Africa’s Timidity On Haiti Displays An Inability To Carry Thabo Mbeki’s Lofty Continental Vision

MAJOR powers, both established and emerging, mostly Western and Latin American, descended on the Caribbean Island of Haiti in order to provide humanitarian assistance after that country’s devastating earthquake on January 12.

At this crucial moment, a single continent, despite sharing a close history, and with a moral obligation to assist the people of Haiti, has been a notable absentee.We may argue that our near absence from the rescue effort was a consequence of geography. Haiti is, simply put, way too far for African countries to have played an important role in the humanitarian effort.But my bet is that if a UN summit was to be held in that country, or even on the moon, many African presidents would have converged in their private jets for that occasion. Be that as it may, international assistance was reinforced through a French proposal into an ambitious agenda for the future reconstruction of Haiti.The consequence was a conference on the reconstruction of Haiti held earlier this week in Montréal, Canada. In addition to a conference for countries deemed ‘friends of Haiti’ at the United Nations early March, a donors’ conference will take place in Washington early April.Again, Africa was a notable absentee at this important rendezvous in Montréal.This absence, both in terms of humanitarian assistance and moral support, cannot merely be explained by a lack of resources, but points to a massive void in African leadership and the absence of an ambitious agenda for Africa’s place in the world. In the high politics of foreign policy, presence is like location in real estate.Presence means the defence of a certain history and values, and importantly crafting a certain collective future.As the oldest black Republic, Haiti has an important common denominator with Africa, more so than it does with Japan or Europe.Therefore Africa’s absence and Japan’s presence in Port-au-Prince and Montreal, and with regard to the future of Haiti, is wholly inexplicable and shortsighted on our part.When President Pohamba demands that Cuba does more for Haiti than Namibia or South Africa, it points to a dereliction of duty that ought to fill Africans with collective shame.After all, Haiti’s problem is not only the problem of underdevelopment, but it is, to paraphrase W.E.B du Bois, the problem of the colour line.It is a lucid reminder of race in world history and politics. Therefore, it is shocking that no single African country, including the African Union as a collective, sees it fit to have its finger on the pulse with regard to Haiti. It is on this score that former President Thabo Mbeki was a cut above the rest.Thabo Mbeki understood the importance of South Africa as a continental and middle power in global terms, including the role it had to play in pursuing Africa’s international relations.As such there was a profound interest in articulating African issues at international fora, including the need for Africa to be seen standing when it comes to providing solutions to African problems.This vision explained South Africa’s activism at the G8 annual meetings, including mediation in African conflicts.Mbeki’s vision for an African renaissance was part of well-calibrated strategy whose objective was to rehabilitate Africa from its tag as a hopeless continent. In pursuit of these ends was Mbeki’s clear understanding about the need for a rapprochement with the African diaspora, hence his decision to host Haiti’s ousted, but duly elected President Bertrand Aristide in 2004.His efforts in assisting the peace process in Haiti was rooted in a historical understanding of the emancipating nature of the Haitian revolution under Toussaint L’Ouverture. Sadly, the absence of Africans from the Haitian recovery process shows the absence of any far-reaching organic foreign policy vision whose outlook is emancipatory for the people of Africa and African descent. * Alfredo Tjiurimo Hengari is a PhD fellow in political science at the University of Paris- Panthéon Sorbonne, France.