Two Presidents Visit to Discuss African Development
Elizabeth Rankin
October 12, 2011
In one week in September the Kellogg Institute helped facilitate the visits to Notre Dame of a sitting president—Ernest Bai Koroma, of the Republic of Sierra Leone—and a former president, Horst Koehler of Germany. Both men made development in Africa the topic of their public lectures.
Tolerance and Freedom in Sierra Leone
Introduced by Rev. John Jenkins in the Debartolo Performing Arts Center on the 27th, President Koroma described the intertwined values of tolerance and freedom that are so important to his country as it seeks to develop. Sierra Leone went from a state of civil war to providing troops for the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur in less than eight years.
“In Sierra Leone, people of faith have learned to emphasize commonalities,” said this Christian president of a majority Muslim population.
Koroma, who has been in office since 2007, detailed his government’s efforts to improve food security, infrastructure, and education. Sierra Leone has seen a significant drop in infant mortality after the introduction of free health care for mothers and young children in 2010.
Kellogg Faculty Fellow Catherine Bolten, who has studied Sierra Leone since 2003, served as moderator for the event. In research funded by the Ford Program, she is currently looking at how young people are faring in the wake of the civil war.
“President Koroma is self-consciously seeking to rewrite the narrative on his country,” Bolten says. “The image of Sierra Leone as the war-torn heart of ‘blood diamonds’ is a momentary aberration in the nation’s long history.
“More than merely undertaking a goodwill tour, President Koroma is asking those he engages with to undertake their own acts of ‘Afro-positivism’ by spreading the word that Sierra Leone is at peace and making great development strides.”
“Understanding Africa: A View From Europe”
On September 29, former President Koehler, who was previously director of the International Monetary Fund, addressed Africa’s developmental challenges in a Hesburgh Center lecture cosponsored by the Institute’s Africa Working Group.
“Whatever happens in Africa has an impact on us in Europe,” he said, noting that the current economic crisis is in the West, not in Africa, where economic growth is relatively strong. He advocated a new relationship with African nations based on fair contracts that keep profits in resource-rich countries and create jobs for Africans.
China has become a major player in African development but “Chinese partners don’t ask about good governance,” he said. “We are better equipped with our value-based approach to partnership.”
“What President Koehler wanted to do was to challenge students at Notre Dame to look at Africa in new ways and incorporate Africa into their lives,” said Kellogg Faculty Fellow Paul Ocobock, who was instrumental in organizing the event.
He deems it a success, not only for the large audience that heard the president’s message, but also for the discussion that followed. “My students found it stimulating,” he said.
