The Global Green Development Group is happy to announce the opening registration for the 3rd Annual African Global Economic & Development Summit 2015, also known as the AGED Summit to be held in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California (USC) this August. This event is expected to connect the entrepreneur and business communities to the opportunities and growth potential of the African Continent as well as  bring countries from all over Africa to California to showcase their trade ready projects that are in need of technical and investment partners.

I like to know what has come of the Africa’s Pupils, Prime Ministers and Presidents who came to Washington DC in August 2014, to meet President Obama. As the largest gathering of such odd fellows in DC history, who came for jamboree and opportunity to shake hands with Obama, and the loose initiative surrounding Power Africa Initiative, yet to be funded, what will this ‘2-by-4’ gathering do differently?
 
Africans celebrate Efforts not OUTCOMES. 
 
To appease the unsuspecting onlookers, one is bombarded with rates of growth in most African countries – impressive all things considered. To that I say, thank God for statistics for what they show. But my God! What about what they do not reveal? A visit to these countries with glowing growth rates reveals conditions unfit for the 21st century; no water supply, no power and of course, the sewer system is something hardly seen as necessary. The absence of sewer and reliable water supply systems is why mosquitoes in Africa have a field day. The environment is breeding ground for malaria carrying mosquitoes.

Were efficient and dependable water supply systems to be the order, about 70% of the public health challenges in Africa would be made manageable. But no, they rather jump at the solutions that Bill Gates with his feel-good givers delivers: Mosquito Nets for Africa. It is like trying to contain a lion already out of the cage and ready to bite. Good luck with that! Advertorials keep coming to impress and attract vulture and money laundering investors out to make quick bucks and leave the locals more damaged.
 
Since the songs and dances about helping Africa, the continent is largely behind the A-ball, dangling and swinging from one continent to the other and accepting whatever anyone gives them or promises to give them. Africa will rather copy from ‘C’ countries – India, China, Israel, Russia, Pakistan, and so forth than devote energy and copy from ‘A’ countries. When one copies from a ‘C’ student’ will they end up ‘C’?, Heck no. They end up with ‘C-‘ or ‘H’ – Horrible. That is my prediction, and its unassailable.
 
In July, President Obama will make a trip to Kenya, in part to fulfill a desire so it is on record that he visited the land of his father while president -- but note, it is NOT a state visit. He will attend as a participant in a Summit. The Kenyans are ready to troop to the streets to welcome their Son as if the Messiah is coming with a mentality of Daniel Come to Justice. It makes one wonder if Africans are that excited because of another human being, whose presence hardly addresses their despondent situation and condition except for the ‘feel good.’

Investing in Africa is still a challenging proposition because some of the required fundamentals are not in place. Not minding that Africa has the highest numbers of Prime Ministers and Presidents than any other continents, these odd fellows are yet to understand how to leverage their number to make things happen for their dark continent. If number is a crucial factor in the game of politics, how come Africa is not leveraging that?
 
The quantity is definitely not QUALITY because when they come to the table, they are largely ignored or told: "Wait, we get to you when we have decided how to share the resources of your continent."  Given that the native Africans who migrated to all parts of the world are yet to emerge with any significant economic and political clout, they are not able to enable or orchestrate any policy and investment resources to reach the continent. Native Africans may have physically migrated but not mentally as their conduct and outlook is still like living in their various countries but enjoying just being present in their new land.
 
Hearing about all the remittances, in billions, making their way to Africa is more like water under a bridge – it flows in and out. Remittances are not resources the investment world tracks for development. They are consumer resources that find their way back to the countries of origin – to appease and please the recipients in the relative countries.They do nothing to trigger quantifiable economic development momentum.
 
I wish the organizers of the USC conference best of luck. But since they have no money of their own to invest in Africa, one thing absent is that in Economics: Money Attracts Itself while in Science, the opposite attracts. With that in mind, I resort to the old American saying using Missouri mantra – Show Me The Money. Equity attracts Debt, so that they tango and tangle to create resources to go after a deal.
 
Sub-Saharan Africans have no clue what Equity is and how to cultivate that. They rather have their hands out in a HELP and GIVE stance instead of INVEST and PARTNER with us stand.
 
I like to hear a counter.
 
By Ejike E. Okpa

Dallas,Texas.