Culture, the Missing Link in Development Planning in Africa

This paper argues that communication and development strategies in Africa must take into account cultural and indigenous practices, particularly language, in order to escape colonial legacies of development and education, which in the author's view, have contributed to the stagnation of intellectual development of African communities and the marginalisation of indigenous knowledge and cultural identities.

The paper begins by discussing how Cold War geo-politics and “modernisation theory” has failed to liberate African states socially and economically, and in rare cases such as Botswana, have succeeded in modernising the state in image only: "Too often skyscrapers, beautiful residential areas, cinemas and hotels are seen by some to represent development." The author argues that the notions of free trade and economic liberation for Less Developed Countries through inclusion in global markets are farcical and ignorant to the reality that “everything that is happening in Africa is not under the control of Africans. We do not control the prices of the commodities we sell on the global markets, we do not have any real say in the setting of the prices at which we buy from the developed world."

The author argues that the inability of capitalist open-market systems to liberate “largely agrarian” African societies has resulted in a deep structural malaise: “it is not difficult to see why the elites in Africa become so prone to corruption, pilferage and looting of the state.” The autonomy of processes of African development have been undermined by modernisation techniques insensitive to cultural productions, tangible and intangible (religion, language, beliefs, customs and values) which preserve a wealth of indigenous knowledge that is central to sustaining the pride and faith of its people. “The adaptation of science and technology to suit the cultural and institutional foundations of the social life of a given people affirms the sense of confidence and cultural well-being of the people concerned.”

The key to a successful integration of development and communication strategies from the west, particularly in light of the increased import of information and communication technologies (ICTs), is the recognition and inclusion of indigenous languages. According to the author, the colonial experience, particularly in terms of education, established the mind set “that knowledge is available and accessible only in the colonial languages; the other side of the logic of this argument was that, it was not possible to learn science and technology or acquire knowledge of any superior kind in the languages of the people.”

In concluding his analysis of why modernisation theory and the human development of the masses has stagnated in the majority of African nations, the author underlines the necessity of cultural sensitivity and inclusion of indigenous languages as vital tools in the development process. “Development cannot be achieved in circumstances where the cultures of the masses are steadily abandoned in favour of cultures which are totally foreign to the masses and which are familiar terrain for only small sections of the elite. This point needs to be emphasised because it is the absence of cultural relevance and the need for cultural adaptation of external inputs into African development planning which in our minds constitutes the major obstacle to success in development planning and implementation in Africa.”

This paper was presented in July 2001 in Accra, Ghana, at the "Roundtable Discussion on Mainstreaming Human Security and Conflict Issues in long-term Development Planning in Africa: A New Development Paradigm?"