Hope for Africa?
The 48th Andechs Europe Day of the Pan-European Union Germany, which took place on 14/15 October 2017, dealt with the main question: ‘Hope for Africa?’.
President of the Pan-European Union Germany Bernd Posselt called for the structure of artificial centralised nation states exported by European colonialism to the neighbouring continent to be relativised in favour of historically evolved regional identities and ethnic groups, while at the same time creating supranational communities, such as a West, South or pan-African federation.
Posselt criticised US President Donald Trump's policy against the United Nations as ‘irresponsible’. Any international law, however weak, is better than arbitrariness and disruption. Africa's pre-colonial statehood was characterised by states made up of associations of individuals, as Europe knew them in the Middle Ages and as they could return in modern civil society with supranational institutions.
The centralised nation state is currently in a serious crisis, for example in Great Britain or Spain, and is also damaging the vital European unification. In Africa, it is a major cause of wars and expulsions because, as in Europe after the Second World War, attempts are being made to adapt people to the borders through so-called ethnic cleansing instead of establishing a federalist order that does justice to all ethnic groups. Although there were encouraging signs of economic development in Africa, these could not be sustained if there was no rule of law and personal freedom.
Europe was not just a former colonial power with mistakes and crimes, but had a lot of positive things to offer Africa. Conversely, Africa is not only characterised by questionable regimes, war, flight and displacement, but is also a continent of hope for Europe. The prerequisite is to deal with each other with respect and at eye level. In the long term, there can be no happy Europe without a happy Africa and no happy Africa without a happy Europe.
The head of the ‘Africa south of the Sahara’ department at the ‘Museum Fünf Kontinente’ in Munich, Dr Stefan Eisenhofer, described the cultural diversity of Africa with its 54 countries and around 2,000 languages, which are more different from each other than any European country. The same diversity can be found in art, crafts, religious traditions and world views. Until the conquest by Arabs and then Europeans, who brought writing from the north, Africa was a visual and acoustic continent. Contrary to European ideas, African art is not just folk art; there are highly specialised craftsmen who received their commissions from the historical ruling classes, traditional religious authorities and, when these no longer existed, also from missionaries. Today, such pieces are usually displayed in museums without naming the artist, because they often did not place their name at the centre, but saw their products as a joint effort with their ancestors and their environment. Today, however, their identity can often be determined through research.
Art served to cope with earthly and supernatural life. Their centres were located in powerful kingdoms with large expanses, such as Benin in West Africa. The ruler of Benin was called the ‘human leopard’ because this predator, faster and deadlier than the lion, symbolised being the master of life and death. Bronze from Bohemia had already been worked into rectangles in the West African empires in the 15th century, which in turn were inspired by European books or Indian miniatures. Ivory carvers also decorated their works with images of Portuguese heads. The kings of Benin and Congo became Catholic and exchanged letters with their Portuguese counterparts about theology and firearms.
Hessian MEP Michael Gahler, European co-chair of the joint European Parliament/Pan-African Parliament delegation and Vice-President of the Pan-European Union Germany, reported on the defence structures that Europeans and Africans have created together in recent years. The most important partners for EU security policy are the African Peace and Security Council, the African Standby Force and the Peace Fund, which has been set up for seven years of the Financial Perspective with just over 30 billion euros for all ACP countries (Africa-Caribbean-Pacific) except North Africa. However, this is not too much, especially as some payers remain in arrears. At the beginning of this year, Morocco had joined the African Union, which, although it had a large number of member states, now finally encompassed the entire continent with the admission of the North African kingdom. Mr Gahler reported on the three training missions in Mali, the Central African Republic and Somalia. He went into detail about the unstable situation in the heart and north of the African continent. In Central Africa, the transport capacities of the Europeans were in particular demand. In Congo, after many armed conflicts, the aim was to bring together the police, the former military and the former rebels. This had worked in South Africa because the men and officers had been paid decently and the ruling ANC was not organised along tribal lines. North Africa is struggling with terrorism and the refugee problem. While Morocco is endeavouring as far as possible to guarantee refugees a temporary stay, the situation in Algeria is already more difficult and in Libya is catastrophic due to the lack of state structures, said the security policy spokesperson for the EPP Group in the European Parliament. The peace fund is primarily used for repatriations and triggers investment, including private investment. Gahler drew attention to the EU summit with the African Union at the end of November in Abidjan. The European Parliament has drawn up a preliminary draft for this, ‘because the time for sausage-making is actually over, even in relation to Africa.’
Political scientist and migration expert Prof Belachew Gebrewold from the Management Centre Innsbruck, who comes from Ethiopia, called for better coordination between the interests of both continents on the refugee issue. The European Security Strategy has defined five main threats, many of which also affect Africa: terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, state collapse, organised crime and regional conflicts that could spill over into neighbouring countries. However, Gebrewold identified an imbalance between the political goals of the Europeans and those of the Africans. Migration policy is a priority for Europeans, not for Africans. The idea of combating the causes of flight must also be critically scrutinised, because apart from Syria, the situation in hardly any of the countries of origin has deteriorated significantly in the last two to three years. Gebrewold emphasised that Africa's problems could not be solved with charity or an increase in development aid alone. It is more important to believe in dignity and equality and in the resulting economic momentum. Constantly blaming the Europeans is not suitable for helping, because ‘since decolonisation, we have been responsible ourselves.’ The one-sided negative image many Europeans have of Africa is also misleading. The situation in many African countries is much better than portrayed in the European media: ‘In my articles, journalists brush aside positive findings. They don't want to hear them and focus on disasters.’ However, climate change remains an existential challenge. There is a shared global responsibility here, as evidenced by the fact that the EU strategy for Africa was transformed into an EU-Africa strategy in 2007, meaning that we are no longer working ‘for’ Africa, but are instead seeking a common path.
The Styrian Africa author Hans Stoisser, an expert on institutional infrastructures, criticised the fear of Africa as the ‘continent of disasters’. In fact, a new dynamic is emerging there, from which Europe risks being left behind if it neglects cooperation with its southern neighbours. The new African generation is young, punctual and structured and shares common experiences with the corresponding generation in Europe via satellite TV, the internet and mobile phones. The new African middle class comprises three to four million people ‘who are logged into the global knowledge society’. According to Stoisser, by 2030 there could be one billion people ‘with the same interests as all of us, namely freedom, prosperity, security and fulfilment of purpose.’ The economic performance of sub-Saharan Africa, where most of the poor still live, tripled between 2000 and 2015, while per capita income doubled at the same time. China has achieved a leading position in Africa by securing access to the raw materials markets there in return for building infrastructure. There are 900 companies from Germany compared to 10,000 Chinese companies in Africa. There is much to criticise about Chinese politics and business, for example in terms of quality and human rights. However, Beijing will initiate the final industrialisation of Africa, which is why the Europeans must manage to maintain their better standards and become competitive at the same time.
The Cellerar of Andechs Monastery, Father Valentin Ziegler OSB, called on the participants from 17 nations to take the European idea, which had led to greater cohesion and unity after the war, further together with Africa and to remain ‘profound learners’ so that the many gifts of Africa could also be opened up to the world. The Holy Scriptures repeatedly refer to the situation of the stranger and invite people to respond to this in freedom. Exclusion and division are not ‘the solution to the riddle’. It is a testimony to Christ to stand up for others in following him. People must not fall by the wayside and degenerate into an economic factor. In this context, Ziegler also warned against the brutalisation of language.
The concluding dinner in the monastery restaurant run by Paneuropa host Alexander Urban was introduced by a concert by the group ‘Jant Bi’ from Senegal. The six young
men, who conveyed an African atmosphere with drumming, dancing and singing and whose yellow, red and blue patterned robes echoed the colours of the Paneuropa flag, live as asylum seekers in Otterfing. Doris Theodosiadis from the local helpers' organisation hosted their performance.
The festive mass in honour of Saint Hedwig in the pilgrimage church was celebrated in glorious October weather by the Apostolic Nuncio in Germany, Archbishop Nikola Eterović.
In the panel discussion that followed, the participants worked out hopes for Africa under the moderation of International Pan-European Vice President Dirk H. Voß. Voß emphasised that, from a European perspective, Africa is a neighbour, separated from us only by the ‘inland sea’ of the Mediterranean; ‘and if my neighbour is in a bad way, his house is burgled or he has a fight with his wife, that concerns me directly.’ The refugee issue appears to be the result of economic, political, military or peace policy failures over the last 30 to 50 years. Today, in a kind of ‘peace of the brave’, Europe must learn to listen to the voice of Africa and, in the spirit of European unification, is called in a special way to be a partner of Africa, where there are pan-African advances.
Archbishop Eterović also cited the presence of the Catholic Church, which proclaims the Gospel in every country, albeit in a minority situation in North Africa, and offers social structures and services, such as Catholic schools, from which many leading politicians have emerged, the digging of wells or the work in national reconciliation commissions, for example in Congo and Benin, as a reason for hope for Africa. Christianity has been linked to Africa since time immemorial; Jesus Christ found a second home in Egypt as a child. North Africa was once Christian; the old and important Coptic Church, with which the Vatican maintains close relations, testifies in Egypt, Ethiopia and Eritrea that Christianity did not just come with colonisation. In the present day, African people are opening up to Christianity, which he himself experienced as nuncio in Ivory Coast, Niger and Upper Volta. The Vatican Synod on Africa, which he organised, was a ‘prophetic initiative’ of Pope John Paul II, who saw the African continent as a unit like Europe or America.
Father Florian Prince of Bavaria, who has worked for decades as a missionary Benedictine of St Ottilien in Kenya, confirmed that education is the foundation for development in Africa. ‘Children make up only 15 or 20 per cent of society - but they are one hundred per cent of the future! If we don't take care of them, we don't take care of the future.’ However, the education systems in most African countries were inherited from the colonial era and have not been adapted much since then. He is trying to achieve such an adaptation with the INES school system he has developed, which is intended to provide the nomadic Dasnesch with an education tailored to their living situation. Last but not least, democracy depends on the rule of law and education if it is not to be a dictatorship of the majority. The Father criticised the development ministries in Europe, which are often still unfamiliar with genuine partnership, ‘which is why our projects, for example, fall through the cracks.’ His organisation creates equality by ‘saying no to some of the requirements from Germany.’
The Greek-Catholic Archimandrite Dr Andreas-Abraham Thiermeyer saw ‘hope for Europe through the refugees’. The former refugee chaplain of the Eichstätt diocese, who looks back on extensive ecumenical experience, including with the Copts, and founded the Collegium Orientale in Eichstätt, warned against the ‘conceit that we are the centre of the world’. The Church has always been on the move since the first Pentecost - ‘semper migranda’ - and anyone who loses sight of this today in the face of the refugees is losing their Catholicity. He is mainly dealing with Africans from Somalia, Nigeria, Kenya and Eritrea. The latter already have a large community in Eichstätt and will soon also have a parish centre in Nuremberg. The majority, however, are Muslims. He regretted that the questions raised by the AfD had not been answered in time, so that concerns such as housing shortages or pension insecurity were being attributed to the refugees by many voters. ‘We will learn from the refugees and experience enrichment. We are a dying continent and have the potential to take in many.’ He said this as a practitioner, fully aware of his responsibility. ‘The Old Testament says: Try to love them and you will live even better through them.’
Claude Kalume Mukadi from the Democratic Republic of Congo, founder of the Bell Amani Peace Foundation and Prince of Abomey, spoke about a meeting of African people from Europe and all over the world in Togo: ‘There they are called diaspora. They never get a say in European and German politics.’ If there is constant talk of a ‘dialogue at eye level’ in European-African cooperation, the question must be raised as to who actually determines the eye level. He was also critical of the issue of corruption: ‘It always takes two to tango, and the accounts of the biggest corruptors in Africa are in Europe.’ There is still a great deal of incomprehension and misunderstanding between Europeans and Africans, ‘which is why it is crucial that we work very specifically on a common way of thinking and a common language to express this.’ Mukadi praised the current Minister for Economic Cooperation Gerd Müller, but questioned the tradition of the ministry itself. It had been founded in 1962, had many good heads of department and had spent a lot of money. ‘So how is it that young Africans, in order to seek prospects for the future, are prepared to take great risks in order to seek them here and not in Africa?’
Margret Kopp, Chairwoman of Aktion PiT - Togohilfe e.V., reported on her 35 years of commitment in Togo. The former German, then French colony unites over 40 tribes in an area smaller than Bavaria - ‘real peoples with different languages, traditions, lifestyles and annual routines’. The randomly drawn ruler border separates most of them from their tribe in the respective neighbouring country; they find it difficult to identify with the state of Togo. European ideas of democracy could not be applied to this situation. Margret Kopp therefore called on political scientists to develop an adapted form of democracy. The religious landscape is similarly diverse, from Catholics, Protestants and sects to Islam, natural religions and the Vodoo cult. This makes living together difficult, but also creates models for ‘how to get along with each other.’ Togo is very poor and lacks natural resources and added value. 80 per cent of the population live from their fields, and there is neither purchasing power nor infrastructure for trade. However, there is great potential in the wealth of children - ‘50 per cent are under 18! And they want to learn and do something.’ A small group of well-educated people are also ready to take action, such as perfectly trained doctors in Europe who, with a little support, are working to create the basic conditions for a healthcare system in rural areas where there is no medical care.
Political advisor Dr Domingos Luvumbo from the Angolan Community in Munich pointed out that his country of origin was one of the richest countries in the world, both in terms of natural resources and agriculture, but had been ruined by decades of communism and the billionaire class that emerged from it - the capital Luanda is now the most expensive metropolis in the world. Nevertheless, Angola is still the third largest economy in Africa and has enormous potential that could be utilised for the entire continent and especially for its poorest regions. The creation of inter-African strategies and structures is a prerequisite. Since the Portuguese colonial rule did not know racism and tried hard to integrate the different skin colours and groups, there is no tribalism in Angola. Most Africans are very fond of their homeland. He took his nephew on a tour of Munich and then asked him if he wanted to live here one day. The answer was a resounding no: ‘My country is paradise!’ Mass migration is therefore not an inevitable fate.
Johannes Singhammer, Vice President of the Bundestag, called Africa ‘Europe's neighbouring continent of destiny’. He spoke vehemently in favour of greater European unity in Africa policy, in which Europe could only really make a difference as a whole. Singhammer cited peace, good governance, the dismantling of tariffs between Europe and Africa as well as external and internal security as prerequisites for the African continent to flourish. With regard to the customs problem, he pointed out that although pineapples hardly grow in Europe, they are still subject to high taxes, which hardly benefit the EU budget but make business unprofitable for African farmers. Conversely, tax money is then used to provide development aid in Africa. The CSU politician pleaded for an end to the current development policy as quickly as possible and instead in favour of genuine economic cooperation through fair trade. Exchange between the continents and their people was urgently needed, while a one-sided migration movement would cause serious damage to both sides in the long term.
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