It is a warm morning, and I’m standing in a crowd of Africans. Many of the women are in brightly coloured dresses; the men sport a variety of styles of headdress. A minibus pulls up and we squeeze more of us on-board than I thought possible. As we’re about to shut the door someone leans in and asks, “Is there room for me?” We all breathe in and budge up. As lively conversations break out amongst strangers, I start to forget where I am. Perhaps I am in South Sudan, where I was last posted, or is it the Democratic Republic of Congo, the last African country I visited? No, I am in Austin and I’m heading to the University of Texas’ Annual Africa Conference
Lots of people have lots of stereotypes about Africa (actually, I could probably say the same thing about Texas but more on that later). Many people who have never been to this beautiful continent think that Africa is a hopeless mess—riven by violence, ethnic division and grotesque corruption. Then there are the Afro-optimists. They talk giddily about a growing African economic powerhouse: the next India or China. As a good diplomat I should say the truth is somewhere in the middle. But working on or in Africa for most of the last decade has left me much closer to the Afro-optimists, and my time on the UT Austin campus only reinforced that view.
Why? Well, Africa is big. And I mean big. Just look at this map comparing the true size of Africa to the rest of the world. It is young, energetic and stuffed full of important natural resources. It is also full of very smart people who want to make their continent a better place. I met a lot of those people in Austin.
The theme of this year’s conference was “Social Movements, Political Expression and Religion”. Presenters, mostly Africans, tackled those strands from an incredibly diverse range of angles. Some talked straight politics. For example, how can African governments build trust amongst their people? Others asked how entrepreneurship and social media were changing the behaviour of social movements across the continent. Yet others took even more unconventional approaches, asking what impact African-American hip-hop is having on social identities amongst African youth.
There was a lot to think about. Africa is producing bright minds, and by convening forums like this, we are helping Africans come up with their own solutions to Africa’s challenges. Africa is going to start living up to its potential more and more, that I can guarantee. But I guarantee too that this won’t just be good for Africans. It will be good for all of us.
I am happy that this is something my own government believes. Prime Minister David Cameron will be co-hosting a Somalia Conference with the Somali President in May, to try to build on the progress that fragile country has made recently. And the trade, tax and transparency focus of the UK’s G8 Presidency is of huge relevance to African countries trying to grow their economies in a way most beneficial to their citizens. As one Nigerian professor told me, “entrepreneurship is in our culture, we just need help building the right governance structures to make it all work.”
Finally, a word on Austin. I’ll resist repeating Texas stereotypes; the reality is that Austin really is unique. What a place! Vibrant, adventurous and with some of the most fun bars I’ve been to in a while. I even managed to catch the second half of a Chelsea game with the “Austin Blues” at a soccer bar. Despite losing, it made me smile that the English Premier League’s soft power was as much in evidence here as it is across Africa.