Jacqueline Musiitwa - “How Can the African Lions Get Ahead of the Asians Tigers?”

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Jun 06, 2014
by Alex Jackson
Jacqueline Musiitwa - “How Can the African Lions Get Ahead of the Asians Tigers?”

Founder and managing partner of US-Rwandan law firm speaks to Salzburg Global about the emergence of African economies

Jacqueline Musiitwa in the Chinese Room of Schloss Leopoldskron

Jacqueline Musiitwa is busy checking her phone. The founder and managing partner of Hoja Law Group, a boutique law firm in New York and Kigali, is due to fly to Nigeria after her time at the Salzburg Global Seminar program New Dynamics in Global Trade Architecture: WTO, G20 and Regional Agreements, and there has been a series of bomb attacks in the country over the past weeks, amongst the deadliest it has ever suffered. Despite this, Nigeria recently became the largest economy on the continent, overtaking South Africa.

Africa rising?

“Could this be the growth of the Africa rising narrative?” is the question everyone wants answered. Certainly, should the international scene take note of the dramatic shifts in the African sphere – from political upheavals, to economic revivals – there should be a psychological boost for investors.

“The question now is: How can the African lions get ahead of the Asians tigers?” says Musiitwa.

“I think it is possible; there are a lot of countries studying and applying the different Asian countries’ models. How do you go from a country that is relatively poor to turning it around? As countries study those models, there is a lot to be learned. The issue has been the “cutting and pasting”. What we have done wrong in the past is that we have cut and paste models too hastily, like the Washington consensus model or the donor model – that is, whoever is giving money has given us a model so cut and paste it. The challenge now is to learn from these global models and combine them in a way that works for the modern African economy. Whether you want to call it ‘African solutions to African problems,’ or whether you want to say a ‘localized solution’ – I think it is definitely time for African leaders to create a model that works for the local environment, culture, weather, language, everything.”

Africa’s international access

Musiitwa suggests that in order to maintain and promote growth across the continent other markets need to be accessed. 

“Everyone loves to hate China; what Chinese industries do is that they get into a market, they study it, the study the people, the language, the culture. So by the time they get to the negotiating table, in some ways they are more educated on your country than you. What does that do? It gives them an advantage when negotiating and it is everything from pricing to demand, and I think that is where cultural knowledge is necessary. I think that Africa being in a pseudo disadvantaged position is in part because there aren’t as many negotiators, and not enough negotiators qualified to negotiate contracts on an international level.” 

International trade might be bringing large returns for Nigeria and South Africa, but as Musiitwa acknowledges, this is not necessarily a route for the continent as a whole. Africa has to redefine and rebrand trade to resonate with countries across the continent and the world. Musiitwa, who has been an advisor to the Rwandan Minister of Justice on investment, trade and infrastructure, sees African businesses as going through a period of flux, both looking inward and outward at expanding market options. 

Local sourcing

Local industries, though mostly informal, contribute significantly to local and regional trade.  “Informal sectors are helping to shape trade because they are satisfying global needs in the sense of the need of everyone collectively in the country. They are coming up with creative ways not only of providing goods and services by mobilizing themselves to rally government for the things they need to make their – broadly put – industry easier to operate,” she explains. 

“Are local arrangements preferred? Yes, in the sense that it is easier to trade within a country; it is easier to trade closer to where you are. But I would say for the past couple of years, there has been a movement by governments to integrate at least in the East African region and the result of that has been increased trade across borders.”

Africa, though performing better than in previous decades, continues to face challenges. African trade is particularly weak internationally, and there is a hard time breaking through a glass ceiling for many nations on the continent. 

“I think there is a lot of frustration. Frustration is at different levels. You are telling us trade is the way to develop but you are not letting us sell our goods to you or you are letting us sell goods with the exception of everything we manufacture. We continue to export raw materials and buy back finished products and thus do not benefit from value addition.”

The value of cultural understanding

Musiitwa believes that cultural understanding is an important frontier which needs to be connected to trade. The language, the way certain words are used, the way certain traditions are upheld all shape the identity of a certain country, and without appreciation of these influences, Musiitwa believes there cannot be a long-term affiliation between different trading partners.

“We focus on the money and the goods rather than the people. The reality is that we need to know who we are working with in order to understand the true value of trade. At the end of the day if you do take advantage, bad things happen. We see that in areas such as the Niger delta where people have lost lives and property has been destroyed. So understanding the human element saves you a lot of trouble in the long run.

Progress is slow in redressing these perceptions of value, however. Africa is largely underrepresented at global forums. The G20 only includes South Africa, and the country is hardly typical of the rest of the continent. Representation and bargaining power is uneven. 

“I think where African countries are finding solace is to have a platform where they can get together with other African countries to say we have that problem too. So now that we all have the same problem, how might we collectively negotiate for what we need?”

What is the solution? 

“Strengthen the African Union,” says Musiitwa.

She wants to see the creation an institution within Africa that would actually address its needs collectively and approach the G20 and WTO with overarching concerns.

“I think now more than ever countries that are not part of the WTO want to be part of the WTO, and I think at a global level being part of the WTO is better than not being a part of it. Countries recognize that. I think where a lot of countries are stuck is now that we are in this system how can we use it to benefit us to improve our trade relations?”

Of course, the international scene is not paying attention to the leaps and bounds of certain African countries, particularly amidst more negative stories, like the #BringBackOurGirls campaign in response to the ongoing kidnapping of hundreds of school girls in northern Nigeria by the rebel group Boko Haram. Yet, the emergence of Nigeria’s economy should be noted as a catalyst of potential change across the continent. If the right investment and the right infrastructure are put in place, it might not be too long before many African countries’ seats at the global trade negotiating tables are all but assured; Africa just needs the boost to think globally, according to Musiitwa.

“From now to maybe 2020, I think that building phase will be an interesting one because from this a lot of the future policies will be drafted. At the moment there is a lot in flux. I think that now power has been made a priority for a lot of governments, I think it gives Africa the potential to start to think globally.”

 


Jacqueline Musiitwa was a participant at the Salzburg Global program New Dynamics in Global Trade Architecture: WTO, G20 and Regional Agreements, which was supported by the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. More information on the session can be found here: www.salzburgglobal.org/go/533


This interview was conducted during the session New Dynamics in Global Trade Architecture: WTO, G20 and Regional Agreements (April 30 to May 3, 2014).