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Christopher Charamba Correspondent
African solutions to African problems is the wish of African leaders, particularly when addressing regional and continental bodies. As recently as last week Friday, in a speech at the opening of the Harare Agricultural Show, President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique hailed President Robert Mugabe for his position on Africans finding solutions to their problems.

Despite it being a favoured position and the reported efforts of trying to find these solutions, the reality on the ground is one where Africa relies heavily on external support. Take the African Union (AU) as an example; 70 percent of its budget comes from donors such as the World Bank, the European Union and China.

In 2014 the organisation approved a $426 million budget divided among the 54 member states. This comes to $7,9 million and yet less than a third of this amount was to come from African countries. The desire to support African institutions exists on paper and in speeches but often fails to translate where it makes cents.

A similar scenario exists for trade in Africa where only 14 percent of total trade in Africa is intra-African. The rest goes to external global markets, with the USA, China and the EU being some of Africa’s biggest trading partners. Exporting 86 percent of African goods to global markets would have a different bearing if Africa had a larger percentage of the global trade which currently sits at 3,4 percent. In contrast, Asia contributes 29,6 percent of the global trade where 56,8 percent of that is intra-Asian.

While it is worthwhile for one to suggest that there needs to be African solutions to African problems, there needs to be more concerted efforts to make this a reality. Rather than look solely externally to the West or to the East for foreign direct investment, African governments must actively attract investment from within the African continent.

The recent visit to Zimbabwe by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote in which he expressed his desire to invest in power generation, cement and coal mining in the country is a step in the right direction towards African solutions to African problems.

The fact that Africa’s richest man with a net worth of $17,4 billion, according to Forbes Magazine, has chosen to invest in Zimbabwe is a clear sign that Zimbabwe is ready and open to investment from around the world despite what has been reported.

Dangote Cement has operations in 15 African countries and by choosing to expand to Zimbabwe, Dangote has illustrated that opportunities exist in the country. This is positive for the economy, particularly in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling that led to thousands of people being put out of work.

Africans investing in Africa should be the new mantra of the continent, as this not only promotes local industries and creates jobs, but also guarantees that the wealth remains on the continent and is not exported to foreign countries. The onus now is on African governments to not only attract local investment, but also to ensure that the policies and laws that exist guarantee that those Africans who do invest locally are guaranteed returns and security on their investments.

Where there is high unemployment, many people bemoan the fact that government has failed to create jobs. Job creation however is not a function of government. Rather the role of government should be to create an environment that allows business and business owners to create jobs. The Zimbabwean Government seems to be making strides in this area as it is attracting investment from global markets, particularly China, but more importantly now from other African business people including Africa’s richest man.

Should this trend continue and tangible activity starts taking place on the ground, the economic turnaround that Zimbabwe needs is on the horizon. Zimbabwe should also take advantage of the interest shown by Dangote to attract other investors from the continent. Africa is certainly a place open for business and the continent’s wealthiest have made significant strides in expanding their businesses outside their home countries. Zimbabwe’s Strive Masiyiwa is one such example with the Econet Group having operations in 14 countries including Botswana, Liberia, South Africa, Lesotho and Burundi.

The results show that Africans can create successful businesses, grow them on the continent and expand to other continents. The bulk of the work however needs to be done in Africa and requires African governments to fully support their business people. In order for Africa to achieve the AU’s Vision 2063, more of such investment opportunities need to be sought. By using our resources to support each other without relying on external help, Africa can gain economic independence that complements the political independence that was bravely fought for.

It is naïve to think that those who come to Africa from abroad looking for investment opportunities have Africa’s best interests at heart. What is clear is that if more Africans start investing locally then that should put African countries and businesses in a better negotiating positions when they deal with foreigners.

Coming back to the African Union, for example, the fact that a significant percentage of its budget comes from foreign states and institutions, means that it is held accountable to these institutions, and might not be able to carry out some of its policies and mandates for fear of losing this funding.

Africa has 28 billionaires with a combined net worth of $93,1 billion. Should they decide to donate 0,0046 percent of their wealth to the AU, this should be able to cover the $426 million annual budget of the African Union. One is not suggesting that Africa’s wealthiest have any such obligation to the continental body. However, if African governments were serious about African solutions to African problems, then lobbying the continent’s richest for support is one sure way to go about their business.

The partnership between African governments and African businesses is an essential one for job creation, infrastructure development and all the other aims and goals that the policy makers have set out to do. By creating an environment that supports and encourages local businesses, and by having African business people actively invest locally, the continent is sure to gain a greater standing in the world economy.

In 2015 there were 290 new billionaires, 75 of them coming from China and 28 from India. These two countries have populations of over a billion people. Africa also has a population of over a billion people and is endowed with far more resources. The difference between Africa and Asia is not only in the number of billionaires they both have, but more significantly how they choose to invest and trade.

Africa needs to increase its intra-continental investments from the current 14 percent level if it is to compete significantly on the global arena.