Boundaries defining African countries were an arbitrary creation. Some follow natural landmarks, such as rivers.
They were drawn on maps at conferences in European capitals. Colonialism lasted about 100 years [1870-1970], with some holdouts, notably Zimbabwe (1980).
As African people worked to get rid of the colonialists, they organised across the countries, as defined by the retreating settlers. Independence, land and development were key elements of emerging sense of nationhood.
Creating and nurturing that sense was seen as critical, not least because of the skepticism it received.
European academics writing in the 1950s in journals such as Oxford’s African Affairs warned that nationalism did not exist in Kenya, on account of the vast differences between the Bantu, Nilotic and Hamitic peoples. Aspirations of African nationalism were, as Rebecca Fane put it, “dangerously misleading”.
Trying to discern motivations of independence era leaders, I sometimes theorise that Jaramogi Oginga insisted on Jomo Kenyatta’s release to disprove this point.
The urgent business for African independence governments, was ‘nation-building’.
But if nationhood was hard to achieve in any one country, could it be achieved on a continental scale? Some leaders, such as Kwame Nkrumah thought so, pushing for African unity first, worried that nationalistic feelings would became entrenched to the detriment of continental unity. In the end, the nationhood project won the day.
But some ideas and symbols of that nationhood were quite hollow. One such idea was the one-party states. In theory it was to reduce the divisions and cracks that ethnic competition brought.
The theory proved false, and did not stop wars in Nigeria, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Sudan, South Sudan, and Somalia.
Nor did it stop coups in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Sudan, Benin, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Mauritania. Between 1950 and 2022, there were 214 coup attempts in Africa, half (106) of which were successful.
The mighty Zambezi river drains east to the Indian ocean. Starting in DRC, it first flows south-west into Angola, then south to Livingstone in Zambia, before heading north-east to form lake Cabora Bassa in Mozambique.
The river is the boundary between Zambia and Zimbabwe, who share the world-famous Victoria Falls. Two international airports – one on the either side, bring tourists to the falls. The two airports are 39 kilometres apart. Each handles just a few flights per day. So why have two? National symbols.
There are 30 African countries with at least one “national” carrier. Many of these national airlines don’t make money. Some, of course, serve a key purpose of promoting both safari and conference tourism, but just as many, exist only as national symbols.
Most African countries have their own currencies, yet many (37) have economies smaller than that of the 10 Mt Kenya counties. These currencies serve nationalistic rather than economic reasons.
These countries and the companies operating in them, would be better off in a monetary union. It would allow companies to go beyond the sovereign credit rating, thus lowering their cost of capital.
All countries had a one national broadcaster, a national energy company, and some had a national railway company. With economic liberalisation, these holdings went out of fashion.
But what if the governments owned the railway lines and let us run our own trains on them, or even better let us build our own lines?
Many notions of nationhood run counter to modern ideas, such as free trade, and free movement of people and capital.
In recent times, however, stagnation in firm-level productivity has led to the stalling, and in some countries decline, in living standards. These hard times have been blamed on immigration and free trade, and have fueled economic nationalism.
Is national interest the fabric of nationhood? Tom Mboya thought so, as he reflected on the contradictions between national and individual interest in the Challenge of Nationhood, published posthumously.
President Kibaki proposed Vision 2030 as Kenya’s highest national interest. To achieve it required an enabler – infrastructure. Its three pillars – political, social and economic – were to be reformed.
Politics through a new Constitution, and the economy through a balanced government budget, that would enable credit to flow to the private sector.
The social pillar required improvements in education and health, a rediscovery of the hard work ethic, and an adjustment in our system of beliefs.
Should we embrace “our thief” as demanded by ethnic considerations, or condemn him, as our civic duty demands? This is the vexing question of our times.
Ndiritu Muriithi is an economist and partner at Ecocapp Capital. He is also the chairman of KRA and former governor of Laikipia County. Email: [email protected]
Unlock a world of exclusive content today!Unlock a world of exclusive content today!
