Outdated politics a dead weight on Africa

Old politics for old men. That's perhaps the best summary of the outcomes from the World Economic Forum's African getaway this past week.

Perhaps I am being a tad unfair to participants trying to breathe fresh impetus into the tale of a rising African continent. But listening to the grandiose claims of Zimbabwe's president about the strength of his country and sophistication of its economy reminded us of the delusions of grandeur we still have to deal with.

Where was the real talk? A realignment of politics and economics is happening in this global village, which some of Africa's leaders forget we live in until poor health strikes and a European capital doesn't seem so far. A fourth industrial revolution threatens everything we once thought of as the absolute truth. Yet we are weighed down by the politics of an old world.

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As African people, we are now closing in on two decades since economic blueprints such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development were launched. Such plans and others before were meant to set us on a path of finally fulfilling the continent's full potential.

The politics of the day ensure that it remains but a mirage.

We've wasted or - to remain slightly optimistic - we are wasting the good news story that had been developing about the continent.

That oracle of capitalism, The Economist, in its 2011 cover story on Africa highlighted virtues such as a fast-growing middle class, rising incomes and soaring foreign investment.

Today, it's a vastly different story. Much of the positive sentiment was based on a continent benefiting from what was once thought of as China's insatiable appetite for African resources.

We've since discovered that there's a limit, and the affliction called the Dutch Disease can be diagnosed for many an "emerging giant", such as Nigeria and Angola.

Admittedly, the "Africa Rising" narrative sounded all the sweeter because of the exposure of the fundamental weaknesses in the economies of the developed world, among which are an ageing and an overindebted population.

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Against this backdrop, where the European Union bordered on near collapse every other week, Africa was an easy sell. US growth was still fragile and uncertain just a few years ago.

Remember the unprecedented liquidity injections, called quantitative easing, into that economy by its central bank to keep the lights on?

Today, Europe's politics are still worrying in some quarters, but the region's economy has recovered and is on a more secure path.

The US, despite its politics and definitely not because of its 45th president, is reporting decade-low unemployment figures.

Now the cyclical nature of things would and should have told African politicians that we had been riding the crest of the wave that was promising to make Africa a new global centre along with Latin American and Asian nations, and that when the developed world's prospects improved, it would all change. And that capital would then once again have growth options in the North.

Emerging market nations are once more in a scramble to stand out as the prettiest belle at the ball. And on that front, Africa's politicians, or rather to fit the analogy, our elected make-up artists, have been woeful.

Across the continent, now more than ever, we need some real talk on the structural fault lines we share. In South Africa's case, transformation and growth need to share the same billing. Can we stop separating the two, as a first step?

derbyr@sundaytimes.co.za or follow Ron on twitter @ronderby