Africa: May 2022 be a year of positive anger transformation
Audio 03:53
Gilles Yabi is an economist and political analyst, founder of Think Thank Wathi, based in Dakar, Senegal.
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By: Gilles Yabi Follow
3 min
On January 1, 2022, the time has come to take stock of the past year and 2021 was rather difficult in West Africa.
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Gilles Yabi
: The year 2021 will have been trying for millions of people in our part of the world, both for old reasons such as material deprivation, difficult access to water, food, health services. health and education, very limited economic opportunities, extremely difficult working conditions for many, I am thinking for example of all the young people and children who work in artisanal gold mines or who break stones in several countries of the region.
It has also been difficult for more recent reasons, the continued expansion of areas affected by violence, insecurity and fear, in the Sahel, Nigeria and in border areas of several West African countries.
And further, in neighboring Central Africa, powers which continue to break longevity records and which continue to neutralize by all means any hint of opposition.
More than ever, the political stability of many countries in this region is fictitious and no one knows when and how the status quo will end.
RFI: in the face of these negative trends, however, at the start of the year you want to evoke the spirits who are opening up future paths through their ideas and actions, inseparable, moreover, according to you ...
Indeed. Bad news always makes more noise than good ... Faced with the entrepreneurs of violence, the profiteers of insecurity, those who every day weaken more every day by their schemes the political, security, economic and social institutions and who ruin the trust within the populations, there is a mass of women and men who also work every day through their ideas and their actions to build a better present and future.
The men and women who have the capacity to trigger virtuous dynamics are there, in all areas, but they are not sufficiently highlighted, supported, or even simply listened to.
We are delighted at WATHI to have welcomed in 2021 during round tables, forums and interviews, several dozen women and men who shared their experiences, their knowledge, their know-how, their passions. .
We gave voice to researchers in many fields, from health to agriculture to social sciences.
They remind us and above all remind those who govern that research, the bulimia of knowledge and perseverance in the effort are essential as engines of change.
We also gave the floor to local elected representatives who describe the economic, social, health and educational realities in regions far from capitals.
Their remarks confirm the danger posed by the deepening of inequalities of opportunity at birth between the territories within the countries of the region.
We also gave a voice to dozens of women, from different generations, who are leading the fight against gender inequalities with strength and determination.
This struggle is basically nothing other than the struggle for the dignity of every human being.
What wish do you have for Africa in 2022?
May it be a year of regaining peace and security where they are seriously compromised and a year in which we see concrete changes dawning that give prospects to millions of young people on the continent. A deaf anger rises within this youth who is besides showered with information and especially disinformation, shortcuts and false promises.
Anger and frustrations alone cannot produce paths for the future.
We can no longer afford new civil wars, new coups d'état, new violent crises.
The transformative potential of anger must be nourished by knowledge, an effort to understand the contexts, the balance of power, to produce collective actions oriented towards realistic objectives.
Let's make 2022 a year of positive transformation from anger into empowering prospects.
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