Not enough pain – so Africa procrastinates on steps to success

By Alec Hogg

Hanging around in corridors at a World Economic Forum event is usually the best place. Yesterday in Cape Town was no different.

As a long-serving WEF insider vents his frustration – “we’ve been talking about the same stuff for years, but in Africa nothing gets done” –  a leading journalist downloads about head-butting with an over-sensitive politician. Then a hotelier grumbles about how new regulations are destroying his business just as I receive the e-mail from a Global Shaper highlighted in the programme – he can’t make an interview because his Visa was denied.

There’s much to digest from a couple days of high level talks and intense networking here in the Mother City.

But the biggest reminder I’ll be taking home is the continent’s analysis paralysis.

Everyone is fully aware of the challenges and their solutions. Trouble is, we Africans are first-class talkers but third-class executors. Whether it’s lack of political will, disinterest or just plain laziness, the steps just don’t get taken.

Seems there’s never quite enough pain to create sufficient incentive. Perhaps the next generation will do better.

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