Development, creative industries, democracy andAfrica

Linking the dots

Development Challenges 51% live in poverty, on less than $2 per day 50% of children not in school, are in Africa 1 in 7 African children die by age of 5 African maternal mortality: 1 in 30 women 2/3 of 33m HIV-positive people live in Africa Child dies of malaria every 45 secs: 90% Africa Average life expectancy in Africa less than 55 69% of sub-Saharan Africans lack basic

sanitation

Millennium Development Goals (MDGS): 2015 Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education Goal 3: Promote gender equity, empower women Goal 4: Reduce child mortality by two-thirds Goal 5: Improve maternal health Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS and malaria Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for

development

Conclusion: MDGs are most relevant to Africa

Africa: Not just a country

54 countries11 countries with populations of 20m or more, Nigeria largest at 160m; 9: 12-20m; 12: 5-12ml; 12: 1-5m, 6 <1mUrban-rural divides range from 76:24 in Djibouti to 13:87 in UgandaNational GDPs range from $408b (SA) to $248m (Sao Tome and Principe)Per Capita income: $215 in DRC to $14 660 (EQ)

Development

A process of economic growth: ‘a rapid and sustained expansion of production, productivity and income per head’

Top Ten countries according to GDP1. South Africa (South)2. Nigeria (West)3. Egypt (North)4. Algeria (North)5. Angola (South)6. Morocco (North)7. Sudan (East)8. Tunisia (North)9. Ghana (West) 10. Libya (North)North 50%; West 20%; South 20%; East 10%Africa: 2,3% of world’s GDP; creative industries: <1%

IMF: Ten fastest-growing economies globally, 2001-2010

Annual GDP growth

Angola 11,1% China10,5% Myanmar 10,3% Nigeria 8,9% Ethiopia 8,4%

Kazakhstan 8,2%Chad 7,9%Mozambique 7,9%Cambodia 7,7%Rwanda 7,6%

Fastest growing: 2011-2015

IMF Projections

China9,5%India 8,2%Ethiopia 8,1%Mozambique 7,7%Tanzania 7,2%

Vietnam 7,2%Congo 7,0%Ghana 7,0%Zambia 6,9%Nigeria 6,8%

Top Ten countries according to Per Capita Income (2010)1. Equatorial Guinea$12 420 O.7m2. Libya $12 020 6,5m3. Seychelles $ 8 480 0.08m4. Gabon $ 7 370 1,5m5. Mauritius $ 7 240 1,3m6. Botswana $ 6 240 1,9m7. South Africa $ 5 770 49.0m8. Algeria $ 4 420 35,4m9. Namibia $ 4 290 2,2m10. Tunisia $ 3 720 10.4m(Austria: $42 000 – 3,5 times higher than highest African country)

Unemployment in Africa50%+: Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe40%+: Kenya, Senegal, Swaziland30%+: Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Swaziland20%+: Gabon, South Africa, Nigeria10%+: Algeria, Tunisia, Zambia9%-: Botswana, Ghana, Egypt

McKinsey Report: 28% of Africans have stable, wage paying jobs (implication: 72% unemployed, underemployed, engaged in informal sector)

Inequality levelsAngola: fastest-growing economy, but more than 60% live on less than $2 per dayEquatorial Guinea: Highest per capita income at $14 460 (0,7m people), but 75% live below poverty threshold, 30%+ unemployedSouth Africa: wealthiest 20% earn 70% of national income; poorest 20% earn 2,3% 50% of employed people earn 250 Euros or less per month

Conclusions re “Development as economic growth”1. Despite significant economic growth, most Africansa. live below the poverty lineb. are unemployed in a “formal” wayc. survive through the informal sector2. Growth is not the problem: wealth is concentrated in an elite with little “development” benefit to most.3. If other economic sectors e.g. resources, with high growth rates do not lead to “development”, then it is highly unlikely that the creative industries will.

Development as Human DevelopmentHuman development is a development paradigm that is much more than the rise and fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. And it is thus about much more than economic growth which is only a means – if a very important one – of enlarging people’s choices. - UNDP

Object of Development “The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people’s choices…the objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives”.

Mahbub ul Haq, co-founder of the Human Development Report (along with Indian economist Amartya Sen)

Human Development Index• Measurement of life expectancy,

education and income• Four categories: Very High, High,

Medium and Low Human Development• 36 African countries (66%) in Low

Human Development, 12 Medium, 3 High

• Highest: Libya (53 globally), Mauritius (72) and Tunisia (81)

Limitations of HDI• Libya ranked highest, but a dictatorship with

limited human freedoms, hence the overthrow of the regime

• Similarly, other highly ranked African countries – other than Mauritius – were North African – Tunisia and Algeria with limited human rights and freedoms

• Some argue that growth in Africa must take precedence over democracy (not borne out in North Africa, though modelled elsewhere)

China in Africa: hard infrastructure Trade between China and Africa: $1b in 1980;

$10b, 2000; $114b, 2010; $166b 2011 Largest trading partner with Africa; USA next

and then France (EU less influential) More than 800 Chinese companies in Africa

investing in roads, railways, mines, agriculture, ICT, etc

July: opened $20b credit line to Africa – investment in hard infrastructure

Airports in Kenya and Ghana, port in Ghana

China in Africa: soft investment Built new AU Complex in Addis Ababa,

new ministerial complex in Liberia Peacekeeping in Sudan Agricultural research and Poverty

Reduction Centre(Mozambique), railway technical training in Nigeria

Student graduates: Equatorial Guinea, Congo, Angola, etc

China and Culture in Africa Building stadiums: Kenya, Gabon,

Zambia – “stadium diplomacy” Cultural spaces: National Theatre in

Senegal, Museum in Nigeria Confucius Centres: language, culture

(more than 16 in Africa) Cultural exchanges/festivals/exhibitions

Chinese versus West’s approach Huge investment in hard and soft

infrastructure currently driving both Chinese and African growth

No interference in local political affairs, no human rights/democracy conditionality requirements (but then West had similar attitude to Tunisia, Egypt, etc)

Primary means of cultural engagement: French Institute, British Council, Goethe Institute from Europe vs Confucius Centres

Democracy and Human Rights in Africa Freedom House criteria: political rights expressed in

electoral processes, political pluralism and the functioning of government, and key civil liberties, personal autonomy and individual rights - determines whether countries are “free”, “partly free” or “not free”.

Free: open political competition, respect for civil liberties and highly independent media and civil society organisations.

Partly free: limited respect for political and civil liberties, where a single party enjoys significant dominance and where corruption, weak rule of law and ethnic and/or religious strife prevail.

Not Free: civil and political liberties are absent and basic civil liberties are systematically denied

Democracy and Human Rights in Africa 2011 survey: 9 African countries are “free” (16%), 23

“partly free” (42%) and 23 as “not free” (42%): overwhelming majority of Africans live in conditions where political pluralism, free and fair elections, political and civil liberties, including freedom of expression (essential for creative practice) and association, are restricted.

4 of 6 fastest growing economies: “Not Free”, 2 “Partly Free”

Other 4 fastest-growing: China, Cambodia, Myanmar and Kazakhstan, all “not free”

South Africa: elections, constitutional guarantees yet high unemployment, inequality, low life expectancy

Arterial Network definition of development“The ongoing generation and application of resources (financial, human, infrastructural, etc) to create the optimal conditions (political, cultural, social, economic, etc) in which human beings enjoy the full range of human rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”. 

Relationship between culture and development Development – however defined – is an act

of culture; it is premised on values, ideological assumptions, belief systems

Development disrupts cultures of beneficiaries: shifting, reshaping values, beliefs, traditions

Development as facilitator of human rights and freedoms must affirm Article 27

Creative products have values, ideas, beliefs, ideology embedded

UNESCO ConventionPromotes creative industries of the

global southEncourages investment in these

industriesProvides for preferential access to

global north markets for global south creative goods and services

Value Chain• Education and training: absence of or poor arts

and business of arts institutions• Creation: large pool of raw talent (migration)• Production: absence of start-up capital, poor

infrastructure (artists studios, rehearsal spaces, access to technology, recording studios)

• Distribution: lack of galleries, theatres, etc but high number of (weak) festivals

• Consumption: High poverty and inequality, low markets for sustainable industries, high levels of piracy

From creative industries to creative sector Three areas of arts/cultural activitya. For own sake (human/personal

development, freedom of creative expression)

b. For socially good ends (instrumentalization for social development) – given development needs, might be most necessary

c. For commercial profit (creative industries, wealth generation)

Can creative industries help Africa to flourish? African conditions with regard to value chains,

markets with disposable income, understanding of and political will for creative industries – vastly different, little from Africa

UNESCO Convention – investment in and opening of markets by global north nowhere near scale required, little from global north

Countries most in need of development (bottom of HDI) more likely to invest in hard development; countries with GDP and markets, CI’s most likely to benefit elites

ConclusionRather than models and strategies appropriate to western democracies e.g. creative industries or models and strategies that work for China (high growth, low democracy), if the end of development is PEOPLE and their well-being, fundamental freedoms and human rights, then we need informed, multi-layered, holistic developmental approaches appropriate to varying African conditions within and between regions and countries.