book reviews, should be addressed to: The Editor Africa Quarterly Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan Indraprastha Estate New Delhi-110 002 E-mail: africa.quarterly@gmail.com

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

From the Editor’s Desk

African renaissance:

The promise of youth

t’s time for Africa, and Afro-optimism. This is no florid rhapsody, but a just celebration of over one billion people of a resurgent continent, who are awakening to their huge untapped potential, sans illusions. They know that there is a long battle ahead against the scourge of poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment, but they are in a refreshingly realistic-romantic frame of mind. On the one hand, they know that there is a lot to be done before they get there, and on the other hand they know that if they try hard they can not only do it, but even surpass the African dream-in-the-making. The African youth epitomise this will to self-transformation and their growing numbers — the number of 15-24 year-olds in Africa has swelled to 172 million — kindle new hopes as well as new challenges.

This edition of Africa Quarterly takes a probing look at the continent’s most precious resource — a billionplus people and the surging youth bulge — and how they can be leveraged through education, training and health upgrade into powerful agents of economic empowerment and change. In his comprehensive study of the demographics of India, China and Africa, Dr Sudhir Kapoor, a professor at Delhi University, argues that Africa, with its overwhelmingly young population and growing young workforce, has entered its phase of demographic dividend. In his article ‘The Economics of Demography: The economics of demography: Africa, India and China’, Dr Kapoor says that while China, the rising Asian power, is coming to an end of its demographic dividend and India continues to reap the advantages of the youth bulge, Africa, too, has begun its journey to harness the collective genius of its one billion-plus people. However, he has a cautionary word for Afro-optimists and policy-makers: marshalling facts, figures and trends, he argues that the African continent can quicken its economic renaissance by learning the right lessons from the demographic transitions of India and China, countries with more than a billion people each. The keys to Africa’s success are India and China, he writes. “Africa can learn from the experience of India and China and could prepare itself to absorb the growing number of young working age population to improve its economic growth,” he writes. This bolsters the projections of David Christianson in his much-quoted article ‘Unpacking Africa’s Asia Opportunity’ in which he had argued that the rise of China and India contains the potential to reconfigure the global economic game in Africa’s favour. Surely, the dreams of a billion-plus African people are itching for fruition, but for that to become real, the continent’s rulers and policy-making elites have to upgrade and scale up investment in education, training and health. Sadly, the Africa Progress Panel’s 2012 report, Jobs, Justice and Equity, fails to give due salience to the power of youth as catalysts of change. India, a country where nearly half the people are young, has seen this gap, and is partnering with the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and various African countries to set up at least 100 training institutes that seek to create a new class of youthful, creative and energetic professionals. Renu Modi, of Mumbai University, has her heart in the right place when she says in her article ‘Revamping Africa’s Healthcare’ that Africa’s human capital is its greatest and most valuable asset. In this context, Modi chronicles a slew of capacity building initiatives launched by India to bolster the health infrastructure in the continent. The telemedicine component of the India-aided Pan-African e-network has proved to be a boon for the sick and the ailing in remote parts of Africa who can get best medical advice and consultation from Indian doctors sitting thousands of miles away. Under this project, live consultations are being offered in the healthcare sector to African countries in areas such as cardiology, urology, pathology, neurology, infectious diseases and paediatrics. Besides building capacity for the local production of drugs on the continent, Indian

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companies also supply drugs to several countries in Africa. Unfortunately, the pre-eminence of Indian pharmaceutical companies in African countries has generated adverse reportage in sections of the western media, which seems to be driven by bias and vested interests. In response to a news report that accused some Indian companies of supplying fake drugs to African countries, the Indian government has vehemently countered it as “baseless” and has underlined India’s commitment to provide quality medicines at affordable prices. This kind of distortion and agenda-peddling is distressing, specially at a time when a renascent African continent needs unstinting support of the world community to upgrade the health of its people through capacity building, training and affordable medicines. When we talk about the untapped potential of the people of Africa and their surging aspirations, it’s perfectly in order to chronicle the indomitable spirit of women. The African Union, the continent’s premier decision-making body, has declared 2010-2020 as the decade of women, with a slew of initiatives designed to raise the profile of African women in key economic sectors and decision-making bodies. In her article ‘The Unsung Warriors’, Nandini Sen of Delhi University harks back to the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya in the 1950s against the British colonial domination and the exemplary role played by women in this historical and inspirational struggle of liberation. The spirit of Mau Mau has now incarnated in a new wave of spirited activism led by the women. “A new series of battles is being fought at the jubilee of the anti-colonial Mau Mau war in Kenya. The struggle for land and freedom now involves the same social forces and some of the same individuals who were engaged in the war which brought Kenya national independence in 1963. The frontline protagonists of the new Mau Mau are peasants and landless women,” she writes. This spirit of resistance against exploitation and injustice, coupled with the can-do spirit of the rising tide of the African youth, have a huge potential to reconfigure the destiny of the continent. Africa, as The Economist magazine, which dismissed the continent as “hopeless” a decade ago, says, “needs a reborn liberation movement”, a liberation that is scripted not by sermons from abroad, but by the resurgent “We, the People of Africa”. — Manish Chand

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COUNTRY IN FOCUS

India offers Burundi $40 million, sign pacts

‘Burundi to benefit from Indian expertise’

The pacts to undertake structured cooperation in vital areas of human development

ndia on September 18 offered a $40 million soft loan to Burundi, a mineralrich country in eastern Africa, and signed a clutch of pacts in areas of rural development, education, and health and medicine to cement a burgeoning relationship. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held talks with Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza on a range of issues including a review of India’s capacity building initiatives in Burundi, deepening trade and investment, and UN reforms. After the talks, the two sides signed the agreements. The pacts will enable the two countries undertake structured cooperation in vital areas of human development where India’s experience can be of relevance to Burundi, Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference with Nkurunziza. Underlining India’s commitment to the development of infrastructure in Burundi, Manmohan Singh announced a new line of credit worth over $40 million to Burundi for a farm mechanisation and food processing project. This will be addition to the $80 million line of credit for the Kabu hydroelectric project committed Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with earlier. Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza, in New Delhi Manmohan Singh on September 18. also urged the Burundi leader to facilitate Indian investment in agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing. The two leaders discussed a host of regional and global issues, including the fight against piracy and the need for reforms at the UN Security Council. “India deeply appreciates Burundi’s support for its candidature as a permanent member of the reformed and expanded Security Council,” Manmohan Singh said. Relations between India and Burundi have recorded a marked upswing since Burundi opened its mission in New Delhi three years ago. Early this year, during the visit of Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur to capital Bujumbura, India and Burundi signed a general cooperation agreement.

Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza meeting India’s President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on September 18.

PRESIDENT PRANAB Mukherjhee on September 18 said India’s developmental experience in energy, agriculture, infrastructure and other fields is suited to generate employment for youth and could be of relevance to Burundi’s socio-economic growth. “India’s developmental experience in energy, agriculture, infrastructure, minerals and small scale industries is suited to generate employment for the youth and could be of relevance to Burundi’s socio-economic growth,” said the President. The president said since the opening of Burundi’s Embassy in Delhi in 2009, there has been a significant expansion of bilateral agenda between the two countries. “We look forward to working together with you towards realising its full potential,” he said. “We are confident that in your drive against poverty and underdevelopment, you will accomplish the goals that you seek. India stands ready and willing to join hands with the people of Burundi in pursuing their aspirations for development and growth,” he said. According to President Mukherjee, there is great potential to further strengthen bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. “New areas of economic co-operation and investment are opening up. These need to be pursued systematically to the mutual benefit of our peoples,” he said. Noting Burundi is passing through a critical period of its transit from political emancipation to economic development, he said it coincides with India’s own recalibration and re-vitalisation of its policies towards Africa.

Aug - Oct 2012

PEOPLE

uman population on the earth is about seven billion. Though the population growth rate has begun to slow down, the numbers are still expected to rise, to be followed by a probable decline. About 90 percent of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population occupy only one-fifth of the land space and, therefore, a major portion of the earth remains without habitation. With the advent of the industrial revolution in the 18th century, the global population growth began to surge. The year 1995 saw the greatest global annual increment of about 90 million people. Population growth is not even throughout the world. In industrialised and developed countries it is less, while in some nations it has dropped below the replacement level. In most develop-

Aug - Oct 2012

ing countries fertility rates are quite high, which is causing a population explosion. At the same time the mortality rates have also fallen due to scientific and institutional innovations and awareness of the importance of human resource for the development and survival of mankind. The gap between birth rates and death rates worldwide has been continually reducing. Despite the slowing of population growth in most regions, the number of people added globally will continue to increase till the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s growth rate is zero or negative. The population growth rate of India, China and some countries of Africa is the highest. Africa, China and India are regions of the developing world. The African continent contains 54 countries and a large proportion of them are

AFRICA QUARTERLY that lack facilities, it not only hampers economic growth but also exerts pressure on environmental and agricultural facilities. This may intensify deforestation, soil erosion, global warming and land degradation. In regions that have facilities and lower population density, a population increase will be an asset in the development process. The population growth rate is declining, but population in real numbers is increasing. These real numbers may not be a hindrance to development as was thought earlier; rather they may aid development. Chamon & Kremer (2006) say that as both the developed and developing world are facing a decline in population growth, there will still be a population gap which will continue the relationship dynamics between them. The Chamon & Kremer model suggests that the future of the world economy may well be decided by a race between Asian economic growth and African population growth.

Population during the ancient period

Africa, China and India are quite diverse in their physical environment, cultural elements and traditional institutions, but the high population growth is a common feature they share.

less developed countries. But the density of population of African countries is low as compared to India and China. Africa, India and China are quite diverse in their physical environment, cultural elements and traditional institutions, but the high population growth is a common feature they share. Both India and China have more than one billion people each. There is an imperative need to analyse the population trends and demographic transition of Africa, China and India to understand their impact on economic growth and sustainable development. Most data have been taken from the World Population Prospect, the 2010 Revision published by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Estimates and Projection Section and the period taken into account is 1950-2050. Many Asian countries have been experiencing a surge in both economic and demographic growth since the 1990s. Countries of Africa are also undergoing a similar kind of demographic growth, but what is of concern is the sluggish economic growth in most of these countries. If rapid population growth occurs in regions

Africa is said to have been the cradle of mankind. Human beings are believed to have developed first in Africa 200,000 years ago (Wilson & Cann 1992). In the four-million-year-old geological stratum in Ethiopia and Tanzania, fossils of the bipedal primate which are said to be ancestors of modern man have been found (Johanson and Eddy 1982). The demographic estimates of that time are sketchy, but they do indicate a slow growth of population. It was a hunting and gathering society then and they kept their numbers below the food carrying capacities of the area they occupied (Shaw 1981). Carrying capacity refers to the number of people that can be supported in an area given the available physical resources (Miller 1999). In the primitive conditions, during prehistoric period, population growth was very slow due to high mortality and violence and life expectancy at birth averaged to about 20 years (LiviBacci 1992; Petersen 1975; Angel 1947) and deliberate attempt of pre-modern woman to limit the number of children born by spacing them a few years apart to make it easier to nurse and to carry her youngest child (Woodrow-Lafield). When the population growth of the hunting and gathering people grew beyond their capacity of carrying on their way of life, an agricultural revolution occurred (Boserup 1965, Harris and Ross 1987, Sanderson 1995) and the population growth rate consistently increased. The establishment of ancient city-centered civilisation was a consequence of the relatively large and dense agricultural population. This period may have been a period of comparatively large growth of the population. By the time of Christ (The Roman Period, 1AD) there may

Aug - Oct 2012

PEOPLE

Africa has the highest fertility rate in the world — about six children per woman.

well have been more that 200 million people on the planet, increasing by more than 300,000 each year (Woodrow-Lafield). Around 1650 BC, Avaris, Egypt, was the first city to reach 100,000 inhabitants (Chandler, 1987). China was estimated to have had 71 million around 2nd century AD (Durand 1960), but around 300 BC the population in India ranged between 100 and 140 million (Nath 1929). In the dark ages, the period prior to AD 1000, the rate of growth of population was very slow. After AD 1000 the population increased slowly but steadily, the rate of growth being even recorded negative at that time. Barbaric invasions, famines, plague and epidemics lowered the fertility rates and increased mortality. Hence the population figures show a lesser increase from AD

Table 1: World Population Milestone YEAR

POPULATION (billion)

NO. OF YEARS

1804

1927

(123 years later)

1960

(33 years later)

1974

(14 years later)

1987

(13 years later)

1999

(12 years later)

2011

(12 years later)

Source: United Nation Population Division

Aug - Oct 2012

1000 to AD 1500. From AD 1500 population growth continually increased (Durand 1967). The rate of growth of the world’s population was low and rose from about 0.3 percent in the years 1650-1750 to 0.8 percent during 1900-1950 (Tarver 1996). But the actual population growth was substantial. It increased by five times from that of 1650 (ibid.). The rate of growth of the population of the world continued to increase till 1970 when the growth rate was the highest at 2.07 percent; then it began to drop consistently. By 2000 AD the highest growth was occurring in developing countries, where the population aggregate was four times that of developed countries and it was projected to increase five times that of developed countries by 2025 (Johnson 1994). Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest rate of growth of population of 2.7 percent during 1975-2002, whereas India had 1.9 percent and China to be 1.2 percent (Human Development Report 2004). Since the 18th century, the world population has been rising, increasingly at a fast pace (Table 1). While it took 123 years, from 1804 to 1927, for the addition of one billion people to the earlier total of one billion, the world population reached three billion in 1960, four billion in 1974 and five billion in 1987. Then it took only 12 years, from 1987 to 1999, for the addition of one billion population (to touch a total of six billion) — the shortest period within which the world has gained a billion people. Nevertheless, United Nations Population Projections point to continued population growth during this century. The world population reached seven billion in October 2011 and may reach eight billion by 2027; the nine-billion mark should be reached just

AFRICA QUARTERLY before 2050 (medium variant). It is projected that after this the population growth rate will slow down. Since 1800 most of the world population has been concentrated in Asia, whereas Latin America, North America and the Oceania together accounted for a far less population of only 3.4 percent and 9.9 percent of the global population in the 18th and 19th centuries respectively (United Nations Population Division, Briefing Packet). Europe’s share of global population began to increase around 18th and 19th century and Africa’s share of population showed a decline from 10.9 percent in 1800 AD to 8.1 percent in 1900 AD (Table 2).

During the same period, Asia remained the largest contributor to the world population. Less developed regions of Asia and Africa have experienced highest rates of population growth. As per the World Population Prospects 2010 (Revision), the population of the African and Asian continents has been rising continuously whereas European and Northern America population is showing a downward trend. The proportion of Africa will increase to 21.8 percent and Asia 57.7 percent by 2050 (Table 2). The population of India and China was 1.22 billion and 1.34 billion respectively in the year 2010 (Table 3). Africa’s population in 2010 was 1.02 billion. As

Table 2: Total Population of the Continents by Percentage CONTINENT

POPULATION PERCENT (EST.) 1800

1900

1950

1975

2000

2010

2025

2050

Africa

10.9

8.1

8.99

10.31

13.40

14.95

17.48

21.84

Asia

64.9

57.4

55.46

58.59

60.48

60.31

59.57

57.17

Europe

20.8

24.7

21.64

16.65

11.88

10.61

9.10

7.55

2.5

4.5

6.61

7.96

8.52

8.36

7.97

Latin America and the Caribbean Northern America

0.7

5.0

6.78

5.97

5.21

5.09

4.96

4.90

Oceania

0.2

0.4

0.5

0.52

0.51

0.52

0.53

0.56

World

100.00

Source: Compiled from United Nations Population Division, Briefing Packet, 1998 Revision of World Population Prospects; UN Statistics Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. "World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision". Note: future estimates are based on a medium fertility variant of population growth.

Graph 1: Total Population of the Continents by Percentage (1800-2050)

PERCENT

70 60

AFRICA

ASIA

EUROPE

LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN

20 NORTHERN AMERICA 10 OCEANIA 0 1800

1900 1950

1975

2000 2010 2025

2050

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PEOPLE Table 3: Population (thousands), Medium variant, 1950-2050 YEAR 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

INDIA 371 857 406 374 447 844 496 400 553 874 622 097 700 059 784 491 873 785 964 486 1 053 898 1 140 043 1 224 614 1 308 221 1 386 909 1 458 958 1 523 482 1 579 802 1 627 029 1 664 519 1 692 008

AFRICA 229 895 255 521 286 729 323 916 368 148 420 318 482 803 555 276 635 287 720 931 811 101 911 120 1 022 234 1 145 316 1 278 199 1 417 057 1 562 047 1 713 090 1 869 561 2 029 824 2 191 599

CHINA 550 771 608 360 658 270 710 290 814 623 915 041 983 171 1 056 579 1 145 195 1 213 987 1 269 117 1 307 593 1 341 335 1 369 743 1 387 792 1 395 256 1 393 076 1 381 588 1 360 906 1 331 768 1 295 604

WORLD 2 532 229 2 772 882 3 038 413 3 333 007 3 696 186 4 076 419 4 453 007 4 863 290 5 306 425 5 726 239 6 122 770 6 506 649 6 895 889 7 284 296 7 656 528 8 002 978 8 321 380 8 611 867 8 874 041 9 106 022 9 306 128

Source: World Population Prospect: the 2010 Revision

projected, Africa will see a substantial population growth by 2050. It will be about 2.19 billion whereas India and China will have 1.69 billion and 1.29 billion people respectively. India and Africa will both surpass China in the year 2025 (Table 3). China’s population is estimated to be highest to 1.39 billion in 2025 and then it will decline. India and Africa will show a continuous increase in their population growth trend. Despite the increase in population, population growth rate for all the three regions will decrease, and China will have negative growth rate during 2025-2030. India’s growth peaked in 1975-1980 to 2.36 percent and with the success of family planning policies, the population growth rate has fallen since then (Table 4). Africa also, during 1980-1985, had highest growth rates of 2.80 percent and since then the growth rates have continuously fallen, though slowly. China’s ‘one child policy’ had dramatically reduced the population growth rate from 2.33 percent in 1970-1975 to 1.44 percent in 1975-1980 and since then it has gradually fallen. It is projected to be -0.03 percent by 2025-2030. Except for Africa, all the other regions of the earth , including Asia, will contribute lesser share of population by 2050. Fengler (2010) observes that though it is

Aug - Oct 2012

anticipated that the population of many countries will increase significantly in the coming decades, several countries are expected to grow little and quite a few are actually projected to experience a decline in their population size. The speed of population growth remains unchanged, but its sources are different. In the past, population growth was driven by increasing numbers of children. Today, and in the future, it is driven by longer life expectancy and the “base effect” of the previous population boom. Rural, landlocked and arid areas of the continent are regions of most rapid population growth and are already under tremendous demographic stress. Strangely enough, these regions are least suitable for rapid economic growth (Gallup and Sachs, 1998). Population growth and increase in population densities in the region lacking facilities and suitability, not only hamper rapid economic growth, but leads to land degradation and production loss. Technological and social factors continue to promote the maintenance of high fertility rates. Besides technological and social factors, Abernethy (1999) says that some scholars are of the opinion that foreign aid often leads to lackadaisical attitude towards

AFRICA QUARTERLY

Table 4: Population growth rate (%), Medium variant, 1950-2050 PERIOD 1950-1955 1955-1960 1960-1965 1965-1970 1970-1975 1975-1980 1980-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2005 2005-2010 2010-2015 2015-2020 2020-2025 2025-2030 2030-2035 2035-2040 2040-2045 2045-2050

INDIA 1.78 1.94 2.06 2.19 2.32 2.36 2.28 2.16 1.98 1.77 1.57 1.43 1.32 1.17 1.01 0.87 0.73 0.59 0.46 0.33

AFRICA 2.11 2.31 2.44 2.56 2.65 2.77 2.80 2.69 2.53 2.36 2.33 2.30 2.27 2.20 2.06 1.95 1.85 1.75 1.65 1.53

CHINA 1.99 1.58 1.52 2.74 2.33 1.44 1.44 1.61 1.17 0.89 0.60 0.51 0.42 0.26 0.11 -0.03 -0.17 -0.30 -0.43 -0.55

WORLD 1.82 1.83 1.85 2.07 1.96 1.77 1.76 1.74 1.52 1.34 1.22 1.16 1.10 1.00 0.89 0.78 0.69 0.60 0.52 0.44

Source: World Population Prospect: the 2010 Revision

Graph 2: Population Growth Rate (%), 1950-2050 3 2.5

2 INDIA AFRICA CHINA 1 WORLD .5

-.5 -1

1950-1955 1955-1960 1960-1965 1965-1970 1970-1975 1975-1980 1980-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2005 2005-2010 2010-2015 2015-2020 2020-2025 2025-2030 2030-2035 2035-2040 2040-2045 2045-2050

PERCENT

1.5

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PEOPLE

In the past, population growth was driven by increasing numbers of children. Today, it is driven by longer life expectancy and the ‘base effect’ of the previous population boom reducing fertility rates. Between the end of World War II and 1970, fertility rates rose virtually everywhere in the third world. The demographic transition model bears a share of responsibility for this overpopulation debacle because the policies it spawned raised worldwide expectations. The greatest damage was done by aid and the rhetoric of development and prosperity because they undermine the rationale for limiting family size. Africa, which has received more in foreign aid per capita than any other continent, has the highest fertility rate in the world — about six children per woman. It was not always so. In the 1950s, fertility in Africa averaged about one-half child less per woman that in South America (ibid.).

Distribution of the world’s population The population growth of developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America shows most growth in the world. Though the population growth and population growth rates are declining in both developing and developed countries, the decrease is less in developing countries. Asia contributes the highest number of persons to world population each year. Bloom and Sachs (1998) notes that in terms of density, most of Africa is sparsely populated, with an average population density of 25 persons per square kilometer (as compared with 148 for Asia and 21 for Latin America). Africa’s low average population density reflects the weighted combination of vast expanses of almost empty desert (5 people per square kilometer in Chad), large areas of sparsely populated savannahs (with weak agricultural potential), and a few areas of relatively dense population, mainly in the East African highlands near the Great Lakes, especially Burundi and Rwanda. Other regions of relatively high population density include the section of coast running from southern Côte d’Ivoire to Nigeria, and the Indian Ocean island economies (e.g., Reunion and Mauritius) (ibid.). Population Issues (1999) observes that Africa’s high rate of population growth also masks variations within

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the continent. Rates of growth fluctuate from 2.0 and 1.6 percent in Northern and Southern Africa to 2.5 and 2.7 percent in Western and Middle Africa, while the average for the continent is about 2.4 percent. And while higher rates of population growth are to be found in the Comoros, Gambia, Guinea, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Mozambique and Western Sahara, fertility is highest in Niger, Malawi, Uganda and Angola, where women have, on an average, about seven children. Africa’s 1999 population of 767 million people is projected to nearly double by 2035. It further notes that Asia as a whole is home to 60 percent of the world’s people and, while that proportion will not change significantly over the next 30 years, the medium variant projection shows Asia’s population increasing by more than 37 percent, reaching over 4.7 billion people in 2025. Africa’s rapidly rising population will most likely double itself by 2050. The population of the African continent is expected to rise from 1.02 billion now to 2.1 billion in 2050, because the fertility rate of 34 births per 1,000 people (World Population Prospects: the 2010 Revision) is still much higher than the mortality rate of 10.8 deaths per 1000 (World Population Prospects: the 2010 Revision). Fengler (2010) insists that this makes it the fastest growing continent and Africa’s rapid growth will also shift the global population balance. Bloom & Sachs (1998), expressing similar sentiments, say that the combination of falling death rates, concentrated in the youth cohort, and stable birth rates have two principal demographic consequences: rapid population growth and a skewing of the age structure towards the young ages. Africa’s population growth rate continuously increased till 1980-1985 when it peaked to be 2.80 percent and since then it has been decreasing, though slowly. During the period 2010-2015 the African population growth rate will be 2.27 percent and is projected to reach the population size of 1,145,316 billion and is expected to continuously increase and will surpass the population size of both India and China by 2030 (Table 3&4). This rate of increase is historically unprecedented among major regions of the world over comparable periods of time. India and China, also experienced rapid population growth, but at lower rates. China is projected to have negative growth rates by 2025-2030 when its population will begin to decrease in numbers also. India and Africa are now projected to surpass China in total population by 2025. While China’s population in 2010 was larger than India’s by over 100 million and in case of Africa by 300 million approximately (Table 3), India’s population is expected to exceed China’s by 400 million and Africa to exceed China’s population by whopping 900 million approximately by 2050. India is expected to be the largest contributor to world population growth by far, adding around 570

AFRICA QUARTERLY million persons by 2050 (Population Challenges and Development Goals 2005). White & Subedi (2008) say that China and India are of course two current “demographic billionaires,” with estimated 2008 populations of 1.325 billion and 1.149 billion, respectively. Together they comprise 36.9 percent of the world’s seven billion people. The United Nations predicts India will overtake China in total population size in 2026 when the Indian population hits an estimated 1.46 billion. According to projections, the two countries will still be the only demographic billionaires in 2050, each with more than double the population of the United States — the next most populous country in 2050 (with approximately 402 million people). Africa presents the contrast: at about 800 million in 2000, the continent is projected to achieve an aggregate population size similar to that of China and India by the end of the 2020-2030 decade. The demographic model described in the article ‘Demographic Transition: An Historical Sociological Perspective’ explains the overall pattern of population growth. Demographic transition is the change of a population from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates. It is a simple definition, but an exceedingly powerful one, for it shows clearly a major transformation of human reproduction. The demographic transition generally occurs in four stages. In the initial stage, both birth and death rates are high, causing only slow and steady population growth. In the next stage, death rates begin to decline and birth rates remain high, resulting in faster population growth. In stage three, the birth rate begins to decline, and in the final stage, birth rates balance death rates. Population growth stabilizes in this final stage. The Middle East and North Africa are still in the earlier phases of the demographic transition, and indeed many parts of sub-Saharan Africa have seen almost no decrease in traditionally high fertility rates. The East Asian nations have been in the phase of demographic dividend as a result of reduced fertility. Their “economic miracle” shows how reduced fertility can help to create conditions for robust economic growth (Rand Policy Brief 2005). Mason & Lee express that the demographic dividend arises, in large part, when the number of producers in the population grows more rapidly than the number of consumers. The phenomenon occurs as fertility decline yields an immediate drop in the rate of growth in the number of consumers (children), but a substantially delayed decline in the rate of growth of the number of workers. Bloom, et.al. (2002) observe that the East Asian “economic miracle” shows how reduced fertility can help to create conditions for robust economic growth. Declining mortality, followed by decline in fertility, resulted in a rapid

India will reach the replacement level of Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 2.06 by 2030-2035.

demographic transition in the region between 1965 and 1990. As a result, the working-age population grew four times faster than the dependent (youth and elderly) population. A strong educational system and trade liberalisation policies enabled national economies to absorb this “boom” generation into the workforce. The demographic dividend fueled the region’s spectacular economic boom: Real per capita income growth averaged six percent per year between 1965 and 1990. Bloom et.al. further insist that the demographic dividend accounted for approximately one-fourth to two-fifths of this growth.

Fertility trends TFR (Total Fertility Rate) is the number of children per woman. It does not depend on the number of women in the population. For comparing fertility, TFR is a better measure than the Crude Birth Rate (CBR). TFR for the world has been consistently falling. In the 1950s India, China and Africa had TFR of about six children per woman. But China’s TFR declined to replacement level of 2.01 in the 1990s whereas Africa had 5.62 and India 3.72 TFR during the same time (Table 5). Soon around the turn of the century, in 2000, China had TFR of below replacement and it was 1.80. Since then it has gradually slowed down and it is expected to decline to 1.51 around 2020 and then again it is projected to increase to 1.77 by 2050. India will reach the replacement level of TFR of 2.06 by 2030-2035 and then slowly decline to below replacement level of 1.98 by 20352040 and further decline to 1.87 by 2050. Africa’s TFR is slowly decreasing and it is projected to be 2.89 by 2050, still higher than the replacement level. Thus

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PEOPLE Table 5: Total fertility (children per woman), Medium variant, 1950-2050 PERIOD 1950-1955 1955-1960 1960-1965 1965-1970 1970-1975 1975-1980 1980-1985 1985-1990 1990-1995 1995-2000 2000-2005 2005-2010 2010-2015 2015-2020 2020-2025 2025-2030 2030-2035 2035-2040 2040-2045 2045-2050

INDIA 5.90 5.90 5.82 5.69 5.26 4.89 4.47 4.11 3.72 3.31 2.96 2.73 2.54 2.38 2.26 2.15 2.06 1.98 1.92 1.87

AFRICA 6.60 6.66 6.71 6.68 6.67 6.57 6.38 6.07 5.62 5.23 4.94 4.64 4.37 4.11 3.84 3.59 3.38 3.19 3.03 2.89

CHINA 6.11 5.48 5.61 5.94 4.77 2.93 2.61 2.63 2.01 1.80 1.70 1.64 1.56 1.51 1.53 1.58 1.63 1.68 1.73 1.77

WORLD 4.95 4.89 4.91 4.85 4.45 3.84 3.59 3.39 3.04 2.79 2.62 2.52 2.45 2.39 2.33 2.29 2.25 2.22 2.19 2.17

Source: World Population Prospect: the 2010 Revision

Graph 3: Total Fertility (Children Per Woman), 1950-2050 8 7 6

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AFRICA QUARTERLY throughout the period from 1950 to 2050, Africa’s TFR will remain higher than both India’s and China’s (Graph 3). China reached the level of population stabilisation in the 1990s when TFR was 2. 01 and India will reach that level by 2035, when TFR is projected to be 2.06 whereas Africa is projected not to reach that level during the period considered and hence will experience substantial population growth. According to the World Population Prospects Press Release 2008, fertility has continued to fall in the vast majority of countries in the less developed regions. The number of developing countries with high fertility (five children or more per woman) declined from 59 in 19901995 to 27 in 2005-2010, and their share of world population dropped from 13 percent to nine percent. Over the same period, the number of developing countries with fertility levels that do not ensure the replacement of the population increased from 15 to 38. The most populous developing countries with below replacement fertility are China, Brazil, Vietnam, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Thailand and the Republic of Korea, in order of population size (ibid.). Rand Monograph Report (MR 1088) found that most of the population growth, about 95 percent, is taking place in the developing world. Two distinct types of fertility patterns are apparent now in the developing world, like Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria have continued high fertility rates (6.5 percent and 6.6 children per woman respectively). They are far away from achieving “population stabilisation”, which is a condition of chronic low population growth. China, India and many other countries have substantially reduced fertility rates (1.8, 3.4 children per woman respectively) but are still a generation away from population stabilisation because of the phenomenon of population momentum. The report further notes that high-fertility nations have age distributions skewed in favour of younger cohorts that are of child bearing age. Even if these younger cohorts reproduce only at the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman, the sheer number of young families in these societies will keep population growth at fairly robust levels for some time. This population momentum means that even in developing nations that have been able to reduce their fertility rates through family planning and improved education, the absolute size of the population will continue to grow robustly for the next 20-25 years (ibid.). White & Subedi (2008) believe that China’s present birth rate is well below replacement at 1.6 children per woman. Strikingly, this rate is almost on par with the current European level of 1.5. Thus, China has attained this childbearing level in a relatively short period. The total fertility rate in 1960 was near six children per woman. In just a few decades China made a transition

Africa’s demographic uniqueness is not in the level of fertility but in the persistence of such a high level of fertility amid decline in mortality that took other countries much longer as fertility dropped to 2.18 by 1990. The well-known ‘One Child Policy’, inaugurated in the 1980s, accelerated the transition, but the decline was already under way partly due to 1970s-era policies designed to delay marriage and postpone childbearing. This drop in fertility has important consequences for age structure: China now has a significant bulge in the working-age and young-adult segments of the population. Although India’s story has similarities, it has not progressed as far along the demographic transition as China. In the 1950s and 1960s, both China and India exhibited total fertility rates between about 5 and 6 children per woman. But fertility declined much more sharply in China. The present fertility rate in India stands at 2.8, more than both China and Europe. These demographic dynamics have translated into different age structures for India and China today, with relatively large numbers in the youngest age groups and steadily declining numbers represented in the older age groups. As India’s birth and death rates decline, a youth and labour force bulge — less pronounced than China’s — will begin to appear (White & Subedi 2008). Bloom & Sachs (1998) report total fertility rates and infant mortality rates across major world regions and demonstrate Africa’s divergence from demographic trends elsewhere. They note that it is striking that African fertility is so closely comparable to that observed in Asia and Latin America in the 1950s. Africa’s demographic uniqueness, therefore, is not in the level of fertility but in the persistence of such a high level of fertility in the face of mortality declines. They believe that high fertility is the most salient feature of the continent’s stalled demographic transition and the cause of its accelerating population growth and remarkably young age structure. Africa’s population problem is one of high desired fertility, not unmet need for contraceptive services. Unlike all other developing regions, eliminating unwanted fertility would have negligible to small effects on the achievement of replacement fertility levels (2.1 children per woman). Indeed, Africa’s low levels of unwanted fertility are consistent with the pattern of extremely low rates of contraceptive prevalence among married women. Rather, high fertility in Africa

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PEOPLE families, and these norms and practices have changed only slowly in the face of rapid declines in infant mortality rates, and rising population densities which limit the availability of farm land to divide among the children ( Bloom & Sachs 1998). Children are also an important source of labour in rural settings, assisting both in smallholder cash crop agriculture (e.g., coffee) and in household work (Caldwell 1982, 1991).

probably reflects a combination of low socio-economic development (i.e., education and gender inequality) and socio-cultural practices that reinforce preferences for large families ( Bloom & Sachs. 1998). Contrary to these trends, Abernethy (1999) noted that some African countries that had historically high fertility in the 1960s and 70s are now seeing declines. For example, East Africa’s buoyant optimism wrought by the 1960’s expanding, urbanising economy gave way in the 1980s to a deteriorating environment, curtailment of foreign aid, and the AIDS epidemic. Against this backdrop of devastated morale, fertility fell between 14 and 20 percent in every country of the region. High fertility in Africa appears to reflect a variety of factors. First, rural African children continue to be viewed as the current generation’s main source of old age insurance. Second, high fertility in rural Africa is reinforced by socio-cultural institutions and practices that create incentives for large family sizes. The long history of low population densities and the ever-present struggle for mere survival in an environment of drought, low yields, slave trade, and infectious disease no doubt imbued cultural practices and social institutions in Africa with powerful norms of high fertility and large

Dependency Ratio Projections of the “dependency ratio” are particularly important to understand the structure of working-age population. Dependency ratio is the ratio of persons of dependent ages to those of working age. This ratio compares the numbers of available workers in a population with the young and old who are dependent on them, both directly and through government services funded by taxation. The dependency ratio is causing considerable concern in those countries which are experiencing growing aged population and draining of large government resources on their health and pension. In the 1960s the dependency ratio was quiet high in India, Africa and China and it was 82, 89 and 78 respec-

Table 6: Dependency Ratio (1950-2050) YEAR 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

INDIA 68 73 78 82 80 77 76 74 72 68 64 59 55 52 50 49 47 47 46 47 48

AFRICA 81 83 86 89 91 92 92 92 91 87 84 80 78 76 73 70 67 64 62 60 59

CHINA 63 72 77 78 77 77 69 57 51 51 48 42 38 38 40 42 45 52 59 61 64

WORLD 65 69 73 75 75 74 70 66 64 62 59 55 52 52 52 52 53 54 55 56 58

Source: World Population Prospect: the 2010 Revision

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Graph 4: Dependency Ratio, 1950 – 2050 100 90

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tively (Table 6). Africa had highest dependency ratio in the 1970s of 92 showing high proportion of dependents on working-age population. Since then, in India and Africa dependency ratio has been consistently decreasing. India and Africa are projected to have dependency ratio of 48 and 59 respectively by 2050. It shows that working-age population will consistently increase in relation to dependent population. Dependency ratio of China is about 38 at present, lowest for the whole period 1950-2050 (projected), then it will increase and substantially rise to 64 by 2050 (Table 6). This is due to an increase in the number of old-age dependants. India’s dependency ratio will remain lower than both China and Africa by 2035. China’s dependency ratio will surpass both India and Africa by 2045. A more favourable dependency ratio occurs in the earlier stage of the demographic transition during which the population profile is dominated by active adults. It is the time which is most favourable for economy and it is sometimes described as demographic dividend. It has been associated with the East Asian economies, namely, China and South Korea. These countries are a prime example of how decline in mortality followed by decline in fertility led to major demographic transition in the second half of the last century. Working-age population grew and favourable pre-conditions of good education and relevant economic policies contributed towards the massive economic growth. Africa is also entering this phase but there are

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concerns whether African countries will be able to convert it into opportunity due to the presence of poor infrastructure, inadequate governance, youth unemployment and inappropriate education. White & Subedi (2008) show that in the short run, China will experience very low dependency ratios that will aid economic growth, but this benefit will erode over time. They prove that the India’s dependency ratio is expected to decline by about 10 percentage points between 2005 and 2030, as birth rates moderate and large numbers of youth and adults remain of working age. In the short run, therefore, India will not experience the very low dependency ratios as China. Relatively high fertility has led to an overall dependency ratio of 57.9 percent in India and youth dependency ratio of 50 percent in 2008. Over time, the youth dependency ratio will increase sharply for India, indicating the entry of those in the younger age groups into the working-age group. Yet the overall dependency ratio remains higher than that of China through 2030. Since low dependency ratio aids economic growth, especially in cities, a high youth-dependency ratio could place a brake on India’s economic growth. On the other hand, India is less likely than China to have to manage the burden of a high 65-and older population as shown by the low old-age dependency ratio in the country over time. Indeed China will experience a sharply increasing old age dependency — from 11 percent to 25 percent — between 2008 and 2030 (ibid.).

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PEOPLE According to Bloom & Sachs (1998), Africa has the world’s highest youth dependency ratios, a consequence of its combining the world’s highest rates of fertility with falling levels of infant and child mortality (Graph 4). High youth dependency ratios impose a substantial drag on African economies by reducing their productive capacity per capita (Bloom & Sachs 1998). Even if the total fertility rate were immediately reduced to the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, Africa’s population would still increase to more than one billion (that is, by over 50 percent) during the next century, as today’s children progress through the prime childbearing years (Bongaarts 1997). Correspondingly, dependency ratios would remain high for decades to come, depressing the growth of income per capita (Bloom & Sachs 1998).

working age population is expected to exceed its already rapid population growth until 2015. While China’s working age population declines from 2020 to 2050, India’s increases until at least 2050 (Table 7). China’s current working-age population dwarfs India’s by 230 million; however, by 2050 India’s working age population will exceed China’s by similar amounts. Africa’s working age population will increase continuously and will exceed that of India by 2040. It will be almost double that of China by 2050. This massive number of potential workers have to be absorbed by the economy in order to take advantage of it. Otherwise it will become a ‘drag’ on the economy. Proportionwise, India will have higher proportion of working-age population than China by 2050. China’s working-age population has peaked at present and will continue to decline and eventually be lower than both India and Africa by 2050. Increase in the number of working-age population in both India and Africa may provide an opportunity to take advantage of the phase of demographic dividend. Younger population provides potential labour force for accelerating economy. At the same time it forms the expansive base of consumer class further creating

Working age population Prabhudesai (2007) stresses that more critical for economic growth, however, is the rate of growth in the labour force. This is best estimated by projecting growth in the “working-age” population (age 15-65). Here, India’s advantages are amplified. The growth in India’s

Table 7: Population aged 15-64 (Thousands), Medium variant, 1950-2100 YEAR 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

INDIA 220 804 235 147 252 137 273 478 308 370 350 612 398 052 451 188 509 046 573 715 643 532 716 391 789 750 861 118 923 050 981 726 1 034 326 1 078 019 1 111 744 1 133 073 1 143 065

59.4 57.9 56.3 55.1 55.7 56.4 56.9 57.5 58.3 59.5 61.1 62.8 64.5 65.8 66.6 67.3 67.9 68.2 68.3 68.1 67.6

AFRICA 126 685 139 329 154 091 171 757 192 958 219 135 251 600 289 215 333 149 384 864 441 765 505 081 574 536 651 258 737 583 831 950 934 791 1 044 147 1 155 346 1 266 180 1 376 326

55.1 54.5 53.7 53.0 52.4 52.1 52.1 52.1 52.4 53.4 54.5 55.4 56.2 56.9 57.7 58.7 59.8 61.0 61.8 62.4 62.8

CHINA 337 552 353 526 371 203 398 059 459 509 516 735 583 427 673 037 756 284 805 172 856 794 922 723 970 532 995 819 988 938 981 261 960 082 909 810 858 557 828 965 790 010

61.3 58.1 56.4 56.0 56.4 56.5 59.3 63.7 66.0 66.3 67.5 70.6 72.4 72.7 71.3 70.3 68.9 65.9 63.1 62.2 61.0

WORLD 1 532 715 1 642 400 1 756 159 1 902 141 2 114 175 2 347 950 2 615 278 2 927 067 3 240 162 3 531 208 3 851 820 4 197 009 4 524 850 4 804 411 5 031 779 5 248 599 5 438 040 5 585 674 5 707 025 5 818 969 5 887 808

60.5 59.2 57.8 57.1 57.2 57.6 58.7 60.2 61.1 61.7 62.9 64.5 65.6 66.0 65.7 65.6 65.4 64.9 64.3 63.9 63.3

Source: World Population Prospect: the 2010 Revision

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Graph 5: Population Aged 15 – 65 (Percent), Medium Variant, 1950 - 2050 80 70

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demand and supply cycle which is imperative for promoting economic growth. Increasing number of potential working age population may promote economic activity and aid the development process. This will enable accrual of capital by decrease in government spending on lesser numbers of dependents. Asher & Nandy (2007) note that India, in particular, is favourably placed because of its relatively younger population profile, with more than 50 per cent of the population below 25 years. India will continue to enjoy demographic dividend until about 2025 as the share of working-age population to the total continue to rise. This ratio declines quite gradually. India has the second largest reservoir of trained manpower. The demographic gift (opportunity) phase which India is expected to enjoy for the next few decades does not confer automatic advantage. The opportunity is unique and time-bound. Therefore it needs to capitalize on this onetime opportunity by productive use of the young labour force. To achieve this, reforms in many areas will be essential. Some countries in demographic burden phase (such as China) can sustain labour cost and other advantages because of the large labour pool (ibid.). Rapid ageing of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries provides India with significant commercial opportunities. India must ensure that these opportunities are used to significantly advance its economic space. India’s internal demographic challenges, with southern states having low

fertility rate and northern states having high fertility rates must also be addressed (ibid.). Consistent increase in working-age population for India and Africa will provide a longer period to both these regions for availing benefits from demographic dividend. But for China a decrease in both the number of working-age population and percentage will very soon limit the advantages of demographic dividend and may eventually have widespread implication for its economy in near future. Thus China’s projected population change many pose a threat to its economic development. The success of the ‘one child norm’ in China has effectively brought a decrease in its population. But controlling long-term decrease in population is another challenge for it. Long- term decrease in population may decrease the working-age population as well in coming decades. India and Africa will have better demographics than China. But to realize the advantages of demographic dividend depends on formulation and implementation of governmental policies. India with its democratic form of government and stress on social development like health, education and infrastructure has a better chance to absorb its young population by increasing job network through development and economic production. As for Africa, high dependency ratio, lower life expectancy, higher population growth rate and fertility rate on one hand and increase in working-age population, increase in urbanisation and lower median age, indicating younger population on the other

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PEOPLE hand, indicates that if Africa has the right social and economic policies along with good governance and control of diseases like HIV/AIDS then it can ameliorate itself out of drudgery and poverty. It should be able to absorb its young manpower for economic activities and should formulate its policies in such a way that economic productivity increases consistently. William Anderson (2010), USAID representative to the European Union, insists that taking advantage of this demographic dividend requires both strong institutions and policies supporting private investment, growing business and encouragement of regional trade. Africa’s demographic growth will have positive effects.

Median age World Population Prospects 2008 Press Release notes the median age, that is, the age that divides the population in two halves of equal size, is an indicator of population ageing. Globally, the median age is projected to increase from 29 to 37.9 years between 2009 and 2050. Europe has today the oldest population, with a median age of nearly 40 years, which is expected to reach 47 years in 2050. The median age is higher in countries that have been experiencing low fertility for a long

time. In 2010, 19 developed countries or areas were expected to have a median age of 40 years or higher, up from 11 in 2005. In addition, two developing countries, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) China and Singapore have also reached median ages above 40 years. The pervasiveness of population ageing will increase by 2050 when all 45 developed countries are projected to have median ages higher than 40 years and 43 developing countries will also have similarly high median ages (ibid.). In the 1970s the median ages for India, Africa and China were similar, around 19.2, 17.7 and 19.7 years respectively (Table 8). Since then, the median ages for all the three regions have been rising. The increase for Africa is very sluggish but relatively higher for India and substantially high for China. This indicates that China is ageing faster than India and Africa. Population ageing occurs when the median age of a region rises. Population ageing is a shift in the distribution of a country’s population towards older ages. It arises from two demographic effects: increasing longevity and declining fertility. China is experiencing both these effects at present. In 2010, half of India’s population was below 25 years and that of Africa’s below 19.7 years (Table 8). But in case of

Table 8: Median age (years), Medium variant, 1950-2050 YEAR 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050

INDIA 21.3 20.6 20.1 19.5 19.2 19.6 20.1 20.5 21.1 21.7 22.7 23.9 25.1 26.6 28.1 29.7 31.2 32.8 34.3 35.8 37.2

AFRICA 19.2 18.9 18.5 18.1 17.7 17.5 17.5 17.5 17.6 18.1 18.6 19.1 19.7 20.3 21.0 21.8 22.7 23.6 24.5 25.4 26.4

CHINA 23.8 22.1 21.3 20.2 19.7 20.7 22.4 23.9 25.1 27.3 29.7 32.2 34.5 36.2 38.1 40.1 42.5 44.7 46.4 47.7 48.7

WORLD 23.9 23.4 23.0 22.4 22.1 22.4 23.1 23.7 24.4 25.5 26.7 28.0 29.2 30.4 31.6 32.8 34.1 35.3 36.3 37.1 37.9

Source: World Population Prospect: the 2010 Revision

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Graph 6: Median Age (Years), Medium Variant, 1950 -2050 60

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China, its half of the population was below 34.5 years. Thus China has lesser proportion of younger population as compared to India and Africa.

Challenges to economic growth and development Population of any country is its human resource. Growth in population increases its human resource which is the potential labour force of an economy. If the labour force is skilled it is fully and optimally utilised. Then it becomes an asset for a country. If labour force is unskilled, under-skilled or lacks quality, as in the case of many developing countries, it remains unutilised and under-utilised and becomes a liability for a country. The governments of such economies are unable to provide sufficiently for human capital investments such as education and health. Therefore its human resources lack quality, literacy level remains low and even large population is illiterate. The rate of unemployment is higher and lack of skills increases it further. Increase in population worsens the existing situation. Increase in population also impacts the natural resources of the country. Increasing pressure on land for agriculture, housing, roads, infrastructure, etc., causes deforestation, soil erosion and climate change. Increasing population will eat away the surpluses. Resources for investment are diverted for basic consumption needs, eventually increasing the consump-

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tion expenditure. This causes a decline in per capita income and a decrease in generation of capital for increasing the productivity of a country, leading to slackening of economic growth. Most developing countries are in quagmire. The rate of increase of population growth nullifies the fruits of reasonable economic growth as population growth is faster than economic growth. A major portion of resources of such economies are utilised for providing the basic needs of a fast-growing population. To control the population growth is the immediate and foremost task of these countries. High fertility levels are characteristics of most developing countries. Increasing population is a major issue for development of a country. Persistence of high fertility rate and high population annual growth rate are impeding the realisation of optimum economic achievements and social investment. Dr Karan Singh in 1974 coined the phrase development is the best contraception. Later, he suggested that it should be inverted to â&#x20AC;&#x153;contraception is the best development.â&#x20AC;? Thus development of a country can lead to controlling population which can further intensify the development process. It can be said that the developmental level of a country indicate the population levels of a country and vice versa. Not all developing countries are lagging in economic growth and development. There are many African countries that have required optimum economic growth levels, there are several countries like Angola, Ethiopia, Niger, Mozambique which are amongst the 12

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PEOPLE fastest growing economies of 2012. MDG also underscores the importance of lowering population in order to achieve sustainable development. Sustainable development is possible only when population growth slows and approaches early population stabilisation. The relationship between population and economic growth is complex and the historical evidence is ambiguous, particularly concerning the causes and impacts (Thirlwall 1994: 143). Several models have been proposed to explain the relationship between population growth and economic growth. Orthodox View or the Pessimistic Theories believe that supply of natural resources is limited and capital is fixed. If population increases beyond a level, the supply of natural resources will be slower and insufficient. This will cause lowering of developmental initiatives. Thus when population increases development lowers. Malthus (1798) claimed that there is a tendency for the population growth rate to surpass the production growth rate because population increases at a geometrical rate while production increases at an arithmetic rate. Thus, the unfettered population growth in a country could plunge it into acute poverty. Gaisie (1996) observes that in the Malthusian demographic-economic growth model, population growth is seen as the dependent variable that is determined by technology as an autonomous factor in relation to population change. According to this theory, population expansion comes to a halt through increased mortality when the population reaches the subsistence limit of the newer technology. He further explains that in contrast to this

Fertility is highest in Niger, Malawi, Uganda and Angola.

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theory is the Boserup model, which is the opposite of that of Malthus model. In this population growth is regarded as the independent variable that is a major determinant of agricultural development. By gradual change from agricultural systems where long fallow prevails to systems where no fallow is necessary, population within a given area can double several times without facing either starvation or lack of employment opportunities in agriculture. Boserupâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s model implies that population growth stimulates economic growth under certain conditions. Examination of the long historical processes of the changes in the relationship between population growth and technology led her to conclude that rising rates of population growth helped to accelerate the economic growth. Gaisie quoting Clark (1957) says that his argument is based on the thesis that population growth is the motivating force that brings about the clearing of uncultivated land, the draining of swamps, and the development of new crops, fertilizer and irrigation technologies in agriculture. Similarly, Simon (1977) insists that a growing human population is the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ultimate resourceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for economic development. Thus there is direct relationship between population and economic growth. Understanding population trends in different regions of the world might give an insight into the extent of economic growth and development. Becker, Glaeser and Murphy (1999: 149) demonstrated in their model that a large population growth could have both negative and positive impacts on productivity. A large population may reduce productivity because of traditional diminishing returns

AFRICA QUARTERLY from more intensive use of land and other natural resources. Nevertheless, a large population growth is not only associated with the food problem but also imposes constraints on the development of savings, foreign exchange and human resources (Meier 1995). Becker, Glaeser and Murphy (1999) however, say a larger population encourages greater specialisation and increased investments in knowledge, mediated in part through bigger and more cities. The net relationship between greater population and net capital incomes depends on whether the inducements to human capital and expansion of knowledge are stronger than diminishing returns to natural resources. Population growth enlarges labour force and, therefore, increases economic growth. A large population also provides a large domestic market for the economy. Moreover, population growth encourages competition, which induces technological advancements and innovations. Anderson (2010), being an optimist regarding the advantages of population growth in Africa, argues that with the rapid urbanisation that is occurring in Africa, the demographic dividend can provide a labour force for greater economic growth across all sectors of the economy. The positive push of this demographic transition has been a major factor in development in Asia. Severino (2010) said that African growth must be driven by domestic markets. Meier (1995: 276), however, believes that the pessimistic view has proven unfounded for developed economies in that they managed to achieve a high level of economic growth and thus, both population and the real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita were able to increase. Generally, there is no consensus whether population growth is beneficial or unfavourable to economic growth in developing economies. Empirical evidence regarding this for developing economies is comparatively limited. It is accepted that the issue of population and economic growth is closely related to the issue of minimum wage. In favourable circumstances, population growth broadens the labour force base which pushes wages down. The low wage will raise the demand for labour according to the economic labour demand model. This will accelerate the economic growth of the country and encourage labour intensive industries rather than capital intensive investments. Consequently it will reduce unemployment besides contributing to industrialisation. Newly industrialised economies (NIEs) of Asia, namely South Korea and Singapore, took advantage of such a situation to industrialize their countries and thereby contributed to economic growth. Moreover, it is accepted to be an important factor that hastened economic growth in China.

Asian economic growth and African population dynamics China is almost coming to an end of its phase of demographic dividend. India is still experiencing benefits of its phase of demographic dividend, when a bigger proportion of its population is younger and due to its positive education policies, India’s young population is better skilled. Africa has entered into phase of demographic dividend. High fertility rate and high crude birth rate have resulted in increasing population. Though HIV has taken heavy toll on its working age population, still population is on increase in Africa. Its weak governance and political instability, has led to adoption of inefficient policies and less productive education system. Africa’s working age population is relatively unskilled and lack ability to integrate with the global economy. A major portion of its exports is still traditional, mostly natural resources. If this scenario continues, Africa may not be able to take full advantage of its phase of demographic dividend for enhancing its economic growth. Chamon and Kremer (2006) believe that it’s a phase of Asian economic growth and African population growth. China and India were in similar phases of demographic transition as Africa is now, in 1990s and 2000 respectively. But taking advantage of converting its burgeoning population into skilled labour force, India and China emphasised on robust economic growth. Rajan, quoted by Christianson (2006), points that India’s accelerated growth was achieved not by employing more capital or skills, but by utilising more efficiently that which already existed. Unfortunately, at present, Africa has neither substantial capital or skill base for future growth. The IMF Report (2005) noted that “Africa’s already weak human capital base severely limits its growth prospects.” The pertinent question is “Can Africa learn from the India and China’s experience and replicate it?” For the last half century, integration with the world economy has arguably been the chief route from poverty to wealth. The Chamon & Kremer model (2006) shows that countries can potentially undergo rapid economic transformation only if they integrate into the world economy by producing non-traditional exports. A key factor influencing the long-run evaluation of the world economy is differences in population growth rates between countries. Dave (2010) elaborates that the Chamon and Kremer’s model is based on the assumption that a country starts getting wealthier when the next-wealthier country exhausts its supply of cheap labor. Suppose country A is wealthy and country B is the next-poorer country. Assuming country B is treated fairly in international trade, then when labor costs in country A get too high, it becomes more cost-effective to import from

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The density of population of African countries is low as compared to India and China.

country B. When do labor costs get too high? When population growth slows‚ which is what naturally occurs as a country gets wealthier. Explaining the Chamon and Kremer model, Dave says that the keys to unlocking Africa’s potential are India and China. Since they are home to around a third of the world’s population, if they become “wealthy” quicker‚ if we assume that they basically are wealthy, then things turn around for other developing countries much quicker. One by one‚ again, assuming reasonably fair trade exists worldwide‚ these countries will become wealthy, too. In this optimistic scenario, it is possible to have a sustainable, global economy with prosperity for all. Chamon & Kremer insist that their results highlight the importance of relative population growth between rich and poor countries. Because population growth has been declining in the rich world along with the poor world, this population growth gap is relatively persistent. The model suggests that the future of the world economy may well be decided by a race between rapid economic growth in China and India and population growth in the lagging developing regions. This model has implications for the potential growth of Africa. Africa’s economic growth may begin in the near future but it will remain behind China and India. Since in both India and China, labour was cheap and relatively skilled, they could export manufactured goods to developed countries. This enabled them to raise their standards of living and attain better bargaining power in wage market. In the present phase of development, India and China can almost be treated at par with developed economies. They may face a situation where labour will become expensive and it may not be profitable to manufacture goods there. Rather than

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exporting to developed countries, they will have to import from other developing countries. Africa can seize this opportunity. With appropriate educational policies and right kind of training, Africa can raise the skill level of its growing population. Instead of exporting traditional raw materials, its skilled population can involve itself in value addition of raw materials leading to export of non-traditional goods. Its large population may provide a large domestic market for its own goods itself. Thus the gap between the population growth levels in different countries can help in the dynamics of trade between these region. Seen thus, a billion-plus population in Africa will become an asset and not burden. The development of China and India could help Africa by encouraging trade in non-traditional goods. Till the time labour remains cheap in India and China, African export of non-traditional goods will remain limited.

Conclusion Africa, India and China are in the different stages of demographic transition. China has already experienced its phase of demographic dividend in 1990s and its population is ageing faster than both India and Africa. India’s population is both relatively younger and its working age population is growing. Therefore, there is an opportunity for India to reap its phase of demographic dividend. Africa has both younger and growing population relative to both India and China. Africa can learn from the experience of India and China and could prepare itself to absorb the growing number of young working age population to improve its economic growth. Africa’s major concern should be to find a way to absorb optimally its young growing population.

AFRICA QUARTERLY China will have a better demographic status than both India and Africa till 2020. It is projected that China’s population will remain larger than both India and Africa till 2020 and then it is projected to decline. India’s and Africa’s population size will surpass China’s by 2025. Even the population growth rate of China is projected to decline and become negative by 2025-2030, whereas India’s and Africa’s growth rate will continually decline. China has had a larger percent of its population in the working age than both India and Africa and this difference is projected to persist till 2025. The percentage and number of working age population of China will peak by 2015 and decline thereafter, while this will be increasing for both India and Africa by 2025. For China the opportunity to reap the demographic dividend is limited as working age population decreases in both percent and size in near future. China’s dependency ratio will be lowest during 2010-2015 and then it will increase. India’s and Africa’s dependency ratio will consistently fall, but for Africa the fall will be slower. By 2050, China’s dependency ratio is projected to exceed India’s and Africa’s. The population of older people in China will start increasing rapidly and will be massive 25.6 percent in comparison to 13.5 percent of India and only 6.6 percent of Africa. The median age of China is as high as 34.5 years as compared to India and Africa. In the long run, China’s prospects may be hindered by its demographics. An ageing population will reduce the disposable income of the working population. In ageing nations, pension concerns are rising and coming to the forefront. The ratio of pensioners to that of contributors has started to soar. The old age dependency ratio will push up pension spending. The ageing work force places new demands on the work force, potentially increasing the need for nursing and medical professionals. China’s projected demographics are creating challenge for its economic development — as is often said a potential demographic drag — that may be more complex to manage compared to India and Africa. In the near future, India will have more favourable demographics than China, but whether it is able to reap a demographic dividend will depend on successful government implementation of ambitious economic development agenda. Africa’s demographic transition has been very slow. Though mortality rates have been improving, fertility rates have remained high. Compared with China and India, the proportion of working-age people in Africa is very low. Africa’s comparatively high fertility rates and adverse CBR and CDR are impeding its economic growth. They are projected to decline gradually and then may accelerate its economy. Despite these factors, Africa has begun to show positive results; there is a cautious optimism. Only with the implementation of effective

For Africa, investment in education, health, and job creation are vital, as are policies that support decline in fertility and sustain its demographic dividend trade and economic policies, the African economy can grow robustly. Asia can enjoy fruits of a higher percentage of the population in the labour force till 2020. China has passed through the demographic transition phases very quickly due to swift social and economic changes. India is taking advantage of its demographic dividend window and hopefully will continue for some more time. African countries appear to be staggering in the second stage due to stagnant development and inappropriate policy decisions. If fertility and CDR continues to fall as projected in Africa, it will experience gains well past 2050. For Africa, investment in education, health, and job creation are vital, as are policies that support fertility declines and policies of favorable trade that will create and will sustain the demographic dividend window. Christianson (2006) states that the rise of China and India contains the potential to reconfigure the global economic game in Africa’s favour. At present, preconditions for optimum economic growth are lacking in Africa. An enabling environment and skilled labour force can turn the tables to fast-track African economic growth. It can grab this chance to promote trade in non-traditional goods. To be successful, Africa needs a mindset to solve the conundrum of achieving economic growth with weak human capital base. It has to be pro-active to face the new challenge of achieving development by utilising available resources, and strengthening them. Tradewise, Africa is in an advantageous position as it already has stable multi-directional trading partners despite low trading volumes. It has bilateral trade with other countries of Africa, trade with their erstwhile colonial masters and trade with oil-hungry America. It is deepening ties with Asian countries, especially India and China, and has a thriving market for its goods in its constantly growing consumer middle class. Therefore, it is imperative for Africa to successfully cash on this demographic opportunity so it can climb up the ladder of development hierarchy and achieve sustainable development and economic growth.

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Abernethy, V. D. 1999. The Demographic Transition Revisited: Lessons for Foreign Aid and U.S. Immigration Policy. http://www.virginiaabernethy.com/publishdetail.php?publishid=22 2. Africa’s Population and Development Bulletin. Food Security and Sustainable Development Division (FSSDD) of the United Nation Economic Commission for Africa. http://www.un.org/depts/eca/divis/index.htm. 3. Anderson, W. 2010. “Africa’s Billions: The Global Players of Tomorrow.” In the Development Policy Forum (DPF) Series of ‘Future World’ Debates. 4. Angel, J.L. 1947. “The Length of Life in Ancient Greece.” Journal of Gerontology. Vol.2. P.18-24. 5. Banking the “Demographic Dividend” How Population Dynamics Can Affect Economic Growth in Rand Policy Brief. (http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/r esearch_briefs/2005/RB5065.pdf 6. Becker, G.S. Glaeser, E.L. Murphy, K.M. 1999. “Population and Economic Growth.” The American Economic Review, Vol. 89, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the One Hundred Eleventh Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association. P. 145-149. 7. Bloom, D.E. and Sachs, J.D. 1998. “Geography, Demography, and Economic Growth in Africa.” Harvard Institute for International Development. Harvard University. http://www.cid.harvard.edu/archive/malaria/do cs/brookafr.pdf 8. Bongaarts, J. 1997. “Future Population Growth and Policy Options.” Unpublished Manuscript. 9. Boserup, E. 1965. The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian Change under Population Pressure. London: G. Allen and Unwin . 10. Boserup, E. 1981. Population and Technological Change: A Study of Long-Term Trends. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 11. Caldwell, John C. 1982. Theory of Fertility Decline. London: Academic Press. 12. Chamon, M. & Kremer, M. 2006. “Economic Transformation, Population Growth and the Long-run World Income Distribution.” Working Paper 12038. National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/papers/w12038 13. Chandler,T. 1987. Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth. Lewiston. New York: St. David’s University Press.

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14. Christianson, D. 2006. “Unpacking Africa’s Great Asian Opportunity.” In Business in Africa Magazine. May 2006. 15. Clark, C. 1957. The Condition of Economic Progress. London: Macmillan. 16. Demographic Transition: An Historical Sociological Perspective http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/pop_socio/pop_socio.html 17. Durand, J.D. 1960. “The Population Statistics of China, A.D. 2 – 1953.” Population Studies. Vol.13. P.209-256. 18. Durand, J.D. 1967. “The Modern Expansion of World Population.” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. Vol.111. P. 136-159. 19. Gaisie, S.K. 1996. “Demographic Transition: The Predicament of sub-Saharan Africa.” Health Transition Review. Supplement to Volume 6. P. 345-369. 20. Harris, M. and Ross, E.B. 1987. Food and Evolution: Towards a Theory of Human Food Habit. Temple University Press: Philadelphia. 21. Human Development Report 2004. India: Oxford University Press. 22. International Monetary Fund Report 2005. 23. Johanson, D.C. and Eddy, M.A. 1982. Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. New York: Warner Books. 24. Johnson, S.P. 1994. World Population – Turning the Tide. USA: Kluwer Academics Publishers Group. 25. Key Demographic Trends http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/ MR1088/MR1088.chap3.html 26. Livi-Bacci, M. 1992. A Concise History of World Population. Cambridge Mass: Blackwell. 27. Mason. A and Lee, S.H. xx. The Demographic Dividend and Poverty Reduction. University of Hawaii at Manoa and the East-West Center. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/PopAspectsMDG/19_MASONA.pdf 28. Meier, G. M. 1995. Leading Issues in Economic Development. 6th ed. New York: Oxford University Press. 29. Nath, P. 1929. A Study in the Economic Condition of Ancient India. London: Royal Asiatic Society. 30. Petersen, W. 1975. A Demographer’s View of Prehistoric Demography. Current Anthropology. Vol. 16(2). P. 227-237. 31. Population. Challenges and. Development Goals. ST/ESA/SER.A/248 asdf ... ate, to territories or

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areas. ST/ESA/SER.A/248. United Nations publication ... www.un.org/esa/population/publications/.../ Population_Challenges.pdf... Press release. Pop898: 2004. United Nations Issues ‘World Population Policies 2003’. Rama, M. 2001. “The Consequences of Doubling the Minimum Wage: The Case of Indonesia”. Industrial and Labour Relations Review. Vol. 54 ( 4). P. 864-81. Rajan, R. 2006. Quoted in D. Christainson “Unpacking Africa’s Great Asian Opportunity.” In Business in Africa Magazine. May 2006. RAND: Banking the “Demographic Dividend” How Population Dynamics Can Affect Economic Growth Banking the “Demographic Dividend”. Sachs, J.D. and Gallup, J. 1998. “The Economic Burden of Malaria,” , Center for International Development at Harvard University. (http://www.hiid.harvard.edu/pub/other/mal_w b.pdf) Sanderson, S. 1995. Social Transformations: a General Theory of Historical Development. Oxford: Blackwell. Severino, J.M. 2010. “Africa’s Billions: The Global Players of Tomorrow.” In the Development Policy Forum (DPF) Series of ‘Future World’ Debates. Shaw, T. 1981. “ Towards a Prehistoric Demography of Africa.” In African Historical Demography. Vol.2. P. 581-606. Simon, J. 1977. The Economics of Population Growth. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

42. Stewart, M. B. 2004. “The Employment Effects of the National Minimum Wage”. Economic Journal . Vol.114. P.110-16. 43. Thirlwall, A. P. 1994. Growth and Development. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press. 44. Traver,J.D. 1996. The Demography of Africa. Westport, Connecticut, London / Praeger Publishers. 45. Tsen,W,H. & Furuoka, F. 2005. “The Relationship Between Population and Economic Growth in Asian Economies.” ASEAN Economic Bulletin / Dec, 2005. 46. Warr, P. 2004. “Globalisation, Growth, and Poverty Reduction in Thailand”. ASEAN Economic Bulletin. Vol. 21(1). P. 1-18. 47. Wilson, A. C. and Rebecca L. C. 1992. The Recent African Genesis of Humans. Scientific American. Vol.266. P. 68-73. 48. Wolfgang Fengler 2010 http://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/can-rapid-populationgrowth-be-good-for-economic-development. Can rapid population growth be good for economic development? 49. Woodrow-Lafield,K.A. home:Comcast.net/karenwoodrowlafield/kwlsyl67031.html. 50. World Population Prospects 2008. Press Release. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/pressrelease.pdf. 51. World Population Prospects, the 2010 Revision. Projection Section, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Estimates and Projection Section.

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ognizant of the fact that Africa’s human capital is its greatest and most valuable asset, India made an official announcement of its capacity building initiatives, inter alia, in the healthcare sector at the 14-nation first India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-I) of April 2008, in New Delhi. The healthcare sector in Africa offers immense potential for engagement between the two partners. At the second IAFS (IAFS-II), the two partners reiterated their conviction that the “promotion of health is critical in the development of the human capital

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necessary to drive socio-economic growth” (IAFS-II, 2011: p 6) There are several deficiencies in the healthcare sector of the continent because the public health delivery system in general lacks affordable, accessible and quality healthcare infrastructure, including a pool of skilled personnel and essential medicines. There is a constant attrition of personnel due to brain drain of skilled health workers to greener pastures. While Africa has 10 percent of the world’s population, it bears 25 percent of the global diseases and only 3 percent of the global healthcare force! In Africa, there are only two

AFRICA QUARTERLY physicians per 10,000 people compared to 32 per 10,000 in the European region (WHO, 2009: p. 95). Plans for the establishment of healthcare facilities in countries of the continent have in the past taken into consideration the facility/population ratio, but with time this has in some areas been seriously overtaken by the high population growth-rate. Moreover, stateof-the-art medical facilities are not within the reach of majority of the people where the government is the principal provider of both preventive and curative treatment. Under-financing of the healthcare sector is a major problem because of limited resources and the state has had to resort to budgetary cuts. The total expenditure on healthcare as percentage of GDP in 2010 for some of the countries of the continent are as follows: Burundi (11.59), Ethiopia (4.90), Ghana (5.22), Kenya (4.75), Malawi (6.59), Nigeria (5.07). Countries such as Liberia (11.85), Rwanda (10.48), Sierra Leone (13.07), South Africa (8.94) and Uganda (9.01) expend a higher percentage as compared to several countries of the continent (WHO, 2012)1. The lack of political will by the political elite to overhaul the healthcare system adds to the handicaps in this sector. There is a lack of commitment to the Abuja Declaration of 2001, wherein the member states pledged to allocate at least 15 percent of their annual budget to the healthcare sector (WHO, 2011). It is noteworthy that the Abuja targets of 15 percent expenditure on healthcare are unmet despite an overall increase in Development Assistance to Health (DAH) through donor assistance, due to fungibility of the sums received, i.e., the monies are diverted to other budget heads by the national governments (AllAfrica.com, 2010). Against this background, the capacity building initiatives launched by India are significant inputs that will contribute to revamping the health sector on the continent. At the IAFS-I India committed to; Enhance the indigenous manufacturing capacities and to make available affordable and quality pharmaceutical products, provide technical cooperation in controlling HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and other communicable diseases; and help with local production of oral rehydration therapy and cooperate to combat the menace of counterfeit medicines’ (IAFS- I, 2008: p.16). India also launched the telemedicine infrastructure in all the African Union (AU) member states in Africa in 2009, as a part of the Pan-African e-Network project funded through the aid to Africa program. This project bridges the “digital divide” between the partner countries through a satellite and fibre optic network and offers “medical diagnostic and other services to which they would not ordinarily have access due to distance and/or limitation in the availability of specialists (Ibid).

While Africa has 10 percent of the world’s population, it bears 25 percent of the global diseases and only 3 percent of the global healthcare force This engagement continued at the IAFS-II in 2011, wherein the two partners reaffirmed their commitment made at the 2008 IAFS. They also agreed to; Strengthening of public-private sector collaboration in the areas of pharmaceutical and procurement in Africa and India in the framework of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan for Africa and the fight against counterfeit medicines [and to] undertake to pursue dialogue on intellectual property rights and access to medicines; research and development in traditional medicine and practices in Africa and India; sharing of experiences, specialised expertise and best practices in healthcare systems development and community health programmes; support for Africa’s Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA); and training and continuing education for health professionals… (IAFS-II, 2011: p.6) India’s capacity building has been an ongoing exercise through the government of India’s Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC programme) and its corollary, the Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme (SCAAP), since it was launched in 1964. Under this initiative, technical courses are offered

Hospitals like Prince Aly Khan in Mumbai regularly send their teams to hospitals in Tanzania and Kenya to set up contacts with the patients.

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INNOVATION

In addition to building capacity for the local production of drugs on the continent, Indian companies supply drugs to several countries in Africa at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research — SAS Nagar, Punjab. Applicants from across Africa are trained on pharmaceuticals and related issues in this institute (For details, see MEA, 2012: p.3). African medicos have been trained in India, under the recently launched C.V. Raman Fellowship for African researchers, to conduct collaborative research in the field of science and technology. Training in pharmaceutical and medical sciences can bolster the much needed domestic capacity in these two segments of the healthcare sector in Africa. Further, Indian pharmaceuticals companies’ heavy footprint in Africa is a significant marker in India-Africa engagements. Africa accounted for 14 percent of India’s US$8 billion pharmaceutical exports in 2008-09 and the trade has been growing (Africa Development Bank, 2011: pp. 1-8). The India Pharma sector was valued at $12 billion in early 2012 and is projected to double its global exports to $25 billion during 2013-2014 (Nair, 2012). In this growth story, Africa has a significant place. Though the U.S. and Europe are the leading destinations for India’s pharma products, South Africa is a major importer of Indian drugs, mainly generic antiretroviral (ARVs) medicines. Nigeria, the most populous country on the continent, is another significant market for Indian pharma products. One of the leading Indian companies, Ranbaxy Nigeria has had a presence in the country for the past two and a half decades, i.e., since May 1987, and has a strong presence in Ethical, Over the Counter Drugs (OTC), Generic and the ARV segments through local manufacturing of liquids and other dosage forms (Ranbaxy, 2012). Ranbaxy also has a market in several other countries, namely Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia and its major objective is to provide quality and affordable generic drugs on the continent (Ranbaxy, 2012a; Africa Development Bank, 2011: 6). In Uganda, another Indian pharmaceutical company CIPLA recently entered into a joint venture with the government of Uganda, and the Ugandan pharmaceutical company Quality Chemicals Industries Ltd., and invested $32 billion to build new plant in Kampala for the production of ARV and anti-malarial drugs. These

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case studies are just a few exemplars of how Indian technology and expertise is being used to manufacture drugs of the highest international standards on the continent (Ibid). In addition to building capacity for the local production of drugs on the continent, Indian companies supply drugs to several countries in Africa. For example, India companies are the top suppliers of pharmaceuticals to Nigeria, a position that reflects confidence that the Nigerian consumers repose in drugs produced and exported from India. However, the issue of counterfeit drugs and fake anti-malarial drugs that carried the ‘Made in India’ mark resulted in a diplomatic row between India and China wherein the former lodged a strong protest with the Chinese authorities. The representative of The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), at an interaction with representatives of Indian pharma companies at the Federation of Indian Chamber for Commerce and Industry (FICCI) clarified that Nigeria did not plan to define counterfeit drugs to include generic “… because we know the importance of generics” (IANS, 2011). The Indian government and manufacturers zealously guard their established reputation in the pharmaceutical sector. In response to a news report titled “Counterfeit medicines from Asia threaten lives in Africa”, published in the Guardian newspaper on December 24, 2012, the Ministry of External Affairs (Government of India), issued a clarification via a press statement to counter the allegation. The MEA explained; No fake medicines have been sent from India to the continent of Africa. Allegations [such as by the Guardian] when they have surfaced previously have been investigated both in India and Africa and have been found to be baseless with the origin of such drugs not being from India. [However], India has stepped up oversight on this subject. The Government of India continues to interact extensively with countries in Africa to provide quality medicines at affordable prices. The government of India is committed to continue this cooperation in the strong belief that this is an ideal means of enhancing South-South cooperation and engagement (MEA, 2012a). To deal with the challenges of ‘negative publicity’ in some countries, the Department of Commerce, Govt. of India, has advised Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil), an Export Promotion Council set up by Ministry of Commerce and Industry for promoting the export of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products and services from India, to launch a Brand Pharma India Campaign globally in order to raise, among other things, awareness about the Indian pharma sector, protect this sector from

AFRICA QUARTERLY

Indian pharmaceuticals companies’ heavy footprint in Africa is a significant marker in India-Africa engagement. Africa accounted for 14 percent of India’s $8 billion pharmaceutical exports in 2008-09.

allegations by vested interests and reaffirm to the international customers that Indian generics are life saving, affordable and meet international standards (Pharmexcil, 2013).

‘Pharmacy of the developing world’ India has long been considered ‘the pharmacy of the developing world’ and Indian generics such as ARVs provide medicines at a fraction of the cost of drugs produced by multinationals. Eighty percent of people living with HIV who receive treatment in developing countries use Indian generic ARVs and over 90 percent of pediatric AIDS medicines are supplied by Indian generics that have brought down the costs from about $655 per month in the 1990s to less than $13 per month today! (TAC, 2012). Growing concerns were expressed on the eve of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) meeting of February 10, 2012 on the anti-public health proposals in the FTA. There have been appeals from civil society that India must not give into pressure from EU to accept provisions that will restrict generic production of affordable, highquality generic medicines for HIV, cancer, mental illness, heart disease, and others and thus harm public health (TAC, 2012).2 India promotes its pharmaceutical companies in Africa through exhibitions to showcase its capacity in

this sector. For example, Pharmexcil is organising an exhibition — “IPHEX-2013: International Exhibition for Pharma and Healthcare” a B2B meets in April, 2013, in Mumbai to cater to bulk exporters of Indian drugs (IPHEX, 2013). Some notable features of the Indian pharma sector are as follows: n India has approximately 1,000 WHO Current Good Manufacturing Practices (WHO CGMP) approved pharmaceutical plants. n 15 percent of generics by volume sold in the US are from India. n Finished generics supplied from India accounts for 20 percent of the global generics market. n Approximately 70 percent of the patients belonging to 87 developing countries receive medicines procured from India through NGOs like The Clinton Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, MSF, UNCTAD, etc. n Globally, more than 90 percent of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) approvals for Antiretroviral (ARVs), Anti-tubercular and Anti-malarial (WHO prequalified) has been granted to India. n India produces 40-70 percent of the WHO demand for DPT & BCG and 90 percent of measles vaccine (cited in IPHEX, 2013). Initiative such as the IPHEX serve the objective of the Brand India Pharma campaign which reaffirm that Indian products comply with the international pharmacopeia standards.

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INNOVATION Though Indian generics cost much less than those supplied by multinational pharma companies, the importation of drugs to countries in Africa adds to the costs of medicines. At times, the vagaries of transportation results in the withdrawal of medicines, including life-saving medicines from the market. It is not a surprise, therefore, that there has been a rise in the number of patients seeking healthcare beyond their state borders, referred to as ‘ medical tourism’ in common parlance, and India is a favoured destination for several African patients. In fact, the term ‘medical tourism’ is a misnomer. During interviews with the African patients, the term was interpreted literally and its usage was disapproved by several African patients and doctors in India. “Tourism in the conventional sense conveys fun, sightseeing and holiday. Chemotherapy in India is certainly not my idea of tourism”, stated a senior oncologist at a hospital in Mumbai (For details, see Modi, R. 2011: pp. 126-129).

African patients seek treatment in India One can understand this evolving industry of ‘medical tourism’ in the current context of globalisation and liberalisation that has impacted all the sectors of the Indian economy. There has been a proliferation of advanced technologies and new facilities at private healthcare centers of the country. Patients from the middle and lower income strata,

those who can pool in the financial resources, prefer to come to India for the quality care that the Indian private hospitals offer at relatively affordable prices. However, this does not apply to those who fall below the safety net and cannot afford the expenses of treatment at home, let alone abroad. Therefore, does this phenomenon of seeking healthcare beyond one’s state borders augur well for the health sector on the African continent?

Flow of patients to India not a recent phenomenon The Chennai based Apollo group of hospitals was one of the first to be flooded with international patients mainly from the United Kingdom (UK) for cataract surgeries in early 1990s at a time when the healthcare sector in the European countries was at the brink of collapse due to a severe shortage of skilled medical personnel. ‘The inflow from UK was followed by the rest of the European countries, the United States, Middle East, the South-East Asian neighborhood and later from the African continent as the Indian medical sector gained a reputation for its high-level of expertise and quality healthcare at competitive prices. The strong demand comes from the 20 million strong Indian diaspora scattered across the globe and the leveraging of ‘brand India’ by word of mouth publicity by them’ (Modi, R. 2011a: p125). It must be clarified here that countries such as

The Apollo-Bramwell Hospital in Mauritius is an exemplar of India’s capacity building efforts in the African continent.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY Botswana, Mauritius and South Africa, have better medical infrastructure as compared to other countries on the continent, but the treatment in private hospitals is very expensive and out of reach for the majority of the populace. Ironically, India is a preferred destination for African patients who seek treatment in the stateof-the-art private hospitals in India. These hospitals (mainly private) are unaffordable for the common man in the country, but provide excellent medical services for foreign patients! They offer ‘first world treatment at third world costs’, i.e., healthcare at a fraction of the expenses as compared to treatment in hospitals in Europe or the USA. The reasons for seeking treatment in India are many and varied. Hospitals in India have been getting patients mainly since 2000 from all the countries on the continent, though there is a larger flow of medical tourists from South Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia. The Indian diaspora in general, and mainly the Gujarati and Muslim clientele of Indian origin in east and southern Africa in particular, come to India for treatment in large numbers because of their historical and family ties back home. Based on their satisfactory experience in Indian hospitals, they have spread the good word to potential patients in Africa.

The main areas in which India can provide medical expertise are: n CABGs, valvular surgeries, angioplasties, angiographies n Neurosurgery — gamma knife, minimal invasive n Medical oncology and oncosurgery n Orthopedics (joint replacements) n Renal transplantation, plastic surgery n Minimal access surgery (GI) n Ophthalmology (cataract) and n ENT — cochlear implant (Personal communication with doctors in various hospitals, 2011)

What do Indian hospitals offer?

Reaching out to patients in Africa

In India, the skills and diagnosis of doctors in reputed medical institutes like Apollo Group of Hospitals, Bombay Hospital, Breach Candy, Fortis Health Care, Hinduja Hospital, Lilavati Hospital, Madras Christian College, Medicity Medanta, Sankara Nethralaya, Vellore Medical, Wockhardt Group of Hospitals, and several other institutions have earned a formidable reputation on the international map for those seeking high-quality and relatively affordable treatment in comparison to hospitals in the West. The reasons for African patients seeking treatment in India are many and varied. These include — n An identical socio-economic status of the population of the two countries. n Similar disease profile with the most common ailments being hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, infectious disease (TB), etc. n Availability of high-tech machines and radiation therapy in treatment of cancer and other diseases. Patients from Africa are mainly from a middle class background and earn in their national currencies and not dollars and pounds and therefore do not have the advantage of favorable exchange rate that Americans or Europeans have. Indian hospitals offer medical facilities comparable to the developed world at an average

Patients generally come to Indian hospitals on personal reference of doctors in their home countries in Africa. There is no organised way of referrals to Indian hospitals. To cite one example, hospitals like Prince Aly Khan in Mumbai, a part of the Aga Khan Group of Hospitals, regularly sends their teams to hospitals in Tanzania and Kenya to set up initial contact with the patients through medical centers like Regency Hospital in Dar es Salam and the Aga Khan hospitals in Tanzania and Kenya. Hospitals in India that are geared towards receiving medical tourists also approach associations of general practitioners in various African countries. Promotional tours are also conducted by Indian hospitals. In order to promote Apollo as a destination for healthcare, the company showcased its capabilities at the Internationale Tourismus Borse (ITB) Exhibition in Berlin at the annual travel and tourism exhibition of 2003. The response was overwhelming and Apollo started an international marketing division soon after. The hospital has now tied up with over 10 international insurance companies and has its own health insurance company — Apollo DVK — and third party administrators abroad (Medindia.com, 2008). The CEO of Apollo stated that it was not that the treatment was cheaper in India, “a heart surgery works out to rupees

those who can pool in the financial resources prefer to come to India for the quality care that the Indian private hospitals offer at affordable prices of about one third of the cost in Western countries (for details, see Modi, R. 2011a: pp. 133- 137)

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international airports have opened separate counters for ‘medical visas’ so that patients do not have to stand in long queues to complete their immigration formalities two hundred thousand (about $4,000) here and it’s not a small amount. It is the rupee value that makes healthcare ‘cheaper’ here” (Modi, R. 2011a: 134). India’s capabilities in this segment are also showcased through business associations such as the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and FICCI. Indian delegations from these industry bodies travel to countries in Africa to meet with officials of the healthcare sector and local hospitals to explore the possibility of a liaison between themselves and their African counterparts. A few hospitals in India that plan to tap the potential and growing market in Africa are exploring the possibility of setting up extensions of Hospital Services Satellite Clinics in African countries. Two collaborative ventures, the Apollo-Bramwell Hospital in Mauritius and the Primus Super Specialty Hospital in Abuja, Nigeria, are exemples of success stories in capacity building on the continent. Over the past few years, over 1,000 Tanzanian patients have sought treatment at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, the Madras Medical Mission in Chennai and the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals in Bangalore, under the guidance of internationally reputed heart surgeons such Dr. Devi Shetty and Dr. K.M Cherian at a discounted rate. (Personal communication with medical personnel at Regency Medical Centre, Dar es Salaam, April 2009) Former President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam in his capacity as patron of the Care Hospital in Hyderabad, donated 10 free heart surgeries for Tanzanian patients. He also offered cardiac surgery training for government doctors that were to be identified through the Tanzanian Ministry of Health at the same hospital. Over the last three decades, thousands of heart surgeries have been facilitated in Indian hospitals because of the international quality medical standards and near 100 percent success rate (about 99 per cent) at one third the cost of similar surgeries in developed nations (Ibid). Hospitals such as Apollo, Medanta Medicity and Wockhardt, among others for instance, are geared towards an international patient clientele. They have a separate marketing division for international

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patients that provide a range of services to facilitate the treatment of international patients. Details about the hospital can be easily accessed in their home countries in Africa via the Internet and through teleconferences. The appointments with doctors, the dates of surgery, etc, are fixed prior to their arrival. They also arrange for airport services that include picking up the patient from the airport in an ambulance and dropping back to the airport after his or her treatment and recovery. Their marketing desks also organise accommodation for relatives and caregivers in nearby hotels and lodges where the African patients stay after being discharged from the hospital, for recovery and follow up, if required. Further, major international airports such as the one in Mumbai have recently opened a separate counter at the immigration services for ‘medical visas’, so that patients do not have to stand in long queues to complete their immigration formalities on arrival. In addition, several hospitals offer a new category of private service providers. These facilitators are now emerging as a contact between patients in the African countries and Indian hospitals and provide them with logistical support based on the nature of treatment required, budget, preferences of the patients, etc. However, not all the patients have the option of going abroad for treatment, mainly because of financial constraints. In this context, India’s novel Pan African e-network project funded by the Ministry of External Affairs under its ‘Aid to Africa’ programme offers online medical services through tele-consultation by linking hospitals in Africa with twelve super specialty hospitals in India.

Telemedicine and education India-Africa engagement in the healthcare sector has intensified with the Pan-African e-network that was launched on February 26, 2009. This novel method of telemedicine was conceived by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. It facilitates healthcare through the use of electronic Information Communication and Technology (ICT). The basic objective of the Pan-African e-Network project is to assist Africa in capacity building by way of imparting quality education to 10,000 students in Africa over a 5-year period in various disciplines from some of the best Indian Universities/educational institutions. Besides, this would provide Tele-Medicine services by way of on line medical consultation to the medical practitioner at the Patient End Location in Africa by Indian medical specialists in various disciplines/specialties selected by African Union for its Member States (PanAfrica e-Network.com, 2012)

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Shashi Tharoor, the then Minister of State for External Affairs, and the then Chairperson of the African Union Commission Jean Ping inaugurating a telemedicine facility as part of the Pan African E-network at the AU Commission in Addis Ababa, Ehiopia, on January 28, 2010.

Countries on the continent can thus share India’s advancements in the healthcare sector despite the distance between them. Soon after the Indian cabinet approved of this project on July 5, 2007, Ethiopia was selected as the pilot project for the e-network that was launched in July 2007 (For details, see Ibid). Connectivity between the tele-education centers at the Addis Ababa University and Haramaya Learning Centers in Ethiopia and the Black Lion and Nekempte Hospital in Ethiopia with Care Hospital in Hyderabad was established. At present, the African Union has shortlisted three leading regional universities and two regional hospitals for participation in the e-network. These include the Makerere University, Uganda (East Africa), Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology- Ghana (West Africa), University of Yaounde, Cameroon (Central Africa), Ibadan Hospital, Nigeria (West Africa) and the Brazzaville Hospital, Republic of Congo (Central Africa). As a part of the telemedicine project, live consultations are being offered in the healthcare sector to each of the member states of the African Union in various medical disciplines such as cardiology, neurology, urology, pathology, oncology, gynecology, infectious diseases/HIV/Aids, ophthalmology and pediatrics. In addition, offline consultations are offered for a limited number of patients per day from selected hospitals in

India. The project also offers skills upgrade through sharing of information with the medical personnel in the African countries through its Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme. (For details, see PanAfrican-e-Network Project, 2012a) However, the project is at a nascent stage and the care offered through telemedicine may not suffice for complicated cases that require state-of-the-art technology and hands-on experience. Thus though the PanAfrican e-network has a lot to offer to the healthcare sector on the continent, it has inbuilt limitations. Therefore, there is an urgent need to build capacity — in terms of infrastructure and medical skills for a sustainable heath delivery system on the continent.

India and the irony of ‘Medical Tourism’ It is incongruous that India that spends only about 4.2 percent of its GDP on healthcare has grown to be a preferred destination for “medical tourists” from Africa and other parts of the world (WHO, 2009: p. 95).3 The multi-million dollar state-of-the-art super specialty facilities in India amid squalor and poverty in the country offers a contradictory picture of India’s capabilities and domestic scenario in the healthcare sector. This is certainly ironical as citizens of the country who cannot pay for their treatment are not offered the same

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The Narayana Hrudayalaya Cardiac Hospital in Bangalore is a major attraction for patients in Africa.

medical treatment as ‘medical tourists’ from other countries, who can shell out for the expensive treatment in Indian hospitals, are offered. Dr. Pratap C. Reddy, the founder of the 25-year-old chain of Apollo hospitals acknowledges this incongruity. According to Dr. Reddy, “access to healthcare in the country remains far from satisfactory”. He states

that the profits earned from patients abroad can be used for cross-subsidising the costs of treatment for Indian patients below the poverty line and middle class categories (Venkatraman, 2008). In the long run, funds raised and profits earned by hospitals and the tertiary sectors in India, such as hospitality and the travel sector that service foreign patients can be used for cross subsidising the healthcare sector to provide for those below the safety net who cannot afford to pay for their treatment. This viewpoint has been a part of the debate in the country on ‘medical tourism’ for the past few years but such suggestions have not been implemented as yet. Though African patients who can pay for the relatively affordable medical treatment in India can have access to highly skilled doctors and world class treatment in Indian hospitals, this alternative does not serve the vast majority of the population on the continent, primarily those who fall below the safety net. It is in this context that India’s capacity building initiatives in the pharmaceutical sector, the training of African healthcare personnel in India via various initiatives of the government of India and the establishment of Indian hospitals in collaboration with the governments or local partners in Africa need to be acknowledged.

ENDNOTES 1.

1It is a matter of great concern that the total expenditure of health as percentage of GDP for India is only 4.2 percent, much below several countries in Africa! WHO (2011), ‘Health expenditure’ at http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS2011 _Full.pdf. There have been protests globally and a picket at the Consulate General of India at Park town, Johannesburg against the recent anticipated antipublic health policies being pushed on India by the European Union (EU)-India Summit in New Delhi on

10th February 2012. 8 February 2012, MSF-SA, TAC, SECTION27 and He-Tic picket at the Consulate General of India 7 February, 2012. (Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) (2012) ‘MSF-SA, TAC, SECTION 27 and He-Tic Picket at the Consulate General of India’, February 7, Available at <http://www.tac.org.za/ community/node/3246> (Accessed date, November 15, 2012). A sum at par with the share of GDP spent on health care in Kenya and Tanzania and several other countries in Africa.

REFERENCES 1.

Africa Development Bank (2011) ‘India’s Economic Engagement with Africa’ Africa Economic Brief, Volume 2, Issue 6, May 11, pp. 1-

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8, Available at, <http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Indi a’s%20Economic%20Engagement%20with%20Af

AFRICA QUARTERLY rica.pdf> (Accessed date, 20 October, 2012). Allafrica.com (2010) ‘Nigeria: ‘Federal government to stop funding medical treatment abroad’, April 23, Available at <http://allafrica.com/stories/201004230371.html> (Accessed date, January 24, 2013). 3. India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-I) (2008) ‘Adopts Delhi Declaration and the Framework for Cooperation’, April 8-9, New Delhi. 4. India-Africa Forum Summit (IAFS-II) (2011) ‘Nigeria More Vigilant against Fake Drugs’, India Africa Connect, August 4, Available at <http://www.indiaafricaconnect.in/index.php?param=news/191/hea lth-education/106> (Accessed date, 19 October, 2012). 5. IPHEX (2013) ‘International Exhibition for Pharma and Healthcare on 24-26 April, 2013’, Bombay Exhibition Centre, Mumbai, India, Available at, <http://www.hcindiatz.org/pdf/IPHEX%20for%20 Website.pdf> (Accessed date, 23 January, 2013). 6. Medindia.com (2008) ‘Indian Emerging as International Medical Tourism Hub’, September 22, Available at <http://www.medindia.net/news/ healthwatch/India-Emerging-as-InternationalMedical%20Tourism-Hub-42144-1.htm> (Accessed date, 11 January, 2009). 7. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) (2012) ‘Civilian Training Programme Indian Technical & Economic Cooperation (ITEC) & Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa Programme (SCAAP) 20112012’, Government of India, New Delhi, p. 3, Available at <http://itec.mea.gov.in/ITEC%20 Brochure%202009-10.pdf> (Accessed date, 12 November, 2012). 8. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) (2012a) ‘Response to the report in the Guardian newspaper on counterfeit medicine in Africa’, Government of India, New Delhi, Available at <http://www. mea.gov.in/mediabriefings.htm?dtl/21019/Respons e+to+a+report+in+The+Guardian+newspaper+on+ counterfeit+medicines+in+Africa> (Accessed date, 22 January, 2013). 9. Modi, Renu (2011) ‘Healthcare of Africans in India’, in South- South Cooperation: Africa on the Centre Stage (ed.), Palgrave Macmillan, United Kingdom, pp 116- 137. 10. Modi, Renu (2011a) ‘Medical Tourism of Africans to India’, in India in Africa: Changing Geographies of Power (eds.) Emma Mawdsley and Gerard McCain, Fahamu Books, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2011. 11. Nair, A. (2012) ‘India ‘to Double Pharmaceutical 2.

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Exports by 2014’, Pharaexec.com, Available at <http://www.pharmexec.com/pharmexec/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=757923> (Accessed date, 22 January, 2013). Pan-African-e-Network Project (2012) ‘Inauguration of Pan African e-Network Project (Phase 2)’, Available at <http://www. panafricanenetwork.com/> (Accessed date, 23 January, 2013). Pan-African-e-Network Project (2012a) ‘Capacity Building’, Available at <http://www. panafricanenetwork.com/Portal/ProjectDetails.js p?projectidhide=8&projectnamehide=Capacity%2 0Building> (Accessed date, 23 January, 2013). Pharmexcil (2013) ‘Brand India Campaign’, Available at <http://pharmexcil.org/bip/> (Accessed date, 23 January, 2013). Ranbaxy (2012a) ‘Worldwide Operations-Africa’, Available at <http://www.ranbaxy.com/operations/operationregion.aspx?id=76&flag=> (Accessed date, 20 January, 2013). Ranbaxy Trusted Medicines Healthier lives (2012) ‘Nigeria’, Available at <http://www.ranbaxy. com/operations/operationcountry.aspx?Cid=140& flag=&Rid=76> (Accessed on 12 November, 2012). Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) (2012) ‘MSF-SA, TAC, SECTION 27 and He-Tic Picket at the Consulate General of India’, February 7, Available at <http://www.tac.org.za/community/node/3246> (Accessed date, 15 November, 2012). Venkatraman, Hemamalini (2008) ‘Medical Tourism Can Make Healthcare Affordable for Poor, Economic Times, October 02, Available at <http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/20 08-10-02/news/27701805_1_cardiac-ailmentsmedical-tourism-lakh-nurses> (Accessed date, 15 November, 2012). World Health Organization (WHO) (2009) ‘Health Workforce, Infrastructure, Essential Medicines’, Table 6, Available at <http://www.who.int/whosis/whostat/EN_WHS09_Table6.pdf> (Accessed date, 23 January, 2013). World Health Organization (WHO) (2011) ‘The Abuja Declaration: Ten Years On’, Available at <http://www.who.int/healthsystems/publications/abuja_declaration/en/index.html>, (Accessed date, 23 January, 2013). World Health Organization (WHO) (2012) ‘Health Financing: Health Expenditure Ratios 2010’, Available at <http://apps.who.int/gho/data/ ?vid=1901> (Accessed date, 23 January, 2013).

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Prisoners of Mau Mau rebellion.

The unsung warriors Taking a historical neoview of the Mau Mau movement, Dr. Nandini Sen brings to fore how women were marginalised both by the British colonisers and the revolutionary Kenyans, and how they became agents of change Historians are tossed about on this tidal flow of anxious guesswork and therapeutic memory. Our profession teaches us to explain people’s actions in their own time, in the face of uncertain futures, when all decisions were a venture, when anything might happen. As human beings, however, we are also partisan, and we know better than the actors we study. Their unknowable futures have since become known; their unforeseen outcomes have shaped our own heroic myths. Some of their causes have prospered, others failed or were crushed. We want to know why. Who benefited and at whose expense? But hindsight is a notoriously unfair tribunal and the ‘judgment of history’ often pre-judged. — John Lonsdale

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he study of the Mau Mau movement continues to be a historical challenge as one is studying the movement from an entirely different historical framework with a set of theoretical tools which were far removed from the time the Mau Mau movement actually took place. However, in spite of the obvious historical challenges one is drawn to this movement given its contemporary nature and the fact that it continues to play itself out in different forms in Kenya even today. The Mau Mau was a spontaneous rebellion by a group of oppressed people against the mighty British dominion. In this paper, I discuss the historical background of the Movement bringing to fore how women continued to be marginalised both by the British colonisers as well as the revolutionary Kenyans. The colonial domination wedged a gap between the Kenyan male and female preferring the former over the latter for preferential treatment. Within the forest hideout, women were initially delegated the more inferior tasks of acting as couriers or acting as caregivers or nurses. Very few women were allocated combat roles. Whether for the colonizer or the Kenyan male, the female body continued to remain the discursive space of struggle. The female body and female sexuality in particular, provided a symbolic space through which the asymmetrical power relations between African men has been discursively articulated, secured and contested. Frantz Fanon discusses the centrality of women’s bodies to the male centred colonial contest between colonised African men and their white male colonisers when he says “the look that the native turns on the settler’s town is a look of lust, a look of envy; it expresses his dreams of possession-all manners of possession: to sit at the settler’s table, to sleep in the settler’s bed, with his wife if possible (Fanon: 1963, 39). I argue that the colonial contest between white patriarchal colonisers and their colonised African men, included, a contest over the possession of women’s bodies. The body politic I locate in the usage of women as kabutani or platoon to be commanded by men, the debate over female circumcision where an uncircumcised woman was not allowed to be a Mau Mau rebel and the forest liaisons which invariably resulted in sexual violation of the woman. In tracing the history of the Movement, the pattern of the slow and steady decline of the woman’s position in the society is seen. However, in the fast changing face of the society, a new role for the woman is forged and womanhood is redefined at every new turning point.

History of the movement The Kikuyu, the largest tribe inhabiting Kenya, were agriculturists with very strong individual ties to specific tracts of land. These estates were called

Githaka and were owned by a founding member of a Mbari or a sub-clan whose progeny could share the land. Under the Kikuyu law, tenants who had no kinship ties to a Mbari could obtain temporary building and cultivation rights but not ownership. The family land in Kikuyu society was essential to the existence of the family, for when lineages lost their land either by purchase or by force, members of the lineages lost their identification with the kinship unit and became aggregates of individuals. When the first British settlers arrived in 1902, they settled on what seemed to be vast tracts of idle land. In fact, the land had only temporarily been vacated by the Kikuyu as a result of rinderpest and smallpox epidemics, drought, famine and locusts. The British purchased the land usually from tenants without the consent of the true owners, and as a result purchases were usually illegal according to the Kikuyu law. In addition, the Crown Lands Ordinance was passed in 1915, giving the governor of the colony the power to do as he wanted with the Kenyan land. During this period the colonial government established a system of chieftaincy among the Kikuyu where one had not existed before. Traditional Kikuyu political structure was essentially egalitarian and decentralised. When the British arrived, they found no hierarchy of authority. (See Rosenberg & Nottingham: 1966) In the event of a dispute, a council of elders would gather to discuss the problem. The council’s ability to command respect was based largely on the age of the individuals composing it. Leadership was determined largely by age or through a system of age-grades where junior generation-sets would accede to political authority only after reaching a certain age. The British imposed a highly centralised structure, destroying the function of age-grades by banning traditional ceremonies in which prestige and power were conferred on adult males of an elder age-grade and by appointing salaried “chiefs” to serve almost as cultural brokers sympathetic to the needs of the government. In recruiting these chiefs, the British only sometimes made use of the traditional authori-

Traditional Kikuyu political structure was essentially egalitarian and decentralised. When the British arrived, they found no hierarchy of authority within the community Aug - Oct 2012

GENDER

The British enforced the eviction of over 100,000 squatters from the Rift Valley and imposed the privatisation of clan land in the reserves during the 1950s.

ty structure. The elders of Kikuyu society were not always reliable in their dealings with the government, and the British found it far more effective to recruit individuals who did not necessarily occupy any sort of position of authority in the Kikuyu society but could be counted upon to represent colonial needs. Any status or authority among Kikuyu attained by these individuals was usually due to the enormous wealth conferred upon them by the government. (Edgerton: 1989) The chiefs were loathed by most working class people and the Mau Mau rebellion was as much against the corrupt chiefs as their colonial masters. The British also imposed a policy of forced labour in order to satisfy the labour needs of colonial farmers. The British were able to enforce the eviction of over 100,000 squatters from the Rift Valley and impose the privatisation of clan land in the reserves during the 1950s. What African resistance had prevented the colonists from doing in the 1940s, they did at the point of a gun during the state of emergency from October 1952 to January 1960. They virtually obliterated womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s customary entitlements to land by giving European title deeds to their African male â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;loyalistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; allies (Tamarkin:1978). The British strengthened capitalist relations in the reserves while creating a largely female landless population that could provide cheap labour on the new African export-oriented farms and on the white settler plantations. According to Welbourne:

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The alienation of land was accompanied by what can only be called a policy of forced labour, not only for men but for women and children... All Government officials in charge of native areas were instructed to exercise every possible lawful influence to induce able bodied male natives to go into the labour field. Where farms are situated in the neighbourhood of a native area, women and children should be encouraged to go out for such labour as they can perform. (Tamarkin:1978, 67) Chiefs also played an important role in exerting pressure on individuals to comply with the government policy. In order to create a cash dependency, the British imposed a series of hut taxes while at the same time keeping wages at subsistence level. During the period of 1902-1919, hut taxes were raised several times, poll taxes were levied and the frequency of collection per annum increased. In addition, the British introduced what was known as the kipande system whereby all adult males over the age of 16 were required to carry registration papers at all times. Transgressing the kipande regulation often resulted in heavy fines or imprisonment. It was usually Kikuyu tribe members who suffered most under British laws since they had occupied the central highlands most desired by the whites. They, ultimately, were responsible for Mau Mau (See Rosberg & Nottingham, Tamarkin, William Ochieng). The Kikuyu considered European occupation of the land only temporary, and

AFRICA QUARTERLY “purchases” were construed by the Kikuyu as only leases or rents. At their return, Kikuyu were forced to become squatters and tenants on colonial farms. It was also during the 1920s that the first Kikuyu political organisations emerged. In 1920, Harry Thuku formed the Young Kikuyu Association (YKA) in order to protest against the hut and poll taxes, the Crown Lands Ordinance of 1915, continued evictions of Kikuyu sub clans and alienation of their land for European occupation, exorbitant farm prices and the kipande law. In 1922, Thuku also organised the East African Association (EAA), which was intended to appeal to African Kenyans outside of the Kikuyu tribe as well. The tactics of this organisation shifted away from mere protest to more actively antagonistic methods. Thuku, however, was arrested in 1922, and the EAA was banned by the government. The members of early political organisations took oaths of loyalty with a clump of soil in one hand and a Bible in the other, indicating the effect of Christian missionary education on many of the members. Later, however, Christianity was rejected vehemently by the more militant factions including the Mau Mau. It was not until 1924 that Thuku’s party was revived with a new name — Kikuyu Central Association (KCA). The KCA represented a split in political ideology that was to grow wider when Thuku was released from prison with more moderate political leanings. In 1926 the KCA began loyalty oath taking ceremonies — a phenomenon that was to gain critical importance for the unity of Mau Mau during the emergency. Oaths in Kikuyu tradition are an essential part of the Kikuyu tradition and social behaviour. In their legitimate form they are used in initiation ceremonies by which the young are inducted into adult society, in economic transactions, and in judicial ordeals. The power of the oath is derived from the fact that they are taken “under the aegis of the ancestral spirits of the tribe, who oversee their performance and punish their non -performance”. Kenyatta in Facing Mount Kenya writes that oaths were so terribly feared morally and religiously that no one dared to take them unless he was perfectly sure and beyond any doubt that he was innocent or that his claim was genuine. Certain oaths were administered in traditional Kikuyu society if a serious problem (e.g. Theft, murder, breach of contract, impregnation out of wedlock) was not resolved through consensus to the satisfaction of the community. The ceremony invoked the gods to cause the death of the litigant who perjured himself or a member of this family. The traditional power of the oath would become a convenient device used by political organisations — especially Mau Mau — to achieve greater unity. (67)

Among the demands of the KCA were elected representation, greater education opportunities, removal of restrictions on cash crop growing and African ownership of land In 1928 Jomo Kenyatta took control of the KCA, steering a more militant course than that advocated by Thuku. Members of the KCA were from the start incipient nationalists with a more militant approach to political change and their attitudes reflected more the influence of a levelling egalitarianism, expressed in part through the new western values, and in part through the traditional values of the Kikuyu. Among the demands of the KCA were elected representation, greater education opportunities for African children, removal of restrictions on cash crop growing and African ownership of land. In 1929, Kenyatta left for Britain to lobby for redress of Kikuyu grievances and was not to return for nearly 17 years. Recently released from prison, Thuku took over leadership of the KCA, but extreme elements within the group were alienated by his moderate policies. As a result the organisation split into two — the Kikuyu Provincial Association (KPA) headed by Thuku and devoted to constitutional reform and the more extreme KCA headed by Jesse Kariuki. Government controls on “subversive” political activity prevented KCA from achieving the same recognition achieved by KPA. And in 1940 the KCA was banned by the government. Missionary demands intensified during the period between the early twenties and forties. Missions dogmatically insisted on the abandonment of polygyny and female circumcision — an action which was severely disruptive to Kikuyu society, for it was through these practices that the structure of a whole range of relationships, property ownership, and sociopolitical alignment was defined. The Kikuyu response was a rejection of Christian missions, bringing about a bitter and enduring division between the forces of Kikuyu nationalism and the Protestant missions. In 1943, Eliud Mathu formed the Kenya African Study Union, which eventually became the Kenya Africa Union (KAU) in 1946. It was in this year that Jomo Kenyatta returned from abroad with immense popular support to take charge of KAU. With 60,000 whites ruling over 7 million Africans, the KAU pressed for greater representation. At the same time, whites

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GENDER

In the earlier studies of the Mau Mau movement, the women’s participation has not been documented properly and while the men have been mentioned by their names, the women are talked of as a group.

“began to put more pressure on Parliament to consolidate and enlarge their power so that it could never be shaken”. The situation for Africans was impossible; it seemed that nothing could budge the colonial machine. All of the frustrations of the past several decades were not about to be redressed, and Africans at this time were particularly aware of the need for change as a result of the return of large numbers of African soldiers from World War II having seen strong nationalist sentiment in places such as India. By 1947 the Kikuyu people had assigned to Kenyatta “the charismatic qualities of a Moses leading his people to the ‘Promised Land’. Soon he was also accorded the attributes of a saviour and messiah”. (See Rosberg &Nottingham, Tamarkin, William Ochieng) The most radical element with the KAU, most of whom belonged to the age group whose members had seen the most action in World War II, formed a group called Kikuyu Maranga African Union (KMAU). KMAU had initiation ceremonies in which individuals pledged oaths of secrecy and loyalty. The group engaged in terrorist activities. This group eventually became assimilated in the larger “Movement of Unity” or Mau Mau.

Gender and Mau Mau The fact that the Mau Mau revolutionaries utilised the services of the women has been documented in personal accounts like that of Barnett and Njama. However, the woman’s story continues to remain

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under wraps as very little is known in terms of personal narratives of women. The seminal work of Wambui Otieno and the writings by Muthoni Likimani are probably the only first-hand accounts by women revolutionaries. In the earlier studies of the movement, the women’s participation has been documented but while the men have been mentioned by their names, the women are talked of as a group. It is difficult, therefore, to unearth the sentiments that led women to war. Current research has seen a serious engagement with the role of the women in the Mau Mau movement. Notable among these are works by Cora Ann Presley, Greet Kershaw, Teresa Turner, John Lonsdale and Wambui Otieno. These studies have shown that the pre-colonial woman had definite economic aspirations of her own. In order to fulfil these she took recourse to her own indigenous resources. Unfortunately, these indigenous sources were very often not visible to the coloniser. While the ill effects of colonisation are now well documented, a gender based analysis shows that the effect has been even more detrimental to the woman. Colonialism not only demolished the indigenous resource centres of women, in the day-to-day working of the colonial machinery, women were relegated to the margins (See Introduction by Jean O’Barr in Likimani: 1985). I argue that the women joined the Mau Mau because of their very strong agency. It was a struggle for the land and land was a sacred commodity for the kikuyu. Women joined the Movement in all capacities. Originally they were assigned the task of acting as couriers or nurses but very soon some women had entered the combat zones and per force had to be taken seriously. The relooking at this Movement and juxtaposing it to a more contemporary Movement in a different subcontinent is to show that within the so called nationalistic and the anti- nationalistic domains — which I argue is two sides of the same coin — women have been used and abused by patriarchy at will. In a hugely documented movement such as the Mau Mau, the woman question has hardly been articulated. This omission speaks volumes about the position of women within the Kikuyu society and the world at large. The Mau Mau women were extremely valiant as is borne out by the discussion below:

The Mau Mau women “Mau Mau is more than anybody who was not involved can fully understand. Mau Mau was a top secret movement of people who went to war with nothing — no guns, no spears... nothing but determination to get freedom and their land and the war was

AFRICA QUARTERLY won because of us women” says Muthoni Likimani, a Mau Mau war veteran. (Likimani:1985,56) The transition from being the guardians of the domestic front to becoming partners in a political and military struggle was a slow and painful process for the women involved. Kikuyu men resented and strongly opposed the presence of women in the forest and initially relegated them to familiar domestic chores (Barnett and Njama: 1966,226]. The forest women objected to this assignment and proved themselves capable of executing ‘male’ tasks. Meanwhile, thousands of women who did not go into the forest comprised the vital civilian wing of the struggle, the lifeline without which the forest guerrillas would not have survived for as long as they did. These women also took up new roles, modified the old ones, and grappled with extensive social reorganisation to accommodate their new dual politico-domestic identity.

Kikuyu women before Mau Mau The colonial background The Mau Mau war was a nationalist struggle born of the agrarian and political frustrations of Kenyan peasants, the urban proletariat and squatter labourers in the White Highlands (Rosberg and Nottingham: 1966, 234-319). The decision to base the economy of the country on an alien European settler community created a racially structured society in which the

Europeans occupied a dominant and privileged position. They even reserved about seven million acres of the most fertile land for European agriculture, the government concentrated infrastructure, capital, agricultural and veterinary services in the settler sector. The government also enacted a whole range of legislation, both financial and political, to coerce the reluctant Kenyans into the labour market, since settlers needed cheap and abundant labour. Taxation (Hut and Poll Tax, 1901 and 1911 respectively), the Masters and Servants Ordinance (1906, 1924), and the infamous kipande were among measures introduced to force Africans into the labour market and to curb desertion (Rosberg and Nottingham: 1966, 45-6). To ensure that the Kenyans did not become self-sufficient and therefore avoid this wage labour they were denied the right to grow cash-crops, and wages were kept low for the benefit of the settlers. In urban areas living conditions were particularly poor and social services, especially education, were extremely inadequate. In the Kenyan reserves, especially among the Kikuyu, land shortage was rife and over-grazing and over-cultivation resulted in soil erosion. The natives had no electoral rights and their interests were represented by various Europeans in the Legislative Council. The colonial period was thus characterised by a deep sense of grievance among the Kenyans. By the late 1940s people were becoming impatient

The Mau Mau uprising was a nationalist struggle born of the agrarian and political frustrations of Kenyan peasants, the urban proletariat and squatter labourers in the White Highlands.

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GENDER

By 1950 the term ‘Mau Mau’ had gained currency and the escalating breakdown in law and order forced the colonial government to declare a state of emergency on December 20, 1952 with the constitutional approach to the problems of the day. This was particularly evident among the young members of KCA which in the late 1940s launched an oath-based membership drive committing the partakers to the campaign for the recovery of the ‘stolen lands’ through an armed struggle. By 1949 the oaths sworn by the KCA and KAU membership had come to have much in common. The practice, traditionally used as a tool of unity, was radicalised to include and unite most Kikuyu, regardless of sex or age, against colonialism. By 1951 a Batuni (platoon) oath was being administered symbolising the anticipation of a military confrontation. Acts of intimidation and violence against Kikuyu opposed to the oaths, and against settlers who reported subversive Kikuyu or who had weapons that the Kikuyu needed, became widespread on settler farms, in urban areas and in the Central Province, the Kikuyu homeland. By 1950 the term ‘Mau Mau’ had gained currency and the escalating breakdown in law and order forced the colonial government to declare a state of emergency on December 20, 1952. In the ensuing months thousands of men and women fled to the forests from where they waged attacks against the British and loyalist troops, settlers and uncooperative Africans.

The forest warriors The Mau Mau rebels operated from the forests and mountains of Aberdares. While some women went to the forest voluntarily to join other freedom fighters, some did so to escape harassment and torture by loyalists and British troops. Those who went to the forest were generally young and single or otherwise free from domestic duties (e.g., widows or women with older children). However, a married woman who supported Mau Mau activities in the village, in urban areas, or on settler farms, could flee to the forest if she learnt, or suspected, that the government was after her (Presley:2006). After a while, a forest council would meet and free such women from their forest duties so that they could rejoin their families and continue to support the movement from the

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homestead. Some women, especially younger ones, were taken to the forest as porters or as ‘wives’ of freedom fighters (Barnett and Njama: 1966, 243). Though the kikuyu rules did not permit prostitution of any kind, the male leadership argued in favour of women willing to keep them company and such was their charisma and the young women’s commitment to revolution that such requests were not denied. Very often women were forced to flee owing to the abject penury the parents were reduced to. When the Mau Mau went around the village asking for food, many families unable to provide the required food would give their daughters instead. The girls were seen as property which the father or husband could give away at will. Interestingly, the Mau Mau leaders never resisted the admittance of these women who were forced to be there against their will. It was believed that once the goal of freedom was achieved, the women’s problems would be resolved automatically. Initially there was a debate about the women’s presence on the hills. It was argued that women could neither withstand the harsh forest conditions of torrential rains and bitter cold, nor could they defend themselves against enemies. Apart from being security risks, women would be extra mouths to feed, but would do nothing useful in return (Barnett and Njama: 1966,226). It was also feared that women could cause tension and conflict among male guerrillas as the men would compete for sexual favours from the small number of women. Although sex was historically taboo for active warriors, the protraction of the Mau Mau war resulted in the violation of the taboo and the establishment of forest liaisons. Dedan Kimathy, the legendary Mau Mau warrior was said to be surrounded by women which led to a lot of animosity among the lower orders. (Barnett and Njama: 1966) At the beginning, they were allocated domestic chores, including fetching firewood, cooking, washing, and cleaning. In certain camps, male leaders were each allowed to choose a woman, derogatorily referred to as Kabatuni. It is evident that sheer poverty and harassment at the hands of the chiefs drove the girls to the hills. But instead of the safe habitat they might have aspired for, here too, they performed the roles of comfort women and concubines.

Women warriors Some women combined domestic tasks with minor military duties like cleaning guns and helping in the making of weapons and ammunition, while others became full-fledged warriors fighting alongside men. In August 1953, a meeting of all the Aberdare forest leaders decided that women would be commissioned up to the rank of ‘Colonel,’ depending on military competence (Barnett

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The Kikuyu political institutions were initially exclusively male. But women were later co-opted into the political arena through the creation of dual-sex councils.

and Njama :1966,227). However, if such a woman soldier fell pregnant, she would “lose the rifle” that is: lose her honour and position in the army, while the man involved would be subjected to punitive chores. An expectant woman was generally escorted to the nearest government post for safe return to the village, though if security militated against this, she would be attended to by a nurse or ‘doctor’ resident in the forest. Gakonyo Ndungi was one such forest ‘doctor’ during her two and a half years stay in the forest. It is interesting that women were forced to give up the gun if they fell pregnant. However, the man involved would continue to serve in the forest as his requirement as a soldier was more important to the Mau Mau.

Political roles The Kikuyu political institutions were exclusively male. The same was initially true of guerrilla councils, but as women continued to prove themselves trustworthy and capable of executing Mau Mau tasks, some of them were co-opted into the political arena through the creation of dual-sex councils. As Ruth Gathoni, a former freedom fighter, said: “Mau Mau created joint men and women councils. Women’s voices were heard during

Mau Mau. Earlier, women only heard what had been decided. They did not help to make decisions (Presley:1987). Leadership ceased to be a male preserve and there was seen to be “no difference between a male or female leader and Mau Mau would not oppose a woman leader”. Women’s political abilities were recognised, and some women — for example Muthoni Ngatha — even rose to the senior position of Field Marshal. A symbolic acknowledgement by men of female political competence was the crowning of Wagiri Njoroge in June 1953 as the Queen of Mau Mau. This was a symbolic counterpart to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. According to a Barnett and Njama, “Wagiri ‘ruled’ for seven months in the Thompson’s Falls District, an area rife with Mau Mau activities including some bizarre murders of Europeans.” (Barnett and Njama: 1966, 76) In the created world of the forest, the Mau Mau leadership fell back on the ancient kikuyu customs and rituals which were seeped in patriarchy. The “educated” Kikuyu male would wish to adopt the British patriarchal customs. Thus the tokenism in terms of crowning a woman was done, yet most laws and taboos were fashioned for the comfort of men.

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GENDER The domestic front Operating from villages, urban townships and European settler farms, thousands of women played diverse and vital roles in their support of the struggle. The authorities allowed women greater freedom of movement than men during the emergency and they were subjected to less harassment by the security forces. They acted as go-betweens and carriers of food and firearms, and generally provided a system of intelligence. The government considered that if it could “weaken the morale and resistance of gangs by a complete denial of food”(Kanogo: 1987), then a major part of the battle against forest fighters would have been won. The government therefore imposed measures to ensure that all livestock and grain were to be enclosed and guarded while rations to labourers on settler farms were to be issued “frequently in limited amounts and not in bulk”. (Kanogo:1987) Also, all Kikuyu, Embu and Meru labourers were to be concentrated in labour camps which were to be inspected regularly for strangers. Despite these restrictions, women utilised firewood gathering sessions as opportunities for passing vital information, food and other supplies to freedom fighters. Once this tactic became known to the authorities, settlers were urged to ensure that the collection of firewood was confined to certain days “when farm guards can accompany the wood gatherers and keep them under observation”. In the reserves, people

were concentrated in villages and at the height of the emergency women were allowed to go to their gardens for only one hour, and that was under the supervision of loyalist guards . The collection of food and its delivery to freedom fighters was a major logistical operation necessitating centralised organisation. A woman leader would gather information about the guerrillas’ requirements either directly from the guerrillas at pre-arranged meetings or from her `field workers’. With the help of assistants, the leader would mobilise women, who had taken the oath to collect food. Uninitiated women did not participate and “did not know that this was happening” (Tamarkin: 1976, 78). After preparation, the food would be put in Kikuyu baskets (Ciondo) and water pots (Ndigithu) and despatched at prearranged times by appointed women. The delivery trip to the forest edges, or to other venues such as river banks or garden plots, required each woman to avoid being suspected by loyalist Home guards. “One would conceal the food by covering it with goat manure. On your way back you would bring vegetables — a little amount — to create the impression that you had been to pick vegetables” (Rosberg and Nottingham:1966). Talking of the dilemmas involved, one woman said: “It was difficult. If you were found by the government giving them (guerrillas) food, you would be beaten and taken to detention. (Rosberg and Nottingham:1966).

Mau Mau fighters in a parade after Kenya attained political independence.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY Childcare Women also contributed to the services of their children. From the age of ten children took the oath, while younger ones were “sealed” with the sign of the cross dedicating them to the struggle. For the most part unsuspected, the children acted as members of vigilante committees, errand boys and girls and informers. As Gakonyo remembered, “If you saw my young son Hinga on the road with his toy-wheel - mubara — you would think he was playing. But he was really on duty... (Children) knew what to do” (Presley: 2006). Some of these children were killed in the struggle and the news was broken to their parents with great mockery by the loyalist soldiers, “Come and see your child who has independence in the shamba” (Presley:2006). To identify a corpse of one killed in Mau Mau action was dangerous, hence Mau Mau supporters were expected to exercise great restraint. For women, who had lost their children in the struggle, the experience was terrible but even at the cost of losing their own, the women persisted in the struggle.

New roles for women During the Mau Mau movement, the Government started the Mandaleo Wa wanawake programme which was supposed to counter the upsurge of support for the Mau Mau. This was a welfare scheme which taught women how to be good Christian homemakers. Women in the plains were forced to join it as not joining would be seen as an act of suspicion. Talking about the times, Muthoni Likimani says “During the so-called communal labour, which was in fact forced state labour, everyone would go to work. Usually they would work from seven in the morning and finish at five p.m., with only one hour before the curfew time. Understand, there was no tap with running water, no gas to cook with. Someone had to collect water from the river. Someone had to go for firewood. Someone had to gather food from the garden. It was a matter of communal survival. “You go for firewood. I’ll go for water.” “I didn’t have time to get to my garden today.” “Here have some beans, have some flour.” It was not a time for gossiping and selfishness. It was a time for uniting, for working, for being very close, for caring for each other and surviving.” (Likimani: 1985 ) The Mau Mau movement often instigated cold war in the home. This was particularly acute where only one of the spouses supported Mau Mau, as an initiate was expected to execute Mau Mau tasks without informing or consulting their spouse. Even money was considered unclean if it had come from somebody who had not taken the oath (Tamarkin:

It could be argued that female membership of Mau Mau to some extent resulted in the subordination of domestic subservience to the liberation struggle 1976, 119). Where a woman had risen to such a position of authority that the movement’s activities interfered with her domestic duties, or where a mother had fled to the forest, other Mau Mau women would help in her home as much as possible, beyond which her husband had to cope as best as he could. If a man objected to his wife’s involvement, he risked being regarded as an enemy of the movement, a crime which carried a death penalty. In this regard, it could be argued that female membership of Mau Mau to some extent resulted in the subordination of domestic subservience to the liberation struggle. The demands of the movement entailed extensive social reorganisation: women had to adopt new roles, form new social networks and develop new bases of group control as dictated by the movement. The collective care of the homesteads of women who had fled to the forest was one new feature, and it was said that, “if you were a Mau Mau woman going for Mau Mau journeys other women would dig your shamba co-operatively” (Presley: 1992,23). The Mau Mau woman in the villages would perform all the necessary tasks and where necessary raise money to keep the family well supplied. A homestead would only “get lost” if it belonged to an anti-Mau Mau woman who had died at the hands of Mau Mau or was unable to cope with the tasks because of illness or some other reason (Presley: 1987, 7). During the liberation struggle, this exclusive Mau Mau women’s collective replaced the traditional Ngwatio system.

Harking back to traditional symbols: Female circumcision Irua ria atumia na anake denotes the initiation ritual of becoming women and men among the Gıkuyu people: irua stands for initiation ceremony while atumia translates as “women,” and anake as “men.” Irua ria atumia na anake takes place simultaneously for girls and boys at ages sixteen and eighteen respectively. Rather than being a site of women’s oppression and domination, irua ria atumia (women’s initiation) promoted an ethic of boldness and courage that pro-

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GENDER vided a socio-historical platform for women to engage in militant anti-colonial activity in ways that were perceived as coequal with men. Additionally, irua ria atumia na anake promoted a sense of sexual freedom for both women and men in its association with the practice of ngwiko. For women, the physical aspect of irua, which involves the cutting of the hood that covers the clitoris by a muruithia (circumciser), signifies the entrance to womanhood and as indicated earlier takes place at around the age of sixteen. As an integral part of the ritual, after the irua ceremony both women and men would be sent to thukuru — the indigenous equivalent of a boarding school — for several months where their healing would be monitored and where they would learn important skills, including lessons about sexuality. It is during this time that a selected committee of middle-aged women and men initiates the practice of ngwıko, which involved controlled sexual encounters among the newly initiated, and teaches Kıkuyu dances for men and women, domestic lessons and other social skills. The introduction of ngwıko was important because it played the dual role of preventing premarital pregnancies while acknowledging premarital sexual needs and desires at the same time. According to Kenyatta, “In order not to suppress entirely the normal sex instinct, the boys and girls are told that in order to keep good health they must acquire the techniques of practicing a certain restricted form of intercourse, called umbani na ngwıko (platonic love and fondling)” (149). And as Shaw points out, ngwıko trained Gıkuyu women “to respond to a wide range of bodily sensations and . . . socially sanctioned responses” (1995,79). In Kenya, for instance, debates about circumcision began as soon as missionaries arrived, and were framed within the question of whether (and which) local customs violated standards of Christian behaviour and had to be condemned and eliminated although the early missionaries “had allowed their adult converts a certain latitude in Kikuyu practices”, but later missionaries with a “fundamentalist clergy had become stricter, particularly opposing polygyny and female circumcision. It interpreted Western

The fact that female circumcision had become so important to the Mau Mau reflects how the fight for political gains is played out over the female body 52

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monogamy and male circumcision as compatible, but polygyny and female circumcision as incompatible, with the Christian doctrine” ( See Kershaw :199,190). Kenyatta argues that the colonial perception of cliterodectomy was unidimensional, “There has been much criticism and agitation against irua of girls by certain misinformed missionary societies in East Africa, who see only the surgical side of the irua, and, without investigating the psychological importance attached to this custom by the Kikuyu, these missionaries draw their conclusion that the irua of girls is nothing but a barbarous practice and, as such, should be abolished by law”. (1959,130) Becoming a woman or man in kikuyu society was not determined by birth but by a series of initiation ritual markings that would continue to take place throughout one’s lifetime, beginning with irua. Every initiated generation was identified by a unique ageset, or riika, name that documented a particular historical event that took place at the time their irua initiation occurred. Women’s political power was not diminished by participating in irua, but rather irua could provide an avenue to its enhancement. During the precolonial and colonial eras, a number of Kikuyu women leaders such as Wangu Wa Makeri, Wairimu Wa Kı nene, Njoki Wa Th uge, Njungu ru, and Ndiko Wa Githura among others, are said to have demonstrated their power by conducting irua ria atumia na anake in their own homesteads against the Kıkuyu customary law that prohibited individuals, both men and women, from taking such an action. Such determinations were restricted to athuri a kiama, or ruling elder men and members of senior council, who had the right to decide when and where irua ria atumia na anake will be held (Kershaw: 1997). Ndiko Wa Githura, for example, not only made her homestead a centre for irua ria atumia na anake, but her influence was so great that when she decided to migrate from one region to another during the colonial upheavals, the whole village would follow her. During the Mau Mau period, girls disobeyed the ban by circumcising each other. After performing the act, they would walk to the nearby police station. This task was extremely difficult but they managed to perform the act with their heads covered and their legs apart. The reason for this was to absolve the parents of all blame regarding the circumcision. The other reason was to pledge themselves to the Mau Mau which had a diktat that no uncircumcised person could join the movement. The third reason was to rebuff the colonial government which had no choice but to send these “offenders” home. Kenyatta’s valiant defiance of the irua, however, does not take away from the trauma that the girl child

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Women’s participation in the Mau Mau uprising was on such a large scale that a special facility had to be built to house the women prisoners later.

is forced to endure. In order to pledge her loyalty to the Mau Mau, she is forced to mutilate herself. Not having access to the young girls’ narratives, it would be unfair to call it an act of premeditated agency. The girl child is very often caught in a bind – she becomes a butt of ridicule to her friends who think she is too anglicised to act like them. The fact that female circumcision had become so important to the Mau Mau reflects its patriarchal blindness where once again the fight for political gains is played out over the female body.

Women and imprisonment Virtually all women imprisoned were suspected of Mau Mau involvement. Before the Emergency, there was so little crime perpetrated by women that no particular prison facilities had been built. To the surprise of the colonial government, when Mau Mau activities became pronounced, women’s participation was on such a large scale that a facility had to be built to house them. The Kamiti prison was extended to accommodate the upsurge in women prisoners and detainees. The camp

included I,335 women prisoners and 1,010 women detainees by the end of 1954. Women were also detained in other facilities. The Athii River detention camp which was built in 1953 to contain violators of the Emergency Regulations had ten compounds containing I,429 detainees. One of the compounds was reserved for twenty-seven female detainees. Most women prisoners were sentenced for violations of the Emergency regulations. (Presley: 1987,7 ) As Mau Mau became more threatening, the length of sentences increased. The camps were not merely holding facilities. Prisoners were required to work and also to go through a re-socialisation process whose goal was to get them to renounce Mau Mau and be “cleansed”. The Community Development Organisation was involved in rehabilitating prisoners. Interviews with former Mau Mau female prisoners reveal a prison system which meted out harsh treatment. Women in Kamiti were required to work for the prison system. Light work of raising vegetables and fruit was given as a reward for cooperating with the rehabilitation program, another impetus to confess. This cooperation usually took the form of taking a pledge

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GENDER renouncing Mau Mau and giving information about Mau Mau activity in the prisons and elsewhere. The more non cooperative prisoners were required to work on roadbuilding and quarrying stone. This is an excerpt of an interview of Muthoni W Gachie: “I was in detention for one year then I was taken to the Athii River [camp]... At Kajado only the women leaders were detained. Men were there also but the women were kept separate. Those who were involved in politics or any other movement but not the church were taken to Kamiti. This was in 1954, and only women were there. We were beaten and very many died. During that time people were hanged in great numbers and we buried many there. We were not afraid of the corpses; even if we were doing this job we were still beaten. We could see some corpses with the blood from the beating still on them. During the time of getting food in the prison the young girls would pull the carts, they were tied three by three to the carts in order to pull them to where they were to get the food and then they had to pull the carts back to Kamiti. I am disappointed to hear that many people believe that women did nothing in the war; we buried the bodies. The children of Kamiti were tied

with ropes together to be guarded while we women worked. They gradually died off. It was due to hunger. We suffered a lot from hunger.... Kamiti was a hell prison. Some were dying, some were beaten to death, and sometimes they died after work. We were happy when someone died because we said “Now she is free!” I was still in Kamiti in 1956. Muthoni wa Gachie was detained in 1959. (Presley: 1987, 66)

Women and oath taking The Mau Mau rebels were bound to each other by a complex form of oath taking. The oath taking gained a nationalist fervour as earth mixed with blood of animals was eaten by the Mau Mau fighters to prove their loyalty to their motherland. Women were not part of the oath taking but as they joined in huge numbers, new oaths were created for them. Women were both revered and used during the oath taking ceremonies. The higher oaths were administered only to men and women were used while they were being administered. Ritual oath taking was a crucial component of Mau Mau participation, as they called on the God — Ngai — to witness the oath that people would swear to be united in

Kenyans are now allowed to sue Britain over Mau Mau abuses. (Photo: AFP)

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AFRICA QUARTERLY their fight against the colonial enemy, and would take back the land that the white man had stolen. Njangi Warimu, a former fighter, explained: “We used to drink the oath. We swore we would not let white men rule us forever. We would fight them even down to our last man, so that man could live in freedom.” (Presley: 1987, 66 ) The oaths were a cultural symbol of the solidarity that bound Kikuyu men, women and children together in their opposition to the colonial government. The ritual binding of warriors through oath taking is seen as strengthening the resolve of the Mau Mau and redefining the position of women within the Movement. According to Marshall S Clough, In the crucible of guerrilla war in the forest men and women assumed new roles in their struggle with the enemy and in their relations with each other. This led ultimately as Waruhiu Iote, Karari Njama, Grace Gikoyo and Wambui Otieno has indicated, to women assuming important roles, not only in support of men but alongside men and claiming thereby new power to influence male-female relations and to shape their own destinies. This carried from the forest into the camps, where as memoirs of Gokara Wa Wanjaru and wambui Otieno and the research of Cora Presley indicate women were among the strongest resisters. (204) In spite of the suppression women faced within the confines of the forest or in the plains, a new gender power equation was seen to be growing. In the times of upheaval new power equations were being forged. Both women and men were members of the Mau Mau who had taken the oath. They suffered equally as fighters. Women were considered better couriers as they could ward off suspicion better than the men. Upon arrest, the women prisoners were tortured as much as the men. (Lynn M Thomas: 103). Yet when the movement was chronicled, women were only mentioned in the passing and just as they had been exploited in the forest, the independent Kenyan male sought to put her back into domesticity. However, years of spirited resistance had hardened the women and her politics of resistance continues.

Mau Mau today Kenya has continued to see spirited activism from the women. It is to be noted that women Mau Mau never surrendered. Their struggle for land has continued. During the 1960s women’s protest took on a militant form as landless women squatted on all kinds of public land. In the ‘70s the struggle continued with the rural women integrating with the urban as transport facility was now available. In the ‘80s due to struc-

The protagonists of the new Mau Mau are peasant and landless women. They demand communal land titles, free education and control of trade tural adjustment, the landless lost access to public space. The coffee wives suffered as their husbands wished to move to the production of other cash crops. In the ‘90s the landless women’s movement erupted in Mutuoto and Saba Saba and freedom corner insurgencies. In 2000 the multitudes moved to occupy land and save public space from grabbers. In 2003 the Kenyan Land Occupation movement tried to wrest away land from being taken over by the corporates. (Brownhill and Turner 5) The women have been forerunners in the defence of their ecological systems which are fast disappearing under corporatisation. The women’s spirited defence of “fertility” – over land and their bodies continue as the spirit of the Mau Mau continues to redefine itself. A new series of battles is being fought at the Jubilee of the anti-colonial Mau Mau war in Kenya. In the period 2000 to 2003, a new social movement has been involved in over 50 land occupations and instances of armed and unarmed defences of land from enclosure. The struggle for land and freedom now involves the same social forces and some of the same individuals who were engaged in the war which brought Kenya’s national independence in 1963. The front line protagonists of the new Mau Mau are peasant and landless women. They demand communal land titles, universal free education and proper control of trade. The Mau Mau of the 1950s was a composite of social forces including peasants, the landless, squatters, waged labourers, prostitutes, rural and urban women, hawkers, ahoi (tenants with customary land rights), those exiled from the Rift Valley, ex-WWII soldiers and some ex-chiefs. The new Mau Mau includes peasants, the landless, squatters, touts, jua kali (informal sector) artisans, waged labourers, prostitutes, rural and urban women, traders, refugees from the 1990s land clearances, students, retrenched workers, street children, hawkers, ex-Mau Mau elders, the unemployed, forest dwellers, pastoralists, revolutionary intellectuals, exiles, prisoners, settlement scheme tenants, professionals, human rights and faith-based activists and members of non-governmental organisations. (Presley:2007, 2)

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GENDER “When we surmount an attack on the unfinished business of historical stock taking We shall begin by dynamising freezing silences now paralysing our womanful lives We shall recount her story dramatising it and illustrating it with rainbow colours We will pour lavish libation honouring named unnameable yet to be named Mother Africa’s matriots We will sing without counting time We will dance hearts touching earth We will map the A-Z of our unfolding epic journey of womanful living We will compose immortal verse in living praise of Mother Africa’s matriots.” — Micere Gitahe Mugo

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1.

Adekson, J. ‘Bayo (1981). “The Algerian and Mau Mau Revolts: a Comparative Study in Revolutionary Warfare”. Comparative Strategy (Routledge) Alam, S.M. Shamsul (2007). Rethinking the Mau Mau in Colonial Kenya. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Anderson, David (2004). “Kenya, 1895–1939: Registration and Rough Justice”. In Hay, Douglas; Craven, Paul. Masters, Servants, and Magistrates in Britain and the Empire, 1562–1955. USA: University of North Carolina Press. Anderson, David (2005). Histories of the Hanged: The Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Andrew, Christopher (2009). The Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5. London: Allen Lane. Atieno-Odhiambo, Elisha Stephen (1995). “The Formative Years: 1945–55”. In Ogot, Bethwell Alan; Ochieng, William Robert. Decolonisation and Independence in Kenya, 1940–93. London: James Currey et al. pp. 25–47 Barnett, Donald and K Njama. 1966. Mau Mau From Within : Autobiography And Analysis of Kenya’s Pesant Revolt. New York and London: Monthly Review Press. Berman, Bruce J. (1991). “Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Modernity: The Paradox of Mau Mau”. Canadian Journal of African Studies (Canadian Association of African Studies) 25 (2): 181–206. Branch, Daniel (2009). Defeating Mau Mau, Creating Kenya: Counterinsurgency, Civil War, and Decolonisation. New York: Cambridge University Press.

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10. Clough, Marshall S. (1998). Mau Mau Memoirs: History, Memory and Politics. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. 11. Coray, Michael S. (1978). “The Kenya Land Commission and the Kikuyu of Kiambu”. Agricultural History (Agricultural History Society) 52 (1): 179–193. http://www.jstor.org/pss/3742957. 12. Curtis, Mark (2003). Web of Deceit: Britain’s Real Role in the World. London: Vintage. 13. Edgerton, Robert B. (1990). Mau Mau: An African Crucible. London: I.B.Tauris. 14. Elkins, Caroline (2005). Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya. USA: Henry Holt and Co. 15. Elkins, Caroline (2005). Britain’s Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya. London: Pimlico. 16. Franz Fanon. (1952)Black Skin, White Masks (1967 translation by Charles Lam Markmann: New York, Grove Press) 17. __________ (1959). A Dying Colonialism (1965 translation by Haakon Chavalier: New York, Grove Press) 18. Hosken, Fran. 1980. Female Sexual Mutilations: Th e Facts and Proposals for Action. Lexington, MA: Women’s International Network News. 19. ———. 1982. The Hosken Report: Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females. 3rd ed. Lexington, MA: Women’s International Network News. 20. ———. 1993. The Hosken Report: Genital and Sexual Mutilation of Females. 4th ed. Lexington, MA: Women’s International Network News. 21. French, David (2011). The British Way in CounterInsurgency, 1945–1967. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

22. Furedi, Frank. 1974.”The Social Composition of Mau Mau Movement in White 23. Highlands.” Journal of Peasant Studies.1. No.4 486-505. 24. Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2006). The Logic of Violence in Civil War. New York: Cambridge University Press. 25. Kanogo, Tabitha (1992). Dedan Kimathi: A Biography. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. 26. Kanogo, Tabitha (1993) [1987]. Squatters and the Roots of Mau Mau, 1905–63. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers. 27. Kenyatta, Jomo. 1959 [1938]. Facing Mount Kenya. London: Secker and Warburg. 28. Kershaw, Greet. 1997. Mau Mau From Below. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press. 29. Lonsdale, John (2003). “Mau Mau and Nationhood: The Untold Story”. In AtienoOdhiambo, Elisha Stephen; Lonsdale, John. Mau Mau and Nationhood. Oxford: James Currey. pp. 46–75. 30. Likimani, Muthoni. (1985). Passbook No. F.47927: Woman and Mau Mau in Kenya. London, Mac Millan Publishers. 31. Lovatt Smith, David (2005). Kenya, the Kikuyu and Mau Mau. Mawenzi Books. 32. Maloba, Wunyabari O. (1993). Mau Mau and Kenya: An Analysis of a Peasant Revolt. Indiana: Indiana University Press. 33. Newsinger, John (1981). “Revolt and Repression in Kenya: The ‘Mau Mau’ Rebellion, 1952–1960”. Science and Society 45: 159–185. 34. Ogot, Bethwell Alan (1995). “The Decisive Years: 1956–63”. In Ogot, Bethwell Alan; Ochieng’, William Robert. Decolonisation and Independence in Kenya, 1940–93. pp. 48–82. 35. Ogot, Bethwell Alan (2003). “Mau Mau and Nationhood: The Untold Story”. In AtienoOdhiambo; Lonsdale. Mau Mau and Nationhood. 36. Otieno, Wambui W. 1998. Mau Mau’s Daughter:

A Life History. Boulder, CO: 37. Lynn Rienner Publishers. 38. Peterson, Derek R (2008). “The Intellectual Lives of Detainees”. Journal of African History (Cambridge University Press) 49: 73–91. 39. Presley, Cora 2007, “Kikuyu Women,The Mau Mau Rebellion and Social Change,” in European Decolonisation. Ed. By Marvin Thomas, 2007, Oxon, UK, Ashgate Publishing. 40. _____________ 2006, “African Women, Liberation Struggles and the Metanarrative of Memoir,” in International Journal of Africana Studies, Volume 12, No.2 2006 (Fall/Winter), pp. 147-169. 41. _______________1998, Mau Mau’s Daughter The Life History of Wambui Otieno. Edited and with an Introduction by Cora Ann Presley. Lynne Reinner, Publishers. 42. ______________ 1992, Kikuyu Women, The Mau Mau Rebellion and Social Change in Kenya. Westview Press, March. 43. Rosberg Carl and John Nottingham. 1966. The Myth of Mau Mau: Nationalism 44. in Kenya. New York, Washington: Frederick A. Preager. 45. Tamarkin, M. (1976) “Mau Mau in Nakuru”. Journal of African History 17. No.1 (119-134) 46. Thomas, Lynne M. (2003). Politics of the Womb: Women, Reproduction and the State in Kenya. Kampala, Fountain Publishers Limited. 47. Sorrenson,MPK. 1967. Land Reforms in Kikuyu Country. London, Oxford University Press. 48. Swainson, Nicola (1980). The Development of Corporate Capitalism in Kenya, 1918–77. Berkeley & Los Angeles: University of California Press. 49. Throup, David (1987). Economic and Social Origins of Mau Mau, 1945–53. Oxford: James Currey. 50. Wasserman, Gary (2008) [1976]. Politics of Decolonisation: Kenya Europeans and the Land Issue 1960–1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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President Pranab Mukherjee (centre), Vice President Hamid Ansari (9th from left), Speaker of Lok Sabha Meira Kumar (11th from left) and the President of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) Abdelwahad Radi (7th from right) at the 7th meeting of Women Speakers of Parliament on Gender Sensitive Parliaments, at Parliament House, in New Delhi on October 3.

United for Women’s reservation Reservation for women in Parliament is important to ensure that women have a say in policy-making, say women speakers of African parliaments

ndian women should fight for reservation in Parliament as more representations would translate into policies that could change the country’s social fabric, speakers of African parliaments say. “I know the women’s reservation bill is pending with the Indian Parliament and my only advice (to women) is that don’t let it go till you achieve it,” Swaziland Senate President Gelane T. Zwane said. Zwane, along with five women Speakers from Africa, were in the capital to attend a two-day meet organised by the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), an international organisation of Parliament with 162 member-countries. Fourteen years after the legislation to reserve 33 percent of seats for women in Parliament and State Assemblies was introduced, it was finally passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010. The bill is now pending in the Lok Sabha. “At present, representation of women in our Parliament is negligible but we have kept a benchmark of 30 percent and have to really fight for it. We want to give to our children a level-playing field where there is equal representation of men and women in Parliament,” Zwane said. As per data compiled by the IPU, the African Union fares better than Asian countries when it comes to representation of women in parliament. Average percentage of women in Parliament in subSaharan Africa is 20.3 percent, while the average for Asia remains 18.5 percent. In the case of India, the percentage is 11 percent in the Lok Sabha and 10.7 percent

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in the Rajya Sabha, according to IPU figures. Zwane was not the only one who advocated reservation in parliament. Speakers from other African nations also stressed that reservation for women in Parliament and local bodies is important to ensure that women, who comprise 50 percent of the world’s population, have a say in policymaking. Anna Makinda, Speaker of the Tanzanian National Assembly, also said that nations, including India, should take a cue from countries where women reservation is prevalent. “Reservation in Parliament has brought a social change in our country. Other countries and India can learn from this,” she added. Makinda said women have 36 percent reservation in the Tanzanian Parliament and many women are coming forward to join politics. “The reservation has been in place in Tanzania since 1995 and having more women in Parliament has given a fillip to social welfare policy,” she said. Makinda feels that women parliamentarians should advocate for change in policy to ensure more funds for education, health and family planning, sanitation and maternity facilities. “Now women are more aware about their rights and duties. We have worked a system where each woman parliamentarian elected to a reserved seat can only serve two terms, in order to ensure more young women get a chance to take part in decision making,” she added.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

India-Ethiopia relations stable: Envoy The new leadership in Ethiopia is committed to deepening ties with India, says Ambassador Gennet Zewide in an interview with Manish Chand

here will be orderly transition in Ethiopia despite the death of its long-time leader Meles Zenawi, the country’s envoy has said, and assured that robust business ties between India and the East African nation — India is the second largest foreign investor there — will continue and get even stronger. “In the last 21 years, Ethiopia has built strong institutions and a robust parliamentary system. There is an orderly succession plan in place, whereby the deputy prime minister will succeed the deceased leader,” Ethiopia’s Ambassador to India Gennet Zewide said. Rejecting speculation of a coup in some sections in the Western media, the envoy said emphatically: “In our system, the military will always be subservient to Parliament and the civilian government. This is not going to change.” Zenawi, 57, was Ethiopia’s Prime Minister for 21 years till he died of illness on August 20. He is widely credited for shepherding the transformation of Ethiopia into one of the fastest growing economies and a stable democracy in the Horn of Africa. Striking an upbeat note on the future of India-Ethiopia ties, Zewide said the strong foundations laid by Zenawi, who visited India four times, will only get stronger in days to come. “The Prime Minister (Zenawi) had a special affection for India. During his tenure, India-Ethiopia relations scaled new heights. The new leadership is equally committed to deepening this strategic relationship,” Zewide said. “The policies, strategies and vision of our leader will be continued. There is no uncertainty and there should be no anxiety on this front. Business will go on as usual,” she added. The envoy identified agriculture, textile, infrastructure and technology as key sectors where Indian investments in Ethiopia would see a major upsurge.

Ethiopia’s Ambassador to India Gennet Zewide.

“We expect more Indian companies to invest in agriculture. To make it easier for investors, the Ethiopian government has embarked on a new policy whereby we clear land, build access roads and provide power so that investors can start their operations as quickly as possible.” In the last few years, India has emerged as the second-largest foreign investor in Ethiopia, investing around $5 billion. Bilateral trade between India and Ethiopia is estimated to be $660 million. The two countries are looking to scale up Indian investments in Ethiopia to $10 billion by 2015. In the textile sector, she pointed out that a host of Indian companies were planning major investments to set up yarn factories in Ethiopia. In a condolence message, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said India’s close and friendly relations with Ethiopia acquired greater substance under Zenawi’s leadership.

India, South Africa ink pact on postal service

ndia’s Department of Posts on September 6 said it signed an agreement with South Africa Post for starting a speed post service between the two countries. “This agreement signed recently is expected to augment people-to-people contact between the two countries and foster trade, as EMS (Express Mail Service) is a popular

export channel for small and medium enterprises,” the Department of Post said in a statement. The service can be availed at major post offices from the month of September. EMS enables its users to send letters, documents and parcels faster with the added tracking facility of the item on the Internet.

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‘India to share expertise with Egypt’ Welcoming the democratic transition in Egypt, India said it was ready to redefine its relations with Egypt to usher in a new era in their relations

(From left) El Sayed Amin Shalaby, Executive Director, ECFA; Ambassador Gehad Refaat Madi and Professor Mustapha K El in New Delhi on October 16.

ndia welcomes the triumph of democratic forces in Egypt and would be happy to share its expertise and experience with the new government in that country, a leading Indian official said as the two countries began a Track II dialogue. “Developments in the Arab world in the past two years have changed the contours of political and sociocultural landscape of the region,” Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Director General Rajiv Bhatia said in his opening remarks at the start of the dialogue with the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA), a leading think tank in that country. ICWA is India’s oldest foreign policy think tank.

“As the world’s largest and successful democracy, India warmly welcomes the triumph of democratic forces in Egypt in particular and wishes to share its experience and expertise appropriately. But there is also anxiety about some facets of the Arab Spring,” he said. “Egypt, being the most vital player in the region in terms of military power, strategic location and human resources, enjoys special significance for India. Its historic relationship with India, running from ancient times to the modern era, through NAM period and the post-Cold War era, now needs to be re-looked and refined, in light of the changing matrix in the region,” he said. The dialogue seeks to redefine an old relationship with Egypt following an elected government taking office in Cairo earlier this year after a people’s revolution that overthrew the dictatorial regime of President Hosni Mubarak. “Our dialogue takes place at a time of momentous developments that underline the vast potential for expansion of mutual understanding and cooperation between India and Egypt, two ancient civilizations linked through a long history of contacts and strong mutuality of interests,” Bhatia said, hoping that the dialogue will lead to “a new and more promising era in India-Egypt relations.” A four-member ECFA delegation headed by Ambassador El-Sayed Amin Shalaby, Executive Director ECFA, was in India to discuss several strategic, political and economic issues of common interest with eminent Indian diplomats and academics.

World War II Indian heroism recalled in Egypt THE INDIAN Embassy organised a memorial service in Cairo to salute the heroism of Indian soldiers who died in a decisive World War II battle that sealed the fate of Hitler’s Afrika Korps. India’s Ambassador Navdeep Suri and a number of senior diplomats and military officials from friendly countries placed wreaths at the memorial on October 20, an Embassy statement said. The simple but solemn ceremony was part of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of El Alamein, where Indian soldiers displayed courage thousands of miles away from their motherland. The El Alamein battle was fought in two phases in 1942 — from July 1 to 27 and from October 23 to November 4 — in the deserts of North Africa.

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The Allied victory led to the retreat of Rommel’s Afrika Corps and to its eventual surrender in May 1943. Suri said the stellar role of the Indian Army in El Alamein was recognised by Rommel himself. Suri drew attention to the book, North African Campaign 1940-1943 by J.K.W. Bingham and Warner Haupt, which says the capture of Ruweisat Ridge in a combined attack of 5 Indian Division and New Zealand Division on July 15, 1942 was the turning point in the battle. Almost 25,000 officers and men of the Indian Army took part in the North Africa campaign, and over 3,000 died in the sands of northern Sahara. The El Alamein battle accounted for 800 deaths. Suri said a majority of the Indians who died were in their teens.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

Africans laud India’s capacity building efforts Participating at a Technology Partnership Programme, a group of African professionals lauded India’s capacity-building efforts in Africa

he world is using Africa as a dumping ground for its products but only India is helping the continent in capacity building, a group of African professionals says, indicative that New Delhi’s proactive diplomacy is paying dividends. “India is different. Most other nations are looking at Africa for dumping their products. India is looking at us for partnerships,” Michael Mwaniki Ngaari of the weights and measures department of Kenya’s trade ministry said. He was among 19 middle-level participants from three countries who attended a five-day (July 26-July 31) IndiaAfrica Technology Partnership Programme (IATPP) organised on behalf of the External Affairs Ministry by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT). The focus of the workshop was on management of international technology transfer for competitiveness and leveraging intellectual property rights for international technology transfer — building capacity in African nations to absorb new technologies. More than the exposure to new trends in technology, the workshop was an eye-opener for Ngaari. “We now know what the world is and what is expected from us,” said Ngaari, who lives in Nairobi with his wife and three children. Much thought went into designing the workshop. “We conducted one month of research on the kind of content we wanted to impart,” said Deepak Bhatnagar, Head of the IIFT’s Centre For International Trade in Technology (CITT). “Such workshops will further boost the relationship between India and Africa,” Bhatnagar added. Terming the experience “fantastic”, Ghana’s Romaric Ababio Dankwa (32), who heads IT firm Seedway Services, stressed on translating the learning into practice. “What we learnt here was beyond our expectations. Most of it was capacity building. I believe each one of us will act as a catalyst, develop strategies and float projects as only strategising is not enough. We need to back our decisions with action,” Dankwa said. Jessica Adjoa Manuel, who runs a cosmetics business under the Jessica Black brand in Ghana, said the response of Indians towards them was very warm and overwhelming.

A group of participants at the five-day India-Africa Technology Partnership Programme.

India has pledged to build over 100 training institutes all over the continent at the last two India-Africa Forum summits held in New Delhi and Addis Ababa. These institutions encompass a wide array of areas ranging from agriculture, rural development and food processing to information technology, vocational training, English language centres, and entrepreneurial development institutes. The four institutions India has offered at the panAfrican level include the Institute of Information Technology to be established in Ghana, the Institute of Foreign Trade in Uganda, India Africa Diamond Institute in Botswana and the Institute for Education Planning and Administration in Burundi. These training institutes, India hopes, will help build the industrial and managerial base of the continent by spawning a new generation of entrepreneurs and an educated middle class that will shepherd African resurgence in the days to come. India’s trade with Africa at $50 billion is nearly one third of that of China with the continent, but New Delhi has carved a niche for itself in capacity building. The training institutes distinguish India’s development-centric approach from that of China’s focus on massive infrastructure projects, hydrocarbons and mineral resources.

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NEWS

Indian NGO to push sanitation goals in Africa

Cheers for Africa at biodiversity conference The African Union was selected for ‘Busy Bee’ award for its progressive action within the Convention on Biodiversity negotiation

Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak (second from left) addressing the LH Forum at Le Harve on September 14.

INDIA’S LOW-COST sanitation NGO Sulabh Sauchalaya is all set to go global by expanding its footprint in 50 developing countries to push the implementation of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), its founder says. Addressing European leaders and business tycoons at the LH (La Harve) Forum, Indian low-cost toilet innovator Bindeshwar Pathak appealed to the business community on September 15 to focus on the sanitation sector to help achieve its MDG as early as possible. “My future course will be to propagate the idea of sanitation throughout the world, especially in Africa, Asia and Latin America and this will be helpful in achieving the Millennium Development Goal,” he said. “Sulabh also want to set up the first University of Sanitation in India. My other step will be to publish an Encyclopedia of Sanitation,” he said. Pathak has played a key role in construction of public toilets in several countries including Afghanistan, South Africa, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Laos, Ethiopia and 10 other countries of Africa. Sulabh has already constructed public toilets in some of these countries. LH forum had invited Pathak to share the success of the Sulabh model with world leaders and business tycoons. The MDGs are eight international development goals that all member states of the UN agreed to achieve by 2015. One of the MDGs is sanitation.

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he African Union got the thumbs up for their proactive role in biodiversity conservation at the UN biodiversity conference and was selected for the ‘Busy Bee Award’ 2012 while Canada was slammed and given the ‘Dodo Award’ for contributing to biodiversity loss. The awards given by the Global Youth Biodiversity Network (GYBN) — a network of youth working for biodiversity conservation — and the CBD (Convention on Biodiversity) Alliance, is a way to recognise good work and slam poor work by governments participating in the negotiations at the eleventh conference of biodiversity. The network has started the two awards — the Dodo for countries hampering work towards biodiversity conservation and Busy Bee for countries taking progressive action. Group members, dressed up as a dodo and a bee gave the awards — a citation — to a volunteer from the winner country among the audience. Canada was also the winner of the Dodo award at the 2010 conference in Japan. Helena Paul of EcoNexus said Canada was chosen for its strong stance on biofuels and carrying ocean fertilization experiment. The dodo bird, which once lived on the island of Mauritius, was hunted to extinction in the late 1600s, and the CBD Alliance worries that countries preventing a strong agreement from being reached at COP11 will result in driving many species to extinction. The CBD Alliance is a network of activists and representatives from NGOs, community-based organizations (CBOs), social movements and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations (IPOs) advocating improved and informed participation in CBD processes. With the “Busy Bee” award, the alliance wants to acknowledge the players that are showing progressive action within the CBD negotiations. “We want to motivate the winners to continue their supportive behaviour and inspire other parties to contribute constructively as well. The award goes to African Group for their contribution in the negotiations of resource mobilization,” said Melina Sakiyama, member of GYBN.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

Injecting economic revolution The entry of India and China in Africa has presented a significant opportunity for growth and integration of the sub-Saharan Africa into the global economy, says a daily

n article in the in the state-run Chinese daily Global Times by Mark Kapchanga, a journalist based in Nairobi, noted a significant shift “as witnessed by the entry of Asian countries into what was once a cosy cocoon for the Western world”. “This has seen the sale of African goods and services to Asian markets hit 30 percent, up from 14 percent a decade ago. This is almost the same level of trade as between Africa and its historical partners such as the EU and the US. “The increased outflows show how the second scramble for Africa is taking shape by the day,” it said. The article said that much of the focus now is on “two major Asian players, China and India, and the economic revolution they are injecting in Africa”. “The battle pitting the world’s most populous nations is so deep that some regions in Africa have been named after them. The stable political landscape in South Africa has resulted to it being the nation with the highest Asian population in Africa with over 1.2 million `South Africa Indians’,” it said. It said that in Uganda, their numbers are growing, despite the 1971 expulsion of more than 75,000 to Britain by then dictator Idi Amin. “With the overthrow of Amin and the rule of Yoweri Museveni in January 1986, Uganda became more open to foreign investors. This ushered in two influential families, the Mehtas and Madhvanis, who currently operate multibillion-dollar shopping malls, media, huge hotels and factories in Uganda. Their operations are also dominant in Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania.” The daily said that though “much attention has been paid to the Indian population, which makes up about 2.6 percent of the African total, there are also a growing number of Chinese in the continent”. Today’s scale and pace of China’s trade and investment flows with Africa is unprecedented, it said. “The emergence of South-South commerce is likely to intensify the scramble further as China seeks to dislodge India from its traditional ground.”

With over 1.2 million people of Indian origin, South Africa has the highest Asian population in Africa.

The article went on to say that the entry of the two nations to Africa has presented a significant opportunity for growth and integration of the sub-Saharan part of continent into the global economy. “Due to the rapidly modernizing industries, booming middle class and burgeoning purchasing power, these two tigers’ battle for control of Africa will not end any time soon,” it noted. The daily, however, asked: “Is the traditional Indian grip likely to loosen as Chinese investors run across Africa for opportunities?” “India enjoys a long history of trade with Africa, and therefore has a strong base in the continent. Many of the accumulated investments of India in Africa are concentrated in manufacturing, retail, food processing and telecommunications. Destroying it, or even bringing it down a notch, will be a hard nut to crack,” it said. “Even just take a quick glimpse at the manufacturing sector in Kenya, for instance. The sector is 90 percent operated by businessmen of Indian origin. Its cuttingedge performance has propelled Kenya’s economic figures to new heights. “In Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Zambia and now South Sudan, the sector’s wheels are virtually moved by Indians,” it added. The article wrapped up by saying that no country beats China in the extraction sector such as mining, building of power plants and road construction. “This shows how asymmetrical the two countries’ commercial strategies are. And in the end, the rivalry between the two will help boost Africa’s success.”

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DOING BUSINESS

Mozambique seeks Indian expertise Mozambique, Indian tea stakeholders meet to gather more knowledge about cultivation and production of the brew

There is lot of scope for development of the tea industry in Mozambique as the climate is suitable.

ozambique has sought Indian expertise and investment to develop its tea industry. A delegation from the African country, led by Agriculture Minister Jose Pachecho, held a meeting with key stakeholders of the Indian tea industry on September

Indian bank opens branch in South Africa STATE-OWNED Bank of India (BoI) has opened its first branch here in a move to enhance the relationship between South Africa and India while contributing to the overall development of the BRICS grouping. BoI Managing Director Shri Alok K. Misra said increasing business interaction and trade between the two emerging economic power houses means that banking demand of doing business is rising, Xinhua reported. “BoI believes that the growing trade between India and South Africa has the capacity to accept another bank from India,” Misra said. During state visit of then Indian president Pratibha Patil to South Africa in May, both countries agreed to increase two-way trade to $15 billion by 2014 from $10.64 billion.

Aug - Oct 2012

3 to gather more knowledge about cultivation and production of the brew. “The key challenges facing the Mozambique tea industry are low productivity, quality upgradation and the need to increase demand. To this end, we are seeking help and cooperation from the Indian tea industry to share their expertise, so that Mozambique tea can realise its full potential,” Pachecho said. “There was substantial demand for Mozambique tea in the international market at one time, but the country has lost its position as it has not been able to adapt itself to the requirements of the market,” he said, adding his country would like investment from Indian companies. Tea Board of India Chairman M.G.V.K. Bhanu said a delegation from India would soon visit Mozambique to explore opportunities there. “There is lot of scope for development of the tea industry in Mozambique as the climate is suitable and so far only 88 percent of the country’s arable land has been cultivated. We can also have an exchange programme of scientists and there can be knowledge transfer,” Bhanu said.

Apollo Hospitals to set up 30 telemedicine units in Africa

he Apollo Hospitals group would set up 30 telemedicine units in Africa under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it had signed with AfroIndia Medical services, the hospital group said on September 13. “Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, inaugurated first three units at Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja in Nigeria through video conferencing in the presence of his Excellency Dr. Eyitayo Lambo, Health Minister of Nigeria,” said a statement from Apollo. AfroIndia Medical Services is an Africa-based integrated medical service provider. It has a unique mandate of providing accessible and affordable medical care to patients from Africa at her network of over 1,500 hospitals in India, Israel and Europe. “Apollo’s MOU with AfroIndia Medical services will pave way for availability of tertiary and quaternary health care to a large number of patients resulting in cost, effort and time benefit,” the statement said quoting Reddy. The telemedicine units will facilitate the doctors in several African countries to interact with specialist at Apollo.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

Economic diplomacy the buzzword New Delhi stresses the need to strengthen commercial engagements with emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America

India’s Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma.

oting that economic diplomacy has become integral to bilateral and regional relations, the government on September 16 stressed the need to strengthen commercial engagements with emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

“Economic engagement has become integral to bilateral and regional relations. The country needs to strengthen commercial engagements with emerging economies of Asia, Africa and Latin America and embrace the world through mutually beneficial trade and investment linkages,” Minister for Commerce, Industry and Textiles Anand Sharma said at the end of the three-day conference of India’s Heads of Foreign Missions in New Delhi. He explained the measures taken by the government to correct the current account and trade deficits and the policy changes that are being pushed to make India a favourable destination for much-needed foreign investments. Highlighting Africa’s emergence as an important economic destination, Sharma called for reinforcing India’s historical ties with the continent. The conference saw discussions on non-traditional but crucial aspects of foreign policy practice, including public diplomacy, role of think tanks, cultural and commercial diplomacy besides multi-lateral negotiations on environmental and climate change. Terming India a “cultural super power”, president of Indian Council for Cultural Relations Karan Singh emphasised the role and importance of cultural and public diplomacy tools in projecting the country’s soft power.

‘India’s $3 bn oil stake in South Sudan safe’

he state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) can heave a sigh of relief, with signs of a truce, at least in oil, between Sudan and South Sudan raising hopes that India’s $3 billion investment in the world’s newest nation is safe. “It’s an (oil) agreement about all of the matters. The issues that were outstanding were charges for transportation, for processing, transit,” former South African President and African Union mediator Thabo Mbeki said in Addis Ababa. “What will remain is to then discuss the steps as to when the oil companies should be asked to prepare for the resumption of production,” Mbeki said in this city, which houses the African Union where the two nations are negotiating. The development coincided with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to South Sudan’s capital Juba, asking the country to resolve its bitter differences with its north-

ern neighbour, a day after the expiry of a UN deadline to them to show progress. The Indian company’s overseas arm, ONGC Videsh has a stake in Greater Pioneer Operating Company, which operates blocks in South Sudan’s Unity state. China National Petroleum Corp leads this consortium with Malaysia’s Petronas and ONGC Videsh as partners. Of a total of five assets ONGC Videsh bought in united Sudan, three are in the south. After the split, the partners had three months to form the new joint operating company in Juba. South Sudan, which separated from Sudan July 9 last year, and repository to 75 percent of united Sudan’s oil, capped all its oil production since early last year, denying the north transit revenue of $36 a barrel for use of its two pipelines into the Red Sea.

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DOING BUSINESS

‘Need to reverse patient outflow’ Over 5,000 Nigerians travel to India annually to seek medical treatment, says Nigeria Medical Association president Osahon Enabulele

Nigeria Medical Association president Osahon Enabulele

ndia’s trade relations with Nigeria might be improving, but the growing trend of Nigerians seeking medical treatment in India has become a cause of worry for the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), which says that the huge outflow of patients is a matter of concern. “We are worried by the huge numbers of Nigerians who travel to India for medical tourism annually and want the

Liberia, India to build solar energy centre DISCUSSIONS WERE underway between India and Liberia to construct a solar energy centre in the West African country, an official said on October 24. Indian Ambassador to Liberia Anil K. Sharan made the disclosure after presenting his letters of credence to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. He expressed optimism that this will happen very shortly. Sharan said plans were also underway by his government to send professors to Liberia to help improve the country’s academic system. The envoy said his country believes in human resource development and is very happy to share his country’s experience with Liberia.

Aug - Oct 2012

government to help stem the tide,” NMA President Osahon Enabulele told IANS in an interview in Lagos. “The statistics we have show that over 5,000 Nigerians are travelling to India annually to seek medical treatment and we want to look at how to reverse the trend,” Enabulele said. The NMA estimates that Nigeria has been annually losing more than 78 billion naira ($500 million) on medical tourism, with half the sum going to India alone. The NMA believes that each traveller spends between $20,000 and $40,000 per trip. “India thus earns over 40.94 billion naira ($260 million) from medical tourism from Nigeria alone,” he added. Enabulele said that the NMA would not allow politicians to destroy the health system. “We are just drawing attention to what the country is losing, so that the government would walk the talk to improve healthcare in the country.” He said the NMA believes that Nigeria too can compete in the global $20 billion-a-year medical tourism market and reverse the losses if it creates a healthcare system that “meets the expectations” of Nigerians and foreigners alike. Enabulele said that the government could help the sector develop by offering tax exemptions for importing health equipment to “encourage investment in the sector”.

South Africa explores India’s small business success

outh Africa was exploring how small, medium and micro enterprises in India could contribute to their national economy, an official said on August 19. Deputy Trade and Industry Minister of South Africa Elizabeth Thabethe also said that both countries were developing nations, confronted by similar economic challenges. “The latest developments have indicated that India has progressed impressively in the South Africa’s Deputy Trade and Industry Minister area of informal business development,” the Elizabeth Thabethe. minister, who was due to visit India, said. “Institutions (Indian Institutions) that we will be engaging with will present simple solutions for our SMMEs, including technology and market development,” said Thabethe. Her visit is to create market for South African products, as well as to promote South Africa as a trade destination, an official of the trade and industry department said.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

‘Mauritius gateway to do business’ An India-Mauritius roundtable focused on how the Indian diaspora could engage with India and Mauritius

iewing Mauritius as a gateway to engage the African continent, India organised a major round table on business, focusing on foreign investments at Flic en Flac, Mauritius. The meet, organised by the Indian and Mauritius governments in association with the Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC) on October 26, witnessed participation from 250 delegates from both the nations who used the opportunity to connect with the Indian diaspora, Mauritius citizens and others from the African nations looking to invest in businesses. On the occasion, Mauritius Industry, Commerce and Consumer Protection Minister Cader Sayed Hossen said: “We hope through these business interactions, Mauritius may succeed to transit to the next phase of its economic growth. We value the business acumen and expertise of Indian business leaders who can help Mauritius develop its high technological industries.” Indian Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs Joint Secretary (Diaspora) T.K. Manoj Kumar said: “The Indian community in Mauritius was politically visible, successful, hard working and enterprising. The progress achieved in this round of dialogue with Mauritius has opened opportunities to reach out to other African nations.” “India’s global profile has been steadily growing and it

Over 250 delegates participated at the India-Mauritius roundtable on October 26.

is heartening to note that the Indian diaspora in Mauritius extends relentless support in our progress,” he said. The roundtable had three plenary sessions with over 20 interactions on how the Indian diaspora could engage with India and Mauritius, a gateway to Africa. The discussions and presentations focused on the enormous opportunities for Indian diaspora to engage with India in health care, financial services and banking, energy, education and other sectors. OIFC Chief Executive Officer Sujata Sudarshan said that “the Indian diaspora can play a key role in not only capitalising on economic opportunities in India, but also help build Mauritius as the gateway to Africa for India.”

India to help boost Sierra Leone’s ICT growth

centre said that it had helped provide a leverierra Leone has become the latest age for the country to attract Business African country to benefit from India’s Process Outsourcing (BPO) opportunities in assistance to improve its information and the country. communication technology (ICT) sector In addition to the centre, Sierra Leone with an offer to establish a training centre will also get more assistance under the in the West African nation. Indian Technical and Economic “The Indian government would finance Cooperation (ITEC) with 50 slots during the the construction and establishment of an 2012-13 financial year. There has been a Indian Africa Information and Communication Technology centre in Sierra Sierra Leone’s Minister for steady increase in the number of slots for the country since 2010 when only 25 was Leone in order to boost the country’s efforts Information and to expand the sector,” Deputy Indian High Communication Ibrahim provided. Last year, the figure jumped to 45. Ben Kargbo. Fully funded by the Indian government, Commissioner to Ghana Ajaneesh Kumar ITEC, started in 1964, now provides opportunities for said in Accra recently. Ghana has already benefited from 158 countries around the globe to benefit from various the establishment of a similar centre in Accra that is training personnel in the ICT sector. Officials of the Accra forms of training in India.

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DOING BUSINESS

Car giant Honda forays into Africa After the first step, Honda Cars India Ltd will export another 1,600 Brios to South Africa and SADC by March 2013

ship laden with India-made 390 Honda Brio cars set sail for South Africa on October 25, marking the automobile manufacturer’s maiden foray into South Africa and the South African Development Community (SADC) countries, an official said in Mumbai. At a brief ceremony in Mumbai port, Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) President & CEO Hironori Kanayama flagged off the first consignment shipped to South Africa, where it will be on sale from December. “The expansion of Honda’s export business is the first step towards developing India as another hub for export of certain models,” Kanayama said on the occasion. After the first step, HCIL will export another 1,600 Brios to South Africa and SADC by March 2013, contributing significantly to the company’s growth and the Indian automobile industry. Kanayama said it was a matter of pride that the Brio manufactured in India was “of best quality and ready to be introduced in the international markets,” starting with South Africa and SADC - Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritius and the Seychelles. The Brio is presently rolled out from the company’s first plant in the country at Greater Noida, with the export model also being manufactured in the same premises. While the engine and transmission components of the

Brio sold in India and those for export markets are being manufactured at the Tapukara plant in Rajasthan, it will export both MT and AT versions of the vehicle. “The export model will be similar to the Brio manufactured and sold in India along with some customization to suit local regulations,” Kanayama added. HCIL, which established operations in India in December 1995, launched the much-awarded Brio in September 2011 and has so far sold around 25,000 units. Signifying advanced design and technology, durability, reliability and fuel-efficiency, HCIL’s India product portfolio also includes the Jazz, City, Civic and Accord, while the CR-V is imported from Japan as a completely built units.

Indian filmmaker to set up film institute in Nigeria EMINENT FILM-MAKEr Subhash Ghai’s Whistling period of 10 years. “WWI strongly encourages cross cultural exchange between film professionals across Woods International (WWI), Mumbai, will set up Africa’s the globe. We have been aggressively exploring opporfirst world-class film and media training institute in Nigeria, a company official said in Mumbai. tunities to expand globally over the past one year so, and in the proposed Trend Filmcity by TMC in Nigeria, It will come up in collaboration with Trend Media we found a perfect partner,” said Meghna Ghai Puri. City Ltd (TMC), a Nigerian development company, for Uzo Udemba, Chairman of TUG, which owns setting up Whistling Woods International Nigeria (WWIN), said WWI President, Meghna Ghai Puri. TrendTV and TMC, said there is lot of raw talent inherThe two companies have signed a memorandum of ent in Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, and explained how it is a major source of film and televiunderstanding announcing the partnership and setting sion entertainment content to Africa and the world. up of WWIN. It also details how investments, capital, resources and knowledge would go to develop the new Subhash Ghai “However, WWIN will become the training ground to film and media institute in the thriving entertainment hub of Nigeria. train, harness and refine the professionals and technicians who will take In addition, WWI (Mumbai) will be supervising the operations of the industry to its next level and unlock its enormous economic potenthe proposed film institute and the studios at WWIN for a minimum tial,” Udemba said.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

Kiboko Group set to expand pan-Africa Run by Indians, the industrial house in Uganda is expanding its reach from east Africa to the central and western regions

iboko Group, an industrial house run by Indians in Uganda, representing global giants like Philips and Proctor & Gamble, is expanding its reach from east Africa to the central and western regions, along with a warehousing facility in India to source merchandise, top officials said. “We are exploring opportunities in central and west African countries. Our target is to go pan-Africa,” said Rasik Shah, Director of Kiboko Group, a top distributor of fast-moving consumer goods, electronics, farm equipment and pharmaceuticals in Uganda. “Many of our suppliers are from India. To facilitate the business we will also soon open warehousing facilities there,” Shah, who con- Headquartered in Kampala, the Kiboko group trols 25 percent stake is run by four Indian entrepreneurs. in the company, said, on the margins of an event to mark 20 years of Kiboko Group in Uganda. Headquartered in Kampala, the group is run by four Indian entrepreneurs, who control equal stakes. Besides Uganda, the company operates in several east African countries like Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. “Our group is trying to strengthen its position and is aspiring to seek leadership in the domains it operates in the east African region,” said Sanjeev Gupta, chief executive of Kiboko Enterprises, a unit of the group. “We will continue to invest our human capital, technology and distribution capabilities to maximize the market opportunities,” he said, adding that talks were on with many global brands for distribution partnerships in Uganda and other east African countries. Kiboko Group has interests in manufacturing and distribution. It deals in several global brands such as Procter & Gamble, Philips, Himalayas, Global Tea, Godrej, Regal and Zydus Cadilla and Gillette, among others. Recently, the group created a record by spreading the world’s largest carpet of nearly 300,000 Safeguard anti-bacterial soaps on a vast ground here, to raise awareness about sanitation and hygiene in Uganda. “We started in 1992 with three employees and hardly any capital. Today, we are doing multi-billion dollar business. We also employ more than 800 people,” said Chuni Shah, chairman of the group. As per information with the Indian mission here, there are around 22,000 Indian nationals and people of Indian origin in Uganda. The Indian and Indianrun companies are the second largest investors in Uganda, estimated at $1 billion in the past two decade. ..

Airtel Nigeria most innovative company of the year INDIA’S BHARTi Airtel’s Nigerian unit — Airtel Nigeria — won three industry awards at the eighth edition of the Nigerian Telecoms Awards: most innovative telecom company, telecom brand and customer friendly operator of the year. “Airtel emerged overall best in the three categories following its enviable strides in charting new paths in meeting the demands and needs of its esteemed stakeholders through superior brand experience, a rich portfolio of innovative products and services ranging from exciting voice solutions to inventive data packages,” the company said in a statement. This is the third time Airtel Nigeria is coming tops in the customer service category at the Nigerian Telecoms Awards. “Right from when the Airtel brand was launched in Nigeria in November, 2010, the company has maintained a singular focus of exciting and delighting telecommunications consumers across the country with relevant solutions to enable them fulfill their dreams and realize their full potentials,” the citation of the award said. “Aside rolling out exciting telecoms offerings such as 2Good Time, Quick Talk, 3.75G, Airtel 5X and Special RCVs for data/internet consumers among several others, the company has also ensured that customers get the very best experience on its network,” it added. Rajan Swaroop, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Airtel Nigeria, described the awards as an eloquent testimony to the enterprising and resilient spirit of staff of the company, saying everyone at Airtel Nigeria is passionate about creating value for telecoms consumers as well as exceeding their expectations.

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DOING BUSINESS

Polaris to power Ethiopian banks The National Bank of Ethiopia has chosen Polaris’ ‘Intellect Quantum CBS’ solution software designed for central banks

thiopia’s central bank has chosen Chennai-based Polaris Financial Technology’s core banking solution (CBS) software. Polaris on October 6 said the National Bank of Ethiopia has chosen its “Intellect Quantum CBS” solution software designed for central banks. It comprises core banking, general ledger, trade finance, treasury and enterprise reconciliation. “Targeted at central banks globally, Intellect Quantum CBS for central banks is a specialised offering and we are optimistic about its success in the African market,” K. Srinivasan, executive vice president, Polaris, said in a statement. “After multiple assessment of different international core banking vendors, we found Polaris eminently suitable as Polaris was the only vendor that had a solution specifically designed to cater to Central Banks,” Polaris quoted Yemane Yosief, vice governor, corporate service, National Bank of Ethiopia, as saying.

The National Bank of Ethiopia.

“We found the precedence set by Polaris in its CBS implementation for Central Banks in the Reserve Bank of India and Central Bank of Seychelles highly commendable,” said Yosief.

‘Ghana ideal destination for Indian IT firms’

hana is the ideal investment destination for Indian IT companies, which could also leverage on a $40 million World Bank grant for an e-governance project, a leading Indian businessman here says. “Ghana has lower labour costs. The same time zone as Europe, cheaper bandwidth costs, lower taxation and many more benefits make Ghana the ideal place for opening call centres or making any other IT specific investment. What has also added to the country’s attraction is a World Bank grant of $40 million for the eGhana project which needs to be used in the next two years,” Amar Hari, CEO of IPMC (Indian Intercom Programming and Manufacturing Company), told IANS. Hari has been roped in by the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority (GIPA) as its brand ambassador for getting more investments from India. It’s not that Indian investors are unfamiliar with Ghana. While there are no reliable figures available, Indian investments “run into billions of dollars. It dates back to the colonial days when Indians came to the Gold Coast (as the country was then called),” a GIPA official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Indian investors have pumped in $10 million in the first two quarters of the current year alone and rank third behind the British Virgin Islands and China. Prominent

Aug - Oct 2012

Indian companies that have a presence in Ghana include Airtel, NIIT, the Tata group and construction major Shapoorji Pallonji. This apart, the Melcom group that has interests in retail, electronics and tours and travels, is headed by a prominent NRI, Bhagwan Khubchandani. Hari attributed Indian interest in Ghana to the historic ties between the two countries from the days of the first president Kwame Nkrumah, when Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first prime minister. “There is a Jawaharlal Nehru Road and the first house on that road is the Indian high commissioner’s residence,” he added.

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LITERATURE

BOOKS & IDEAS

OPEN CITY Along the streets of Manhattan, a young Nigerian doctor doing his residency wanders aimlessly. The walks meet a need for Julius: they are a release from the tightly regulated mental environment of work, and they give him the opportunity to process his relationships, his recent break-up with his girlfriend, his present, his past. Though he is navigating the busy parts of town, the impression of countless faces does nothing to assuage his feelings of isolation. But it is not only a physical landscape he covers; Julius criss-crosses social territory as well, encountering people from different cultures and classes who will provide insight on his journey, which takes him to Brussels, to the Nigeria of his youth, and into the most unrecognisable facets of his own soul.

By J. M. Shaw; 384pp, UK; SCEPTRE; Hardback; £17.99

By Teju Cole; 272pp, UK. FABER; Publishers; Paperback; £7.99

TEN WEEKS IN AFRICA As Ed and Sarah Caine's plane passes over the Ngozi hills and begins its descent into Kisuru, Sarah is dazzled by the purity of unspoiled nature, the perfect environment in which to raise their son. Ed, meanwhile, as Director of the Global Justice Alliance for East Africa, looks forward to rolling up his sleeves and making a real difference in a country that seems to be developing fast. Below them, in the sprawling Makera slum, Stephen Odinga - who has to find a way of making more money for his dying mother than they can earn through the family business selling fried bananas - decides to try a more lucrative line of business. Meanwhile, Joseph Kamunda, a senior official in a government that for five years has been failing to deliver on its promise to end political corruption, is feeling isolated and exposed, while others around him covertly seek personal advantage out of International Aid pro-grammes. And beyond the hills, a rebel army seethes and waits, poised to tip the country into civil war.

Art

AFRICAN ART An illustrated study of African traditional figurative arts

By Ezio Bassani; 304pp, Italy; SKIRA; Hardback; £45.00

that reflects the continents rich artistic and cultural heritage. We often know the Western life of African art, such as the names of collectors and owners, but we almost always ignore the circumstances of their creation. The marvellous achievements of African artists over thousands of years are revealed in this book. Sculpture is the chief means through which African artists expressed themselves. The human figure, evocative of real or symbolic key people in the community or entities facilitating contact with the supernatural, is the almost exclusive subject of their creations.

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BOOKS & IDEAS

LITERATURE

THE HOUSEMAID’S DAUGHTER By BarbaraMutch; 416pp, UK; Headline; Hardback ; £16.99

Cathleen Harrington leaves her home in Ireland in 1919 to travel to South Africa and marry the fiance she has not seen for five years. Isolated and estranged in a harsh landscape, she finds solace in her diary and the friendship of her housemaid’s daughter, Ada. Cathleen recognises in her someone she can love and respond to in a way that she cannot with her own husband and daughter. Under Cathleen’s tutelage, Ada grows into an accomplished pianist, and a reader who cannot resist turning the pages of the diary, discovering the secrets Cathleen sought to hide.

WHERE TO NOW?: Short Stories from Zimbabwe Meet the prostitute who gets the better of her brothers when they try to marry her off, the wife who is absolved of adultery, the hero who drowns in a bowser of cheap beer, the poetry slammer who doesn’t get to perform his final poem, and many more. The writing in this collection of short stories from Zimbabwe, edited by Jane Morris, is at times dark, at times laced with comedy. Set against the backdrop of Zimbabwe’s lost decade of rampant inflation, violence, economic collapse and the flight of many of its citizens, its people are left to wonder ‘where to now’?

By Jane Morris (Ed.); 200pp, UK; Parthian Books; Paperback; £8.99

THE WICKED WALK

Photography

By W.E Mkufya; 118pp, TANZANIA; MKUKI NA NYOTA PUBLISHERS; Paperback; £15.95

By John Manning; 352pp, South Africa; Briza; Paperback; £25.00

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Deo reads seriously, but he also spends many evenings in bars. He works in a factory laboratory, where his Form VI education elevates him above the other workers. He knows that there are some ‘big men’ who live off the sweat of the others at the factory; it isn’t right, but what does a lone youth do about it? In this searingly honest, and at times poignant, novel the author raises important questions about the position of women in society, the causes of prostitution, corrupt and inefficient managers, and the groupings of youth who struggle towards ideological clarity as they attempt to understand their society.

PHOTOGRAPHIC GUIDE TO THE WILDFLOWERS OF SOUTH AFRICA South Africa has a rich flora of around 19 000 different wildflower species. Several of these, especially proteas, gerberas, agapanthus and clivias, are now internationally

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

THE INCUBUS Tanyaradzwa, who, because of his love for a beautiful young woman, Nadia, is unknowingly recruited into a secret sect of incubi. Nadia is sent away from home by her parents after a late tryst with Tanyaradzwa and demand $400.00 as compensation before they can accept her back. Desperate and broke, Tanyaradzwa seeks help from Mr Sinyoka, a moneylender and fellow employee who, unbeknownst to him, bears his father a grudge over a past slight. He gets tainted money from Mr Sinyoka, and from the moment he accepts it, a chain of bizarre incidents start unfolding.

By Kawengo Samachai; 320pp, Zimbabwe; Booklove Publishers; Paperback; £24.95

NIGHT DANCER

By Chika Unigwe; 272pp, UK; Jonathan Cape; Paperback; £12.99

Mma has just buried her mother, and now she is alone. She has been left everything. But she’s also inherited her mother’s bad name. A bold, brash woman, the only thing her mother refused to discuss was her past. Why did she flee her family and bring her daughter to a new town when she was a baby? What was she escaping from? Abandoned now, Mma has no knowledge of her father or her family - but she is desperate to find out. This is a novel about the relationship between mothers and daughters, about the bonds of family, about knowing when to fulfil your duty, and when you must be brave enough not to. Presenting a vista of Nigeria over the past half-century, it is a vibrant and heartfelt exploration of one woman’s search for belonging.

PHILIDA Philida is the mother of four children by Francois Brink, the son of her master. The year is 1832 and the Cape is rife with rumours about the liberation of the slaves. Philida decides to risk her whole life by lodging a complaint against Francois, who has reneged on his promise to set her free. Philida will be sold on to owners in the harsh country up north. Unwilling to accept this fate, Philida continues to test the limits of her freedom, and with the Muslim slave Labyn she sets off on a journey across the great wilderness on the banks of the Gariep River, to the far north of Cape Town.

known, while the brightly coloured flowers of freesias, nerinas, sparaxis and chincherinchees have become favourites in gardens throughout the world. An easy-touse format divides the country into three main wildflower regions, Grassland and Savannah, Fynbos and

By Andre Brink; 320pp, UK; Harvill Secker; Hardback; £14.99

Namaqualand, grouping the species into each region. Each of the almost 900 species is illustrated and described, with information on its common and scientific names, habitat, distribution map, flowering times and local uses. It is a revised edition.

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BOOKS & IDEAS

ECONOMY & POLITICS

TAXING COLONIAL AFRICA: The Political Economy of British Imperialism By Leigh Gardner; 288pp, UK; Oxford University Press; Hardback; £65.00

How much did the British Empire cost, and how did Britain pay for it? This book explores a source of funds much neglected in research on the financial structure of the Empire, namely revenue raised in the colonies themselves. Requiring colonies to be financially self-sufficient was one of a range of strategies the British government used. Using both quantitative data on public revenue and expenditure as well as archival records from archives in both the UK and the former colonies, Gardner follows the development of fiscal policies in British Africa from the beginning of colonial rule through the first years of independence.

FEDERAL INLAND REVENUE SERVICE AND TAXATION REFORMS IN DEMOCRATIC NIGERIA In line with the federal structure of the Nigerian State, tax administration in the country is multi-tiered. The Federal Inland Revenue Service is responsible for assessing, collecting and accounting for tax and other revenues accruing to the Federal Government. This book attempts to chronicle the changes that have been taking place within the Service since 2004 and how these activities have contributed to the reforms in the Nigerian tax system. The book facilitates an understanding of the role played by the Service in repositioning the Nigerian tax system.

By Ifueko Omoigui Okauru (Ed.); 608pp, Nigeria; Safari; Paperback; £44.95

GENDER RELATIONS IN CAMEROON: Multidisciplinary Perspectives Examines some facets of gender relations in Cameroon; By Emmanuel Yenshu Vubo (Ed.); 188pp, Cameroon; Langaa RPCIG; Paperback; £18.95

By Martin Welz; 272pp, UK; Routledge; Hardback; £80.00

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women’s access to land in traditional society, socialization into gender roles through language textbooks in schools, the association life of women, widowhood and inheritance, social capital and entrepreneurship from a multidisciplinary perspective. The studies point to the fact that these relations are as much rooted in traditions and customs fashioned in several benchmark epochs in African history, arming women with formidable social and cultural capitals.

INTEGRATING AFRICA: Decolonization’s Legacies, Sovereignty and the African Union The African Union (AU) is a continental organization that comprises every African state except for Morocco, is indeed a pioneering undertaking. Its ambitious aim is to

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

TAIFA: Making Nation and Race in Urban Tanzania A story of African intellectual agency, but also an account of how nation and race emerged out of the legal, social, and economic histories in one major city, Dar es Salaam. Nation and race, both translatable as ‘taifa’ in Swahili, were not simply universal ideas brought to Africa by European colonizers, as previous studies assume. They were instead categories crafted by local African thinkers to make sense of deep inequalities. This book shows how nation and race became the key political categories to guide colonial and postcolonial life in this African city.

By James Brennan, 304pp, USA; Ohio U P; Paperback; £28.99

FEMALE SOLDIERS IN SIERRA LEONE: Sex, Security and Post-Conflict Development

By Meghan H. MacKenzie; 272pp, USA; New York University Press; Hardback; £33

The Eleven year civil war in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002 was incomprehensibly brutal — it is estimated that half of all female refugees were raped and many thousands were killed. Female Soldiers in Sierra Leone draws on interviews with 75 former female soldiers and over 20 local experts, providing a rare perspective on both the civil war and post-conflict development efforts in the country. Megan MacKenzie argues that post-conflict reconstruction is a highly gendered process.

MANDELA AND MBEKI: The Hero and the Outsider A persistent theme among historical narratives of South African presidential politics was that Mandela is a hero, and that his style embodied an inclusive approach. His former deputy and successor, on the other side, was regarded as a prince. This book is concerned with the historical contexts in which these two narratives were centred, and takes the reader on a journey of what South African history could look like when Mandela, a character of legend, is cast in the role of an introverted ruler, and Mbeki as manifesting the sense of an outsider.

integrate all member states, with the ultimate goal of forming the United States of Africa. Despite several attempts to build a union, the AU has remained an intergov-ernmental organization, one reason being a perceived unwillingness of the AU states to pool their national sovereignties. This study seeks to comprehend why

By Lucky Mathebe; 354pp, South Africa; UNISA Press; Paperback; £28.99

Africa’s integration process has not moved towards a supranational organization, using a novel approach. It shifts the usual perspective away from the organization level and provides the first comprehensive and systematic analysis of the AU from the perspective of the states themselves.

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TRAVEL

A fishing expedition While away your time fishing, go boating on the traditional vallam, meditate beside the backwaters, and when tired, take a cool siesta in the lap of nature...that’s Kumarakom for you — a serene backwater destination in Kerala Vembanad Lake A ride in a canoe becomes a canoe ride only if it is accompanied by loud renditions of a boat song. Mind you, it cannot be any song. It has to be a boat song or a fisherman song keeping pace with the rhythm of the oars. Here we go: Thi thi thara thi thi thaeiy thi thaeiy thaga thai thai tho

The Canoe (Vallam) Ride We (hubby, our son and I) set off early from Kodianthara Heritage Home, walking along the canal towards the wharf in one of the larger waterways leading into the Vembanad lake. The canal is, in turn, connected to smaller waterways. Much like in Venice. Only we are in Kumarakom in Kerala’s Kottayam district. The vallam belongs to Cryspin Kodianthara, the cheerful man who runs Kodianthara Heritage Home, and, we are informed, it is actually called a valavara vallam. As if to say that it is “traditional’ and sturdy too, since “traditional” is the operative word. We had asked for an oar-driven, traditional canoe

Aug - Oct 2012

and had refused all offers of a speedy motorboat. We want a real experience, not a touristy one, we had said. Like ‘A Day in the Life of a Kumarakomite Fisherman’. It’s another matter that the two of us — my four-yearold son and I — had never held a fishing rod before. This was, after all, a trip organised by the Accomplished (my hubby) for the Unaccomplished. The 15-foot vallam is a quiet example of elegance mainly because of the simplicity and economy of its design. Created to seat six to eight people, its size allows it to glide even through choppy waters. Though the boatmen look like greenhorns, we are assured they know their job. I put one tentative foot into the canoe dreading that it might sink under me. I survive. So does the vallam. Once in, we set sail with loud battle cries as we charge towards imaginary battles with BIG GAME. “How big are sharks,” asks my son, on his first trip to sea (OK, a lake — but it is a very large lake: 7kms long and 5 kms across). “Very BIG,” I answer, with the conviction of a seasoned fisherwoman. By then I have begun to notice other things. The greenhorns have transformed into lethal pieces of work, all sinuous muscle and grace. Every stroke of the oar is a scene out of a dance recital: Brilliant synchrony

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AFRICA QUARTERLY creating a brilliant rhythm. Hubby nudges me to stop staring and I move my eyes to life around me — in the water and around. As we pick up chunks of flotsam, households on the river bank are waking up. A woman is cleaning dishes and occasionally lifting a fishing rod under her feet to see if it has managed to trap any fish. “There’s no harm keeping an eye out for fish. Who knows you may get a lucky catch for lunch,” informs one of the pair of Sinuous Muscles (Let’s call them SM I and II for convenience’s sake.) “People’s dependence on the river has reduced considerably,” he goes on. Life on the river bank IS intrinsically linked with the river and its eco-system.

The Lobster We move into the deeper waters of the lake and then curve back to land at a quiet eatery on the banks. We have to order lunch before we move on, says one of the boatmen, who has become our guide by now. As we alight, we notice a lobster in the water along the bank. Though the lobster is moving, it is not swimming away. The owner of the kada, or shop, offers to fry the lobster for us. We settle nearby and stuff our hooks with mashed tapioca — that’s a big hit with fish, we are told. The three of us drop our lines and wait and wait and wait. No sign of a tug. Instead, the clever fish are nudging the tapioca out of the hook and having a feast. As I watch my umpteenth bait being hogged down there with much relish, the lobster arrives on a plate. My

How to reach: Kumarakom is approximately a two-hour drive from Cochin International Airport. Buses and taxis are easily available at all times of the day from Kottayam and Kochi. Kottayam serves as the closest railway station, located at a distance of about 15 kms from Kumarakom. Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery is the closest airport at a distance of 85 kms. Kumarakom is also accessible by boat from Alaphuzza, which is another major tourist destination in Kerala.

What to see: Kumarakom is the right mix of activity and relaxation. Visit the Vembanad Lake, Water Bird Sanctuary, Bay Island Driftwood Museum and Aruvikkuzhi Waterfalls.

companions refuse my half-hearted offer to share it. How thoughtful! “How can you eat so soon after breakfast,” someone remarks. I decide no time is a bad time for lobsters. Give me lobster, anytime, anywhere. And I’ll do justice to it.

Moving to Hook-happy Fish Since the fish here are very smart, we decide to move to Pathira Manal (Midnight Sands), an island in the Vembanad, in search of foolish fish. On the way, all of us lend a hand to the oar to steer the boat faster. The new venue is a cool spot under a huge nutmeg tree. Here, the fish are slightly bigger, about 6-7 inches long. SM II assures us they are dumb with a conviction that betrays foul play. So we begin the waiting game again. These fish are better “nudgers” than the ones we’ve left behind. We keep refilling our hooks and feeding the fish till all of us get tired and want to go back. It is almost like a conspiracy. As if all the fish in Vembanad have done a course in ‘How to Catch the Bait Without Getting Baited’, or better still, ‘How to Fool Humans’. As we are leaving, SMII puts his hand into the water and comes up with a sardine. It’s that easy! Now, I am fairly certain there is a conspiracy. We bottle the sardine and go for lunch.

Lunch With the Sole Sardine At the lunch shack, we deposit our sardine and gorge on spicy crabs, fish moilee and rice. Meanwhile, our catch from the lake has been cleaned, fried and is waiting for its turn on the table. By the time I am done with all the crab shells on my plate, I’d been at it for about two hours. I was stuffed. I barely manage to drag myself to the vallam and off we go. — Moushumi Mohanty

Shellfish harvest at Kumarakom

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

Contributors ■ DR SUDHIR KAPOOR has been teaching in Hindu College, University of Delhi, for over three decades. His

specialisation is on Statistical Inference and went on UNDP assignment as Visiting Professor to Africa. He was awarded Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue Ph.D. from Sheffield University, U.K. He has several papers on Statistics and Applied Statistics published in India and abroad to his credit. ■ RENU MODI is a senior Lecturer and former Director (2008-2010) of the Centre for African Studies, University of Mumbai. She is a political scientist from the Lady Shri Ram College for women, Delhi University, who later received her Ph.D. from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. Her recent books are, Beyond Relocation: The Imperative of Sustainable Resettlement ( ed. Sage, New Delhi, 2009) and South-South Cooperation: Africa on the Centre Stage (ed. Palgrave Macmillan, United Kingdom, August 2011). ■ MANISH CHAND is Editor of Africa Quarterly, a journal focused on African issues and India-Africa relations,

published by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). He is editor of Two Billion Dreams: Celebrating IndiaAfrica Friendship, a book capturing myriad facets of India-Africa relationship in word and pictures. He has presented papers at international seminars organized by leading think tanks like Chatham House and the Nordic Africa Society. He has accompanied Indian prime minister and foreign minister on visits to various foreign countries. ■ DR. NANDINI C. SEN is currently Associate Professor of English at the Cluster Innovation Centre, University of

Delhi. She was Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla from 2011-2012 and the recipient of the Charles Wallace Fellowship in the years 2000 and 2012 respectively. Her area of specialisation is African studies. She has published extensively on Post-Colonial Literatures and Gender Studies. Dr. Sen has lectured in several universities within and outside India. She has also published extensively on women’s writing from India and Africa in national and international journals. She is editor of Mahasweta Devi: Critical Perspectives.

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AFRICA QUARTERLY

Note to Contributors Africa Quarterly, published since 1961, is devoted to the study and objective analyses of African affairs and issues related to India-Africa relations. Contributions are invited from outstanding writers, experts and specialists in India, Africa and other countries on various political, economic, social-cultural, literary, philosophical and other themes pertaining to African affairs and India-Africa relations. Preference will be given to those articles which deal succinctly with issues that are both important and clearly defined. Articles which are purely narrative and descriptive and lacking in analytical content are not likely to be accepted. Contributions should be in a clear, concise, readable style and written in English. Articles submitted to Africa Quarterly should be original contributions and should not be under consideration by any other publication at the same time. The Editor is responsible for the selection and acceptance of articles, but responsibility for errors of facts and opinions expressed in them rests with authors. Manuscripts submitted should be accompanied with a statement that the same has not been submitted/accepted for publication elsewhere. Copyright of articles published in the Africa Quarterly will be retained by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR). Manuscripts submitted to Africa Quarterly should be typed double space on one side of the paper and two copies should be sent. A diskette (3 ½” ) MS-Dos compatible, and e-mail as an attachment should be sent along with the two hard copies. Authors should clearly indicate their full name, address, e-mail, academic status and current institutional affiliation. A brief biographical note (one paragraph) about the writer may also be sent. The length of the article should not normally exceed 7,000 to 8,000 words, or 20 to 25 ( A-4 size) typed pages in manuscript. Titles should be kept as brief as possible. Footnote numbering should be clearly marked and consecutively numbered in the text and notes placed at the end of the article and not at the bottom of the relevant page. Tables (including graphs, maps, figures) must be submitted in a form suitable for reproduction on a separate sheet of paper and not within the text. Each table should have a clear descriptive title and mention where it is to be placed in the article. Place all footnotes in a table at the end of the article. Reference numbers within the text should be placed after the punctuation mark. Footnote style: In the case of books, the author, title of the book, place of publication, publisher, date of publication and page numbers should be given in that order, e.g. Basil Davidson, ‘The Blackman’s Burden: Africa and the Curse of the Nation State’, London, James Curry, 1992, pp. 15-22. In the case of articles, the author, title of article, name of the journal, volume and issue number in brackets, the year and the page numbers should be given in that order. In addition to major articles and research papers, Africa Quarterly also publishes short articles in the section titled News & Events. They may not exceed 2,000 words in length. Contributions of short stories and poems are also welcome. Contributors to Africa Quarterly are entitled to two copies of the issue in which their article appears in addition to a modest honorarium. Contributors of major articles accepted for publication will receive up to a maximum of `4,000. Contributions may be sent by post to: The Editor Africa Quarterly Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan Indraprastha Estate New Delhi-110 002 Contributions may be e-mailed to: africa.quarterly@gmail.com

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Volume 52, No. 3 Aug-Oct 2012

africa Q

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DEMOGRAPHY: HARNESSING YOUTH BULGE INNOVATION: REVAMPING AFRICA’S HEALTH GENDER: THE UNSUNG WARRIORS BILATERALS: INDIA-ETHIOPIA TIES STABLE

A F R I C A Q U A R T E R L Y

Indian Council for Cultural Relations Azad Bhavan Indraprastha Estate New Delhi — 110 002 E-mail: africa.quarterly@gmail.com Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers of India Regd No. 14380/61

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