25 August 2014, Joburg Metro Civic Centre

“The wind of change is blowing through this continent…”

These famous words of the then British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, spoken 54 years ago, ring true again today, albeit in a different context.

Today, democracy is well established in Africa and the shackles of colonialism and discrimination have been shed.  Despite certain remaining challenges, freedom is reigning across the continent.

New winds of change have gathered in a storm of magnificent proportions and are sweeping across the continent. 

A storm of economic emancipation and growth is gaining force in our hills and valleys, our mountains and glades, rivers, deserts, trees, flowers, our seas and the ever-changing seasons that define the face of our native land, to borrow some of the famous words from former President Thabo Mbeki’s speech: “I am an African”.

And so today, as we celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Women’s Charter this year, we can proudly say:  We are women of Africa, we are Africans.

Today, Africa is growing economically like no other continent in the world.  The average return on equity for investors in Africa is 35%-55%, compared with 5%-7% in the US and Europe.  Africa’s investment boom is on a sustainable path, according to Pan African chief economist Iraj Abedian. 

African consumer markets have become of great interests to investors, with the continent’s middle class growing 30% over the past 10 years to about 120 million people.  As pointed out by the CEO of Coca-Cola, Muhtar Kent, Africa is indeed the untold story, and could become the big story of this decade, like India and China were this past decade.

It is against this background that we, as Africans, should ask ourselves:  how do we make use of the new interest in our continent and the economic growth that goes along with it in the interests of the people of Africa.  What is the Africa we want?

Former South African Home Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who laid the foundation for the much more efficient Home Affairs Department we have today and is now the Chairperson of the AU Commission, outlines the vision for the Africa we want:  An Africa that is integrated and prosperous, peaceful, democratic and inspired by the values of Pan Africanism; an Africa that takes her rightful place in the world. 

She says that the unity and integration of the continent and the development of its infrastructure are key to establish an Africa that is peaceful and prosperous. 

At national levels, infrastructure such as energy, transport, ICT and infrastructure to expand access to basic services such as sanitation and water, health and educational facilities, are the important hardware for development and a better life for all our citizens. 

At regional and continental levels, we seek to connect African capitals and commercial centres through road, rail and ICT, to power our communities through energy projects and to increase agricultural production through irrigation projects, building storage facilities, distribution infrastructure and markets.  The software are equally important: investment in our people – in their education, access to basic services and health.

As Dr Dlamini-Zuma points out, our development will continue to be half-pace if we also do not empower women to play an important part in the social, political and economic affairs of our societies.

Women make up just over 50% of Africa’s growing population and their under-representation in social, political and economic spheres must be addressed if Africa is to leverage fully of the promise and potential that it holds.

In most African countries, only about a third of women participate in the economy actively and when they do it is often in very limited ways.

To maximize the growth opportunities facing Africa today, both men and women in Africa need to be able to reach their full potential.

As pointed out by Ernst & Young, the challenges for African women are twofold.  For those involved in informal economic activities, the challenge is to create access to more formal economic participation.  For those who are educated and working in the formal sector, the challenge is to move up the corporate ladder.

Creating opportunities for women to participate in the economy will improve their earning potential and assist families to move out of poverty.  Participation of African women in the formal economy is under leveraged and undervalued.  There is a patent lack of women in senior management positions.  According to the latest World Bank Enterprise Survey, only 1 in 26 salaried African women is employed in a senior management position, compared with 1 in every 6 men.

A study carried out by the Nike foundation in Kenya estimates that investing in girls would potentially add US$ 3.2 billion to that economy.

It was Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations who said that there is no tool for development more effective than the education of girls.

A positive development is that more women are given space and voice in formal political structures.  The 1995 Beijing Women’s Conference’s action platform called for a 30% quota for women in public leadership positions.  Several African countries have risen to the Beijing challenge and have introduced laws that implement quota systems to increase the representation of women in legislatures and government.

However, in countries such as the DRC and Cameroon, where no such intervention has been done, the disparity is blinding. 

Women national leaders are also very rare.  In 2006, Ellen Sirleaf was inaugurated as the first elected female president in Africa, paving the way for several women to step forward.

Ernst & Young recommends the following policy considerations that I believe we need to take seriously going forward:

  • Policies that promote gender equality
  • Empowering women politically through the use of quotas at all levels of government
  • Accelerating progress toward meeting Millennium Development Goals targets, thereby meeting the needs of basic service delivery
  • Introducing economic reforms and regulating markets to ensure women can participate equitably, and relaxing those regulations that hamper women’s full economic participation
  • Access to credit and supportive programs will afford women the opportunity to employ more people, and develop a necessary link in the chain against poverty.

To capitalize on Africa’s current and predicted growth within the next few decades, Africa’s leaders stand before the challenge of easing our women’s passage into economic participation.

As we move to realize our vision for the Africa we want, we need to understand that similar to the global world, there is a continental reality.  The world has become a small place, and so has Africa. Human and financial capital flow over borders. 

In SADEC in particular, we need to accept the reality of economic migration and put in place effective mechanisms to manage that.  All countries in SADEC need to work together in this regard.

As part of South Africa’s obligations and commitments towards Africa and the world, we will continue to accommodate genuine refugees and asylum seekers.  Similarly, SADEC and the rest of Africa should cooperate to manage refugees effectively.

South Africa is a signatory of various international instruments protecting refugees and asylum seekers.  We are committed to deal more effectively and expeditiously with refugee and asylum applications and government will introduce legislative amendments to make this possible. 

We have also taken steps to make the life of refugees and asylum seekers more comfortable in South Africa by ensuring easier access to bank accounts.

The first prize remains that the situation in unstable African countries is normalized to provide refugees and asylum seekers the opportunity to return to their home countries. 

Over the last 20 years of democracy, South Africa has contributed extensively towards peace-making across the continent. 

To achieve the Africa we want, we should work relentlessly towards achieving an Africa at peace with herself.

Child-trafficking has become an increasing problem in Africa and the world.  The Department of Home Affairs had the responsibility to act in an endeavor to curb this evil. 

For this reason, we have now put in place various requirements when people travel across our borders with a child.  Where parents are travelling with a child, they must produce an unabridged birth certificate of the child reflecting the particulars of both parents. 

In the case of one parent travelling with a child, in addition to him or her producing an unabridged birth certificate, a consenting affidavit from the other parent has to be produced. 

Where a person travels with a child who is not his or her biological child, a copy of the child’s unabridged birth certificate, a consenting affidavit from the parents or legal guardian of the child, copies of the IDs or passports of the parents or legal guardian of the child, and the contact details of the parents or legal guardian of the child have to be produced. 

These provisions form part of our international commitments to root out child-trafficking.  People will have to get used to these requirements as they are here to stay.

May I also use this opportunity to once again highlight our Birth Registration Campaign.  Early birth registration is critical for our government to protect the integrity of our Population Register. 

We therefore urge everyone to register their children within 30 days of their birth.  For this purpose, health facilities across the country have been provided with the facilities to provide a birth registration service at the place of birth. 

Let me also remind you that no late birth registration will be allowed after December 2015.

Let us all work together to make South Africa and Africa work, to ensure that the 21st Century is the African Century, to create the Africa we want.