非洲能够实现经济独立吗？

不记得是谁曾这样说过：“其实你心里知道所有答案。你越相信自己，你的生活就会越轻松。”

非洲发展两大优势

非洲是世界人口第二大洲。截至2018年，非洲有13亿人口，约占世界人口的16％。面对如此众多的消费者，世界上经济大国纷纷出口其产品至非洲，并在非洲国家开展业务。非洲大多数国家的经济依靠外部支持和贷款，这是因为这些国家无法独自生存，但是非洲国家可以采取什么措施来增强其经济，减少对外部金融的依赖？

非洲的转型掌握在非洲人自己手中。非洲拥有丰富的自然资源和人力资源。非洲人口整体年轻化，60％人口年龄在25岁以下。按年龄中位数统计，世界上最年轻的10个国家全部在非洲。因此，可以想象，如此众多的年轻人如果能够得到有效治理，非洲经济便可以大大受益，并迅速发展。而反之，如果对青年人口管理不善，可能会导致更大的动荡，并引发冲突。

同时，非洲拥有大量的自然资源，包括钻石、糖、盐、金、铁、钴、铀、铜、铝土矿、银、石油等。其实非洲拥有经济独立得天独厚的条件。

为了佐证我的观点，我谨引用卢旺达共和国总统兼非洲联盟前主席保罗·卡加梅先生阁下的讲话：“我认为我们真正需要做的事是调整正确的心态，而不是增加资金。毕竟，在非洲，我们拥有我们需要的一切。没有的，我们也有获取的手段。然而，目前为止，我们却固执地认为，没有外部资金，一切都无法改变。”他还说：“我们甚至在向别人乞求我们自己已有的资源，这绝对是错误的思想观念在作祟。”

非洲的经济可以独立，这点毫无疑问。各国应想方设法利用现有资源，将无形财富转化为普通百姓的有形财富。非洲的资源一直以来常常导致问题，而不是创造繁荣。拥有各类资源的国家之间冲突不断，外国企业趁机开发资源，并从中受益，却使非洲人民深陷贫困。而另一方面，少数设法加工其原材料的几个国家，正在经历稳定和可见的经济增长。

历史应该激发非洲人努力改变。过去和现在应该成为通往光明未来的阶梯。重中之重是要发现，其实非洲人民就是非洲大陆可持续增长和转型的发动机。
外部支持对许多非洲国家经济的贡献是巨大的。但是，非洲何时才能成长为经济上独立的国家，怎样才能建立这种精神？非洲完全有可能实现经济独立，而且成本相当低廉。

独立是值得向往，并应努力争取的。

从卢旺达的经历可以看出，对于非洲可以实现经济独立的判断是绝对准确的。1994年对图西族的种族屠杀之后，卢旺达被视为经济从零增长的成功案例。此外，另一个例子——中国，历经苦难，几十年前还是世界最贫穷国家之一，而今一跃成为世界第二大国。这些成功例子应激发非洲各国通过自己的努力争取可持续的经济增长。

卢旺达经济发展本土化方案

1994年发生的针对图西族的种族灭绝悲剧使该国陷入了对未来的绝望。不仅卢旺达人失去了希望，世界也不期待该国任何行业有任何复苏。

然而，尽管困难重重，仍有许多工作可以做。二十多年来，卢旺达的经济取得了长足的发展。卢旺达人过上了更健康、更富裕的生活。该国的复苏显然需要外部支持，因为在这场悲剧中，一切都被消灭了。

最重要，也是最具挑战性的任务首先是让卢旺达人种族和解，并确保性别平等，以保证人人参与国家重建。卢旺达需要建设基础设施、提高人民文化水平和能力，尤其是卢旺达儿童的教育，同时还应发展农业和制造业。

除此之外，卢旺达还制定了一系列计划和措施，以通过本土解决方案确保经济增长。因此，由于政府制定的正确政策，卢旺达的经济开始了工业化进程。该国已经建立了现代化的经济特区，加快本地产品的生产，并为更多的投资者提供制造空间。

卢旺达的主要外汇收入来源包括采矿、旅游、咖啡和茶，这些部门的持续增长对经济发展和减贫至关重要。

成立Agaciro发展基金。在2011年举行的第九届全国对话委员大会中，卢旺达共和国总统保罗·卡加梅（Paul

Kagame）阁下倡议建立卢旺达主权财富基金，并于2012年启动。该基金的设立是为了建立公共储蓄，以实现自力更生，在发生国家经济危机时保持稳定，并加快实现该国的社会经济增长目标。该基金之所以特别，是因为其资金来自国内外卢旺达人，以及卢旺达朋友的自愿捐赠。Agaciro发展基金致力于提高卢旺达的财务自主性，并且是保护卢旺达免受潜在外部经济冲击的重要工具。

此外，“卢旺达制造”倡议也由此诞生。这个口号旨在促进本地产品的消费，目的是增加出口和减少进口顺差。这个倡议是在卢旺达政府决定禁止从美国进口二手衣服和鞋子后作出的。据说，拒绝进口二手物品将促进经济发展，因为据说，东非共同体国家购买二手衣服要花费巨大。

为了确保自力更生，并避免对外部资金的过多依赖，卢旺达致力于减少贫困、改善人力资本发展、增加出口、加强区域一体化，以进入更多市场，同时投资现代农业（机械化）等。还有一些其他举措，包括制定2020年远景规划，主要目标是将卢旺达转变为人均国内生产总值1240美元的中等收入国家；制定政府七年计划、经济发展和减贫项目（EDPRS

1＆2），以及开始积极地结合2030发展计划制定本国规划。卢旺达目前正在将其2020愿景升级为2050愿景，将经济发展和减贫项目规划（EDPRS2）升级为新的国家转型战略和政府七年计划（2017-2024）。

以中国为榜样

作为世界最大发展中国和第二大经济体，中国有很多值得非洲学习和借鉴。

改革开放40年来，超过7亿中国人摆脱了贫困，同时，中国还决定从2016年起，每年帮助1000万人脱贫。在中国特色的改革开放中，中国取得了长足的进步。中国在发展基础设施、创造就业机会方面投入了大量资金，并且确保国家的稳定，动员所有力量参与发展国家、加速投资、增强制造业，以及推广中国制造产品的伟大征程。这应该是非洲实现可持续经济发展值得借鉴的好经验。

同时，中非合作前景美好。非洲可以向中国人民学习很多方面，比如技术、贸易和工业等领域的创新思想等等。

去年，在北京举行的中非合作论坛（FOCAC）上，曾任非洲联盟主席的卢旺达总统保罗·卡加梅在发表讲话时说，中国在非洲的援助和投资战略具有深刻的变革性，并充分尊重了非洲大陆的全球地位。总统还说，这种合作已成为完全符合《非洲2063年计划》和可持续发展目标的强大引擎。

非洲实现经济独立具体举措

距离联合国实现《2030年可持续发展议程》的目标还有十几年的时间，青年生产力问题对非洲非常重要，主要因为劳动年龄人口对于提高非洲大陆的生产力和竞争力至关重要。

在最近于埃及举行的2019年非洲经济会议上，非洲经济委员会微观经济与治理部主任Adam

Elhiraika表示，非洲各国应努力使自己的城市成为增长的引擎，能够为年轻人创造就业机会，确保在非洲大陆实现公平的增长，以确保达到联合国2030年可持续发展目标所设定的那样，没有一个人掉队。

为确保非洲国家之间经济的独立性，还采取了其他一些举措，包括鼓励依靠本土方案、将非洲大陆变成当地投资者友好的商业区、确保政治稳定、增强基础设施建设保证连通性和生产制造、开设非洲制造产品展览会，以及建立共同市场等等。

非洲开发银行（ADB）与联合国开发计划署（UNDP）和联合国非洲经济委员会（UNECA）等其他合作伙伴合作，为支持年轻企业家，和鼓励青年群体创造就业机会等方面做出了巨大贡献。非洲开发银行还采取了一些其他举措，极大助力整个非洲青年群体的发展。其中引人注目的一项就是“青年就业战略”，该战略到2025年将创造2500万个就业机会，并为另外5000万年轻人提供软硬结合的技能，以提高他们的就业和创业能力。

非洲大陆正在努力保持可持续的经济增长，希望这些努力有助于非洲大陆发展，并使其实现经济独立。

为了确保企业之间的连通和合作，非洲大陆已经采取一些举措，例如区域共同市场、非洲单一航空运输市场、东部和南部非洲共同市场（COMESA）等，以便利该大陆的人员和货物流动。

非洲大陆自由贸易区（AfCTA）将于2020年生效。非洲大陆一直在支持非洲国家之间的伙伴关系与合作，以实现可持续发展目标和《非洲联盟2063年计划》，该计划被视为非洲大陆转变为未来全球强国的发动机。

英文版

Can Africa stand economically independent?

By Frederic Byumvuhore  Journalist for The New Times, Rwanda

A
saying from an anonymous source goes like this, “You have all the
answers inside you. The more you trust yourself, the easier your life
will flow.”

Africa is the world’s
second –largest and second –most populous continent. With 1.3 billion
people as of 2018, it accounts for about 16 per cent of the world’s
human population. With such a big number of consumers, the countries
with largest economy in the world intervene to export their products and
run businesses in African countries.

Most
of the African countries’ economies survive on external supports, and
loans. This is because the countries are not able to survive on their
own, but what can African countries do to strengthen their economies and
reduce dependency on external finance. 

Transformation of the continent is in the hands of Africans. Africa is rich in terms of natural resources and human resources.

Africa’s
population as whole is very young, with 60 per cent of the entire
continent aged below 25. All of the world’s top 10 youngest countries by
median age are in Africa.

Therefore,
it is believed that with such a huge number of young people on the
continent under effective governance, the economy could significantly
benefit and develop. Contrary to this, poor management of youth
population may lead to greater instability and conflicts.

Again,
Africa has a large quantity of natural resources, including diamond,
sugar, salt, gold, iron, cobalt, uranium, copper, bauxite, silver,
petroleum and many more. These are the facts that Africa has everything
to stand economically independent.

To
back up my statement, I would like to quote His Excellency Paul Kagame,
the President of the Republic of Rwanda and former Chairperson of
African Union. “I would rather argue that we need to mobilize the right
mindsets rather than more funding. After all, in Africa, we have
everything we need, in real terms. Whatever is lacking, we have the
means to acquire. And yet, we remain mentally married to the idea that
nothing can get moving without external finance.”

The quote continues, “We are even begging for the things we already have. That is absolutely a failure of mindset.”
Definitely,
Africa’s economy can stand independent. With all resources accommodated
in the continent, countries should find ways to turn riches into
tangible wealth for ordinary people.

Africa’s
resources have often caused problems rather than created prosperity.
Conflicts among countries with such resources have given a space for
foreign owned companies to exploit the resources, benefit from them and
leave Africans in poverty.

On the
other hand, few African countries have managed to process their raw
materials and they are experiencing stable and transparent economic
growth.

History should inspire
Africans to strive for change. The past and present should be the ladder
to climb towards bright future. The requirements and most important is
to discover that Africans are the engine of the continent’s sustainable
growth and transformation.

The
contribution of external support to many African countries’ economy is
appreciable. But, when will Africa grow to stand economically
independent, and how can the spirit be achieved. Africa has the
potential to be economically independent and the cost is cheap. 

Independence is something to fight for and aspire towards.

Starting
with an example of Rwanda, the possibilities for Africa to become
economically independent are absolutely accurate. Rwanda being regarded
as model for economic growth has started from zero after the 1994
genocide against the Tutsi.

In
addition, to be where it is today as the second largest in the world,
China also has faced hardships and was among the poorest countries
across the world some decades ago. Such examples should inspire African
continent to strive for sustainable economic growth by their own
efforts.

Rwanda

The
tragedy of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi has left the country in a
hopeless atmosphere for the future. Not only Rwandans lost their hope
but also the world rarely hoped the country’s redemption in any sector.
There was a lot to do to rebuild the nation despite the hardships.

More
than two decades, Rwanda’s economy has come a long way. Rwandans are
generally living healthier and wealthier lives. The country’s recovery
obviously needed external support since everything was wiped out during
the tragedy.

The most important and
challenging task was to first of all reconcile Rwandans and also ensure
gender equality in order to engage everyone in the process of rebuilding
the country. Rwanda needed to develop infrastructures, ensure human
resources empowerment especially educating Rwandan children, ensure
development of agriculture sector, and manufacturing among others.

In
addition to human resources empowerment, Rwanda has managed to
establish programmes and initiatives to ensure economic growth through
homegrown solutions. Therefore, the economy of Rwanda has undergone
rapid industrialization due to a successful government policy.

The
country has established modern Special Economic Zones to accelerate
locally made products as well as giving more investors space to
manufacture.

Rwanda’s major foreign
exchange earners include mining, tourism, coffee, and tea, and continued
growth in these sectors will be critical for economic development and
poverty reduction.

Establishment of
Agaciro Development Fund. In the ninth National Dialogue Council held in
2011, Rwanda’s sovereign wealth Fund was initiated and launched by His
Excellency Paul Kagame, the President of the Republic of Rwanda, in
2012. The fund was set up to build up public savings to achieve
self-reliance, maintain stability in times of national economic shocks
and accelerate the country’s socio-economic growth goals.

The
fund is special as its capital comes from voluntary contribution by
Rwandans at home and abroad as well as friends of Rwanda. The Agaciro
Development Fund is dedicated to increasing the financial autonomy of
Rwanda and constitutes a critical tool in shielding Rwanda from
potential external economic shocks.

Also,
‘Made-in-Rwanda’ initiative was born. It is a slogan initiated to
promote the consumption of locally-made products. The rationale is to
increase exports and reduce import surplus.

The
initiate followed the decision by the government of Rwanda to ban the
importation of second hand clothes and shoes from the United States of
America in the country. It was said that the rejection of second hand
importation would raise the economy because the used clothes described
to consume a lot of money from the East African community countries.

To
ensure self-reliance and avoid much dependency on external finance,
Rwanda invests efforts in poverty reduction, improve human capital
development, increase exports, and strengthen regional integration to
access more markets, invest in modern agriculture (mechanization), among
others.

Among other initiatives
include vision2020 with the main goals to transform Rwanda into a middle
income country with a per capita Gross Domestic Product(GDP)of US
Dollars 1240, Seven Year Government Programme, Economic Development and
Poverty Reduction (EDPRS 1&2) as well as embarking on the process of
integrating the Agenda 2030. Rwanda is now upgrading its vision 2020 to
vision 2050, Economic Development and Poverty Reduction (EDPRS2) to the
new National Strategy for Transformation, and the Seven
Years’Governement Programme (2017-2024).

⬆Integrated
Polytechnic Regional College Musanze (IPRC Musanze) built with the
support of Chinese Government（photo by Lv Tianran of  Xinhua News
Agency）

China as a role model

The
continent has a lot to learn from China, which is now the world’s
largest developing country and second largest economy in the world.

Over
the past 30 years or more since the establishment of reform and opening
up, more than 700 million Chinese have been raised from poverty. Also,
China has set itself the goal of lifting 10 million people out poverty
every year from 2016.

Under Reforms
and Opening up with Chinese Characteristics, China has made a
significant progress. The country has invested a lot in developing
infrastructures, job creation, and ensures stability of the country,
inclusiveness of all people male and female in the journey to develop
the country, accelerate investments, and enhance manufacturing as well
as promoting Made in China products. This should be a good lesson for
Africa to achieve sustainable economic development.
Again, there is a
hope under China-Africa cooperation. Africa is likely to learn more
from Chinese people in terms of innovative ideas in sectors such as
technology, trade and industries.

Speaking
at Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) last year in Beijing,
Rwandan President Paul Kagame who was the Chairman of African Union at
the time said that Chinese aid and investment strategy in Africa is
deeply transformational and respectful of the continent’s global
position.
The president added that cooperation had grown into a
powerful engine of collaboration fully aligned with Africa’s Agenda 2063
and Sustainable Development Goals.

⬆China and Rwanda conducts technical cooperation on edible fungi production（photo by Lv Tianran of  Xinhua News Agency）

Measures

With
a little more than a decade left to achieve the targets of the UN’s
2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the issue of youth productivity
is critical for Africa, not least because the working age population is
central to improving the continent’s productivity and competitiveness.

During
a recent 2019 African Economic Conference held in Egypt, Adam
Elhiraika, Director of Microeconomics and Governance Division at
Economic Commission for Africa, said that Africa should work hard to
make its cities the engine of growth that in turn will generate
employment for the youth and ensure there is equitable growth on the
continent so as no one is left behind as expressed in the UN 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development Goals.

Some
other initiative to be taken to ensure independence of economy among
Africans countries include acceleration of homegrown solution spirit,
turn the continent into a business friendly area for local investors,
ensure political stability, boost infrastructure for connectivity and
manufacturing process, Made in Africa exhibitions, common markets.

In
collaboration with other partners such as the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa (UNECA) among others, the African Development Bank (ADB) has
been contributing a lot to support young entrepreneurs as well as
boosting job creation spirit among youth.
The Bank has several other
initiatives that have contributed significantly to youth empowerment
across Africa. Notable among them is its Jobs for Youth Strategy to
create 25 million jobs by 2025 and to equip another 50 million young
people with a mix of hard and soft skills to increase their
employability and entrepreneurial success.

The
continent is working hard to ensure sustainable economic growth and
hopefully the efforts will help the continent grow and have its economy
independent.

To ensure connectivity
and cooperation in businesses, the continent has been establishing
initiatives such as regional common markets, Single Africa Air Transport

Market,
the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) among others
to ease movement of people and goods the continent.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) will come into effective next year, 2020.

After
all, the continent has been backing up partnerships and cooperation
among African countries towards achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals and African Union 2063 Agenda considered as the continent’s engine
for transforming Africa into the global power-house of the future.