Group Picture of officials after the event
Professor Joseph R. A. Ayee, Professor at the Department of Political Science, School of Social Sciences, has called on African countries to explore and take advantage of the opportunities available to the continent to either reform or perish. Prof. Ayee was delivering the Keynote Address on: Is the 21st Century really the “Century of Africa”? The Balance Sheet Thus Far at the Opening Ceremony of the School of Social Sciences 7th International Conference. The annual conference was held virtually on 3rd-4th November, 2021 on the theme: Addressing Africa’s Challenges in the 21st Century.
In his address, Prof. Ayee analysed the ‘Balance Sheet’ of the African situation and indicated that over the past two decades of the 21st century, the continent had recorded some gains in terms of growing economies (with six of its countries including Ghana ranked among the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world in 2019). The other indicators include marginal decline in poverty, reduction in conflicts, improvement in democracy and the existence of policy and institutional frameworks, among others. He noted, however, that despite these notable achievements, there have also been deficits in three key areas. These are peace and security, economic and social development, and governance and human rights. Prof. Ayee observed that climate change and the global COVID-19 pandemic are two major issues that have undermined Africa’s progress in recent times. He noted that Africa would need about USD50 billion to deal with the problem of climate change and its attendant issues. Citing the 2021 IMF Report, he indicated that the world would have been plunged into a second great depression following the ravaging effects of the global pandemic if not for governments’ interventions and vaccination efforts.
Prof. Ayee started his address with reference to great expectations, hopes and optimism towards the end of the 20th Century about Africa becoming the “shining star” or “rising star” of the 21st century. He cited the views of former South Africa President, Thabo Mbeki, in June 1999 that the 21st century would be “the century of Africa”. Prof. Ayee stated that these expectations were based on Africa’s natural resources, its strategic position and improved governance that led to increased investor interest and confidence, the renewed interest of the research community and the possibility that Africa’s growth could outstrip that of Asia by 2050, among others. He also referred to previous conferences and publications as well as several policy and institutional frameworks undertaken by African leaders to address challenges facing Africa in the 21st Century. He cited the examples of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative to reduce debt, NEPAD as a continental blueprint with four main objectives towards poverty reduction, sustainable growth and development, Africa’s greater integration into the world economy; and empowerment of women and other disadvantaged groups. He also referred to the creation of the African Union in 2002 that formulated Agenda 2063 among other things to promote initiatives in education, agriculture, infrastructure, industrial development, intra-African trade and continental free trade.
Professor Joseph R. A. Ayee
Prof. Ayee highlighted the gains made so far from the above-mentioned initiatives in Africa’s political, economic and socio-cultural spheres. He also noted that in these same spheres, there have been more deficits that outweigh the gains. These include weak regulatory states, disregard for human rights and the rule of law, the culture of impunity, the centralization of power in the context of excessive powers of the executive arm of government with weak separation of powers, very limited diversification in the economy, overdependence on primary commodities and weak industrialization, ineffective revenue collection and management, weak private sector participation in the economy of most countries and the failure of social development initiatives.
Concluding his address, Prof. Ayee was optimistic of a bright prognosis for the continent despite the challenges posed by climate change and COVID-19. With reference to notable quotes by Kwame Nkrumah in 1963 and from Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Prince (1513), he stressed the need for African countries to pay attention to improved governance, reduction in conflicts, investing in people (that is, in educating and employing its youth and preparing them for the future), economic diversification, and the reduction in aid dependency and deepening of regional integration. Prof. Ayee ended his address with a quote by Kwame Nkrumah in 1963, which is still relevant today: “the resources are there. It is for us to marshal them in the active service of our people. Unless we do this by our concerted efforts, within the framework of our combined planning, we shall not progress at the tempo demanded by today’s events and the mood of our people.”
Earlier in his welcome address, the Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Prof. George Owusu, noted that Africa entered the 21st century with huge unresolved issues and that despite remarkable achievements in health, education, food security, energy, housing and transport in many parts of Africa, these achievements have not been equitably distributed within and across countries on the continent. “Consequently, Africa is still labelled as a ‘paradox of poverty in plenty’ in the context of abundant human and natural resources of the continent” he stated. Prof. Owusu also observed that gains made on the continent are hardly acknowledged by the international community or if they are reported, they tend to misrepresent these gains. He was hopeful that the conference would provide researchers with the opportunity for fruitful deliberations and engagements as well as the opportunity to acknowledge both the challenges and gains, and to put forward measures to address these challenges.
Dean of the School of Social Sciences, Prof. George Owusu
The Opening ceremony was chaired by the Provost of the College of Humanities and Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Academic and Student Affairs, Prof. Daniel Frimpong Ofori. In his remarks, Prof. Ofori stressed the role of social scientists in shedding light and to deepening the understanding of the on-going pandemic and other societal challenges including climate change, demographic processes such as rapid urbanization, youth unemployment, crisis of governance and government, food insecurity, globalization as well as present debates about sexuality and gender, and many other challenges. He noted that “the myriad of challenges confronting society, especially in Africa suggest to me that social scientists are needed more than ever before.”
Prof. Ofori observed that although some gains have been made in the areas of gender equality, improvement in education and health outcomes, steady economic growth in many countries and conflict reduction and some countries such as Ghana have managed to establish stable democratic governance systems, the on-going pandemic has exposed the continent’s inadequacies. He expressed concern about how Africa can take its rightful place in a fast-changing world order where the rising of China and India and other countries are upsetting the traditional geopolitical dominance of the USA and other western countries. “In my view, it is about understanding Africa’s position in this new geopolitical order and what political and economic strategies the continent needs to pursue to reposition itself in this new order, while still remaining committed to bringing development to its impoverished population. We need social scientists regarding why and how to pursue this agenda”, he stated.
Prof. Ofori was hopeful that participants would not only discuss the important issues bordering on the challenges of Africa in the 21st century, but would also proffer solutions to these challenges.
The virtual conference bought together over 170 participants. These included faculty members and researchers, students, staff and other interested parties from the University of Ghana as well as Africa and other parts of the world. The Opening Ceremony was followed by breakout sessions on various sub-themes and a panel session titled Agricultural Commercialization in Africa: Emerging Trends and Livelihood Implications. The panelists were drawn from universities in Ghana, Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
As a regular feature of the annual event, three deserving faculty members and one support staff of the School received awards for their outstanding performance in various categories. The awards were as follows: Professor Mavis Dako-Gyeke, Dean’s Award for Mentorship; Professor Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Best Researcher; Dr. Austin Ablo, Most Promising Young Scholar and Mrs. Christiana Alabi-Tetteh, Best Worker.
From Left to Right: Professor Mavis Dako-Gyeke, Professor Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Dr. Austin Ablo, Mrs. Christiana Alabi-Tetteh
The conference was interspersed by musical interludes and performances by the Ghana Dance Ensemble.
