Africa must overcome a mindset of complacency and low expectations that has led many people, including leaders, to believe the continent cannot achieve what others have accomplished, Francis Gatare, President of the African School of Governance (ASG), has said. Gatare said African countries have the resources and human capital needed to transform the continent, but a lack of confidence, ambition and discipline to implement good plans continues to hold back development. African leaders are set to converge in Kigali on August 25-26 for the Africa Mindset Reset Forum, which will examine the leadership, institutions and mindset needed to accelerate the continent's development. Hosted by ASG, the inaugural forum is themed “From Pan-Africanism to Meta-Africanism” and will explore how Africa can move from shared ambitions to practical action. ALSO READ: 1,000 leaders to meet in Kigali for Africa Mindset Reset Forum In an exclusive interview with The New Times, Gatare discussed what he believes is holding Africa back and how changes in individual and institutional mindsets could help advance the continent's development. Excerpts: What specific mindset do you think is holding Africa back, particularly among its leaders and institutions? Africa is the one continent that continues to remain behind. The question is: Why Africa? Sometimes people resort to thinking, maybe there is something wrong with us as Africans. What do we lack? Is it resources? It can't be, because the natural resources are there. Is it the people? No. Today, we have a lot of people, particularly young people. But unfortunately, many Africans, including our leaders, have lost confidence in themselves. They have come to believe that what others can achieve in the rest of the world, maybe we cannot achieve here. They become complacent and accept to settle for less. They have betrayed their societies because they have failed to inspire people to aspire for more. That level of hopelessness and pessimism that makes people risk it all just to end up somewhere else, not even sure if they will survive or succeed when they get there, is a mindset. But it is created by a situation on the ground that fails to inspire, and it starts with leaders. There is an inspiring part. When you look at the continent, you see societies, communities and countries that have transformed their thinking. They have challenged themselves to think big and challenged the status quo. They have said: What we are told, what we see around us, is not true. You can create your own new narrative about who you are and what you can achieve as a country. ALSO READ: Who are the leaders expected at Africa Reset Mindset Forum? What does “From Pan-Africanism to Meta-Africanism” mean in simple terms? Pan-Africanism was the spirit of solidarity that brought Africans together, particularly during the fight for independence. The pre-independence generation of African leaders understood that the independence of one country would not be sufficient until the whole continent was free. That spirit continued after independence and helped African leaders build continental institutions such as the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), later the African Union, and other initiatives bringing Africa closer together. Over time, however, it became more of a slogan than a reality. The challenges of the 21st century have become more about economic and social integration than political liberation. We crafted the term Meta-Africanism to suggest that we evolve from Pan-Africanism to something different—a new focus on the African mindset at the individual and institutional levels. The ambition we have is high. The reality is that results are not showing for that. There is a lack of discipline to execute and implement good plans and strategies and to use resources well. That's the mindset reset that we aim to motivate at the Africa Mindset Reset Forum. Pan-Africanism was great and achieved a lot, but it is not sufficient to motivate Africa to the next level. We need a new dispensation, and we are calling it Meta-Africanism. What makes the forum different from other conferences and summits? The first is that it is going to be intergenerational. More than 80 per cent of participants are going to be young people. We wanted to make sure that young people have an opportunity to have conversations with their seniors and learn from them—what has gone well, what hasn't gone well, the challenges and the lessons. The second is the depth of the conversations. Each day has only two sessions, all in plenary. We wanted people to have crucial conversations together, with the audience contributing and asking questions. The third is spotlighting things that work well and celebrating inspiring stories. Each session will feature presentations about four to five initiatives demonstrating mindset change. At the end of the conference, we want to make commitments that will generate momentum, almost like a movement. We want this to be a continuous conversation. We are creating a network, especially of young people across the continent, that will remain engaged throughout the year so that these commitments can be realised. How will you measure whether the forum has achieved something beyond two days of conversations? Our first success was to generate interest. When this forum was conceived, we aimed to bring together 1,000 people and thought it was ambitious. But as we started mobilising and talking about it, it generated a lot of interest. As we speak today, registered participants have exceeded 6,000. Going forward, success will be measured by how the momentum is maintained, because mindset change is a journey. We want to create a demand pool of young people who will ask their leaders to commit to initiatives on our continent. We will measure how much this momentum contributes to the number of countries that adopt visa-free travel for Africans. Improvements in air travel and how many countries open up their skies to other airlines will also be measures. The Continental Free Trade Agreement, which was signed here in Kigali in 2018, has been ratified by many countries, but practically, it is not yet functional. We will be working with the AfCFTA Secretariat to see how much implementation improves. There are many other things we will learn that we do not know yet. We are bringing together a lot of intelligent people and will be learning from them. We want to hear what else we can track and what we are missing. A measure of success will also be the new ideas we capture from this forum and along this journey.
