Ladies and gentlemen, good day. I would like to have this opportunity to thank professor Badie for inviting me to participate and also to have this opportunity to talk with him about the future of Africa and international player in world politics. We are not talking about ancient Africa; we are talking about modern Africa, Africa that came out after 1885 Berlin conference that also was very much shaped by political developments after the Second World War, when a number of African countries obtained their independence. Africans at that time were very much concerned with their unity. Organization of African Unity came to bring together independent states preserving their political independence, territorial integrity and also looking after the welfare of their population. Later it was succeeded by the African Union taking over the same mission that Organization of African Unity have started, but African Union also was somehow confronted with a number of challenges, some of which has to do with the internal wars between states and intra state conflicts, some of it has to do also with the conditions of economic development of the country. So the concerns and challenges were many but the African countries are trying somehow to pull together, defining African identity and trying to play a role in world politics. My questions to professor Badie is the extent to which African leaders have somehow managed to use the grammar of world politics and somehow to bring Africa to the world stage. Yes, this is a great problem. I think that things were very easy during the Cold war and the bipolarity because the battlefield of the world was located in Europe and because we faced two main actors: USSR and United States and, even when the Third world was structuring from the famous Bandung conference, the Third world had to be related to one camp or another. If we take into account Bandung, Nasser was behind USSR and Pakistan for instance was behind the USA. Now this world is over and you know in Europe, I think that we made a great mistake at that time that is to say 1989-1990, because we thought that with the end of the bipolarity, we were starting a new era which would be the multipolar world, a multipolar era. But this didn’t work. That is to say behind polarisation there is a very strong idea which is the capacity of attracting and if Europe expected to be a pole in the world, it has to be able to attract other countries and to be one of the main actors in the world. Now, there are no more main actors – there are actors. And this is in the meantime a chance and a risk for Africa. It is a chance because now Africa can get emancipated from all the traditional powers because there is no ruling power in the world. Neither USA who is more and more cautious in its foreign policy, neither Russia, neither even Europe. And however, this capacity to be one autonomous actor is contradicted by another trend and this other trend is very tragic that is to say Africa is now the new, one of the new battlefield of the world. And the question is how Middle East, which is the other battlefield in the world, how Africa which is the second or first battlefield in the world can participate in governing the world – and this is a little bit disappointing because I think that the main failure of all power is not to be able to include new countries in the global governance, in the governance of the world. After the colonisation, no new international institutions were created except UNDP for instance. But except UNDP, no change in the charter of the United Nations. United Nations was created by 51 members now it is 193 and the charter is hardly modified and of course no new agencies, no new institutions were created. So I will reply to your question by another question: how can Africa be an active partner in governing the world if we have to admit that Europe and all powers among which US did not manage a room of autonomy and participation of Africa in governing the world? I think this is an interesting question. I think African leaders have to put their acts together and have to face both internal and external challenges. Internally they have actually to unite the African states around an African identity and African vision. For projecting an African character in the international world - do you know that we have for example East Africa community, we have southern Africa, west Africa, you have North Africa also. This kind of subregional identities emerging within Africa, they could somehow contribute to feed into the process of an overall African role which should actually strengthen this but at the same time, they have also these external challenges. Now, for example, the concept of international actors for the Africans, in the past years, usually because of the history of colonialism, it was the European actors, but now you have newcomers to Africa. You have China, you have India also as well. So Africa, as you rightly characterize, aside for this novelty, the China are investing heavily for example in my own country, in the Sudan, in Angola, in West Africa and also the Russia is coming also again coming a very role. And also both of them are somehow trying to impact on Africa with different versions of development of different versions of democracy, for example we hear sometimes from East Asia, Chinese led discourse on development – development without democracy, which somehow for some African autocrats, that is a very kind of attractive discourse to listen to. But at the same time, Africa is also a laboratory or even a field for the new liberal economic policies, for example championed by the IMF and the World Bank in many countries. Whether they have succeeded or not, that is a question that we could deal with another time, but again the Africans have somehow to put together an African perspective of development. They could do that by drawing their own indigenous knowledge wisdom by also interacting fruitfully with the discourses from outside. I think the challenges are a tall order for the African leaders: how to manage this complex web of challenges, both emanating from the internal situations as well as those coming from the outside situation. I think that we can conclude in a balanced way, that is to say, first Africa has many assets: we have to take into account on the demographic point of view, I think that within 30 or 50 years, one human being out of 4 will be an African and that is probably the exact measure of the weight of Africa in the world. Second, Africa is a rich continent and that is to say many minerals, many resources, oil and so on. Third, of course, Africa will be more and more a market and must be included: I think that one of the problems of Africa is now that African trade covers about two percent of the global trade, but this is changing and will probably change at rather quick speed. But Africa is facing now three grave problems: first of all, the lack of human security, that is to say food security and health security. The second point is the lack of employment that is to say if you take into account some African countries like Niger, Niger has about 70% of his population has less than 30 years. What kind of jobs can we offer to this people and so, if they are not employed they have an option, either to be a migrant with all the risk and dangers associated to migration, or becoming maybe a child soldier. And the third one is political, that is to say how to promote democracy and a working political system as Africa counts probably the highest number of failed state inside. That is a problem. But I am quite sure that of course this is depending on the African willingness but it is depending on the international order, and I think that without a real cooperation, no progress can be expected on the front of human security. Without a new economic order, nothing can be expected about the new jobs. And this is my last word: without a real global governance, not limited to old powers, but really including without any kind of exclusion by boycott or marginalization but a real partnership, I am sure that Africa will be the continent of tomorrow. Thank you professor, thank you
