Negotiating Africa’s Renaissance -By Kehinde Oluwatosin Babatunde

The IFRS foundation has twenty two trustees with the following geographical leanings: six from North America, six from Asia/Oceania, Six from Europe, one from Africa, one from South America and two from any other part of the world.

The IFRS foundation is the governing body of the international financial reporting standards saddled with appointing members of the international accounting standard board and also ensuring an harmonization of national accounting bodies.

Kehinde Oluwatosin Babatunde

Every information I consume is often consumed for reflection hence the need to ponder on the statistics above. From the allocation of membership of the IFRS foundation, it is obvious that Africa hardly takes the front seats in matters of global re-engineering yet she remains the most altered and re-engineered people on earth.

Africa does not create her standard but remains a dogmatic follower of all international standards. Africa is here because she has not occupied a veritable position on the world value chain spectrum.

For instance if the aeroplane’s jet engine was manufactured and has its invention patented in Africa, it would have been a ground for the continent to bargain in international affairs and discourse.

Of all the elements of the value chain, Nigeria could have leveraged on her huge population and develop her human capital and ensure Nigeria becomes the world destination in human resource for bringing in raw materials and processing it. I have pondered what is left for Africa after men like Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein had curried all possible inventions?

Africa should have leveraged on her land mass and cultural heritage to negotiate herself into world reckoning, however this is becoming an impossibility as no nation progresses without being at fore of the process end of its produce.

When Africa exports her raw produce, she nullifies whatever gain on it by importing twice over the by-products of such raw produce this often distort the balance of trade.

Another opportunity for Africa to have negotiated her freedom from world dominance was through her cultural heritage but she is eternally hostile to her own clapping and applauding all that is foreign.

Africa can still be great if she finds her identity and push herself to the world on the strength of that identity.