I read her book, Dead Aid, when it first came out and it opened my eyes to a very different perspective of aid, development and the financial world. Her views are a challenge and a strong vision on how to address the global poverty issue. Spread the word (and read the book!)

1) There is always, always two sides of a story and

2) We need to use resources around us — beyond what we have at hand in order to learn

This event was in UBC as part of the International Week celebrations:

To provide some background: (Taken from event description)

Mr. Paul Rusesabagina was the manager of the Sabena Hôtel des Mille Collines, and sheltered hundreds of Tutsis and moderate Hutus people for a hundred days using all available resources to him.  His courageous efforts thwarted bands of genocidal militia while Rwanda descended into outright genocide and civil war, and was celebrated in the Hollywood movie production, “Hotel Rwanda”.

A recipient of numerous international awards, including the Wallenberg Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Mr. Rusesabagina is a powerful speaker with a story of heroism and humanity in inhumane conditions.  In addition to his experiences during and after the Rwandan genocide, Mr. Rusesabagina will share his insights into the nature of the conflict, the failure of the West to stop it, and the challenges of reconciliation.

The event started out with a quick introduction by Brian Sullivan and quickly proceeded to Paul Rusesabagina’s speech itself. I won’t go into details of the speech, which was an account of his experiences of the Rwandan genocide and what went down in Hotel Rwanda. It was incredible hearing his accounts first hand, but the real experience cam during the Q&A period. Prof. Michael Byers was the moderator for the session.

Three things occured during the Q&A that took me completely by surprise:

1) There was a substantial amount of people that are Rwandan genocide refugees that were present. I had no idea that event of this event managed to reach past the UBC community, which was impressive.

2) The questions regarding comparisons of South Africa and Rwanda’s economy was very much unexpected, considering the different political, cultural and economic conditions of both countries.

3) The response towards Paul Rusesabagina’s speech was centered around his accountability and actions of Hotel Rwanda.

Needless to say, due to time constraints, only 3–4 questions were answered and the session ended. However, several Rwandan community representatives spoke up on their version of Paul Rusesabagina’s actions, questioning his motives, financial accountability as well as alliances during the genocide. They had the Chan Centre riveted with accounts of their personal stories of their survival and encounters with the military.

I have been to numerous events at the Chan but this was the first one that I have ever experienced such a strong outcome and discussion after. Students were gathering outside the Chan around these Rwandan genocide survivors who were engaging in more personal conversation about their experiences and there was buzz in the atmosphere about newfound knowledge.

My Main Takeaway: Paul Rusesabagina has been potrayed by Hollywood as a hero and revered for his courageous efforts during the genocide. However, the discussion at the Chan center which questioned his alliances, financial accountability, and actual self-preservation efforts. This  has made me realise that there are always two sides to a story, no matter how well know one side is. It is our responsibility to always be aware of the other side.

I leave you with a phenomenal TED talk by Chimamanda Adiechi telling the danger of a single story. Because our lives and cultures are composed of many overlapping stories, if we hear only a single story about another person or country, we risk a critical misunderstanding.

What I did come across in my meanderings across the interwebs was this [recent-ish] issue of the TIME’s magazine, which highlights “10 ideas that are changing our world right now”. The compiled list of ranged from issues in religion to infrastructure to the economy, one of which I found to be of particular interest to me.

Africa: Open for Business

The article highlights that Africa has long been perceived as a continent of where progress is irrelevant regardless of the efforts being done — foreign aid, economic stimulus, etc. Africa is essentially viewed as hopeless, and a $40 billion/yr foreign industry has been built around that perception to the point where people are starting to question whether aid is even doing any good at all. Thus, when the world’s economy went into Defcon 5 last year, the $40 billion industry started being called into question with debates and books being written that foreign aid is bad, fuels corruption, undermines governments, unsustainable and is  counter productive. (ie. Dead Aid — Dambisa Moyo, former Goldman Sachs and World Bank economist)

Drilling down to the actual relevancy of aid and development, the article points out the obvious fact that has been staring us in the face all this time. That throughout the noise of the aid industry, reality is that aid is no longer Africa’s main source of foreign income. Yes, that’s right. Africa is now a business destination.

So, I did some economic digging and cam across some very interesting information.

1) Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)  inflows into Africa have improved tremendously in the last 6 years. From $14.6 billion in 2002 to $53 billion in 2007 (UNCTAD World Investment Report, 2008). This translates into a 263% growth rate over a 6 year period!

Note: FDI refers to investment in domestic structures, equipment and organization by foreign private sectors or governments. Does not include foreign portfolio investment in a domestic economy. FDI contributes to the economic performance of a host country by: first,representing additional resources which can be used to build additional physical capital and create more employment. Secondly, increases a country’s output and productivity by encouraging efficient use of existing resources by increasing the size of the capital stock. Overall, FDI also improves local skills and technology know-hows which translate into growth and development.

The IMF puts Africa’s average annual growth for 2004 to ’08 at more than 6% — better than any developed economy — and predicts the continent will buck the global recessionary trend to grow nearly 3.3% this year — Time Magazine

2) The reason for an increase in FDI is an improvement in both economic and political conditions on the continent.

Economic Conditions: The UNCTAD Report stated that not only has Africa’s economy grown over 5%/yr since 2001, but cross border M&A’s in the extraction and related service industries of Africa has tripled. Combined with the fact that the high prices and demand for resources like oil has attracted investments from both developed and developing countries. An interesting fact to note is that because Africa’s economy is relatively displaced from the global economy, it is actually to their advantage during the current economic crisis, that they have been relatively unaffected.

Perhaps the most attractive element of the improving African economic condition is the very fact that China has developed a healthy interest in the continent.

While the old superpowers still agonize over Africa’s poverty, the new one is captivated by its riches. Trade between Africa and China has grown an average of 30% in the past decade, topping $106 billion last year. — Time Magazine

The Chinese has changed the psychological approach on Africa. They enter the continent to trade, not to provide aid. In her book, Dead Aid, Dambisa Moyo pointed out that those who still needs convincing about Africa should ask themselves if they are convinced about China, “because if you back China, you’re backing Africa.”

Political Conditions: The turn of the new millennium has brought about a wave of peace, with a rapid decline in civil wars and conflicts. Democracy is up, trade is improving, inflation is declining and growth is happening. Yes Africa still has its Zimbabwes, Darfurs and Congos, but the truth of the matter is, the continent is trending towards a more peaceful and democratic region as a powerful consensus is emerging across Africa for good governance and as nearly all African countries have been involved in some type of political and institutional change.

This is reflected by the fact that better governance means better standards of living, infrastructure, education and although most Africans are not middle class, most are also not living in extreme poverty.

The percentage of Africans living on $1.25 a day or less dropped from 59% to 51% from 1996 to 2005 and has decreased further since — World Bank

Essentially, when it comes down to it, Africa really is open for business. Perhaps the issue lies in whether the world is ready to receive it? Remember, the figures really do speak for themselves. Trade, not aid.

For those who are curious, the full list is:

1. Jobs are the new Assets

2. Recycling the Suburbs

3. The New Calvinism

4. Reinstating the Interstate

5. Amortality

6. Africa, Business Destination

7. Rent-A-County

8. BioBanks

9. Survival Stores

10. Ecological Intelligence

The TIMES’s article can be found here

“Evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates that aid to Africa has made the poor poorer, and the growth slower. ” Dambisa Moyo

“Unless there is recognition that women are most vulnerable… and you do something about social and cultural equality for women, you’re never going to defeat this pandemic.” Stephen Lewis

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I absolutely love the concept of bringing together ideas, as I think it is one of the most vital platforms in which we can learn and grow from one another. Consider The Munk Debates, a remarkable debate series that I followed/am following that brings together prominent leaders to debate about major issues concerning the world and Canada.  It is one of the few platforms that brings together the opinions of prominent people and places them head to head against each other and see how they fare. The model of this debate also works around the fact that the debate is subject to public scrutiny and opinion.

In terms of organisation, they have been wise in their selection of debaters. ie. Stephen Lewis — pretty much a Canadian icon, or controversial writers like Dambisa Moyo that would really draw the audience to participate and consider the topic of choice. The chosen topics are also well timed, the first one set just before the US presidential elections in November 2008, urging the public to consider global security in light of the elections.

So, if you haven’t been following the debates (There is one every 6 months), here are three reasons why (aside from the usual exposure to new ideas):

1) It’s FREE

The organisers have done an amazing job making the debates accessible online. The debates are streamed live, can be re-watched, audio, mp3, read the debate transcript, etc. Did I mention that its all free? Enough said. Watch!

2) SAVES you time

There are few places online that you are able to find Stephen Lewis, Paul Collier, Dambisa Moyo, Mia Farrow, John Bolton’s, etc. opinions all in one place. All of them are extremely influential and respected individuals in their respective fields and it’s a one stop/click/video for amazing insights into different topics. It also enables you to see their positions on certain topics, which would help you greatly in terms of referring/researching on a topic/individual should you want to investigate in more depth their publications and opinions.

3) COMMENT on your position

For a certain period after the debates, an online poling station (open to a random selct group of Canadian panelist) and mediated forum (open to the general public) is set up. You get to see and comment on an ‘opinions forum’, and sometimes you find some of the most amazing ideas and positions that the public has taken on it. A data analysis is also run based on the online poling station and you can see the breakdown of opinion on the debate topic as well as the key points that are brought up during the debate.

In other words, you watch the debates, comment, and view stats. Love it.

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Past debate topics:

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Some future debate topic lineups:

Religion is a force of good in the world

More Free market and less government regulation is the answer to our economic woes

Final thoughts: Ranked: 9/10. Improvement: Better advertising. I only found this after navigating heavily through the Globe and Mail.

Note: All pictures are taken from http://www.munkdebates.com