The Norwegian Council for Africa (previously The Norwegian Council for Southern Africa) was created in 1967 as an umbrella organisation for the Norwegian anti-apartheid movement. In 1994 apartheid ended and the Council decided to broaden its interests and look to the whole of Africa. Today, the Norwegian Council for Africa is a solidarity organisation which sees dissemination of information as its most important tool in its contribution towards justice and development in and for Africa.
The Norwegian Council for Africa wants to promote a nuanced analysis that shows there is hope for the future without ignoring the hindrances and challenges to positive development. We want to present an alternative to simplistic presentations that either suggests naïve solutions or hopelessly problematic situations. The Norwegian Council for Africa believes that the provision of accurate information will positively influence Norwegian players and institutions in a way that deepens their understanding of Africa and improves their activities in and for Africa.
Our mission:
“The Norwegian Council for Africa wants to challenge conditions and structures in Africa and globally which hinder the just and fair development in and for Africa.”
Knowledge, power and politics
The Norwegian Council believes that the structures and mechanisms that hinder justice and development can be found both in global structures and within Africa itself. Our task as information producers and disseminators is not “value neutral”. The Norwegian Council’s task of information dissemination is based on the principles of solidarity and justice, and on a political analysis of development as influenced by competing discourses, power relations and conflicts of interests. As we work to disseminate information we should contribute to an increase in critical, nuanced and accurate knowledge about Africa that reflects her diversity, power and conflicts of interest.
To achieve good Norwegian government policies for Africa, one needs to look beyond questions of aid and relief, and at political questions that currently are often defined as being outside the development arena. This means that we should also question how the Norwegian government acts with regards to its policies in the areas of commerce, foreign affairs, defence and industry.
Norwegian politics and interests within these policy areas can be influenced by interests that are contrary to the Government’s overall goals for development generally and Africa specifically. We see it as an important task to broadcast analytical information to point out contradictions in Norwegian policies towards Africa. We also want to actively work to critically call attention to and change Norwegian policies which are contrary to important African interests. In a similar way, we also want to be a critical and constructive voice into non-governmental players such as the Norwegian aid industry and Norwegian commerce; and analyse what they already do, as well as suggest other ways they can work to become positive agents for change.
Economic independence and distribution of resources
Large parts of Africa are in financial crisis. Africa itself is richly blessed with valuable natural resources, but the majority of people on the continent live in extreme poverty. The continent’s poverty can be explained by structural patterns that include the debt crisis, global trade relations, the absence of national and international redistribution of resources, as well as economies dominated by conflict.
Many of the resources on the continent are exploited by colonial powers, warring despots, multinational corporations and other entities, and do not benefit the people of Africa.
In world trade, Africa’s access to other markets is hindered whilst it is demanded that the continent open up its markets to the outside world. It is also very difficult for many African countries to build up independent commercial trade and industry, because of insufficient investment and unwillingness from international investors and corporations to transfer technology and knowledge, on which economic growth is dependant.
Political and economic globalization is a challenge for African democracies. Many of the important international institutions are structurally undemocratic, which means that populous, but poor African countries are the loosing parties. Many of the most important decisions about Africa are taken outside of the continent, in particular by the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO.
Multinational corporations have a disproportionately heavy influence on African governments. There is an increasing tendency towards conditional aid and development assistance from Norway and other countries. For this reason, democratically elected members of governments and parliaments on the continent have very limited powers. This is one of several contributing factors to a sense of helplessness and popular mistrust towards democratic institutions.
Democratisation, participation and popular mobilisation
Despite a positive wave of democratization during the last 10-15 years, many democracies are facing serious challenges in Africa. Free and fair elections do not guarantee democracy. Democracy is also about civil society, civil rights, freedom of the press, organisational freedom, education, gender equality, the ability to form one’s own daily life and access to necessary resources. Many African leaders are anti-democratic, and there is a great gap between the leaders and their people. However, there is a growing creative, and sometimes effective, civil society that struggles for democratization.
In this process, it is important to strengthen the state. Generally speaking, there is a lack of infrastructure and an underdeveloped functioning bureaucracy. The state simply lacks the ability to deliver. In an international climate where the market and civil society are given more power and resources, it is easy to forget that for a functioning democracy to work, the state needs to be accountable to the people and that they must deliver the services that the people are entitled to. Not all development aid is good. In a situation where a myriad of small and large donors are involved, there is a real danger of fragmentation of government policies, and a threat to democratic movements that need to focus on their leaders and demand solutions from them.
Acting as an intermediary for Africa: marginalisation and stereotypes
Africa as a continent has been ignored by many institutions, such as the media. The number of articles in the newspapers is not the only measuring rod for Africa’s role in the Norwegian media. Articles often have a tabloid format and focus on particular issues and news. We are in particular concerned about the fact that Africans rarely are given an independent voice in the global media and that African sources of information are not utilised. The marginalisation of Africans in the media supports the idea that Africans are passive receivers of development assistance, and not active agents of change in the development of their own societies.
Whilst political situations in other parts of the world are analyzed politically, occurrences or situations in Africa are often reduced to either tragedies or “feel good” news reports – without placing the situation in a larger political context. A mentality of catastrophes dominates the Norwegian news coverage of Africa. We are told why Africans die, but not how they live. Reports about Africa are commonplace, but it is difficult to find insightful and in-depth information about Africa. Stereotyping and social marginalisation generates a mistrust in the continent, both economically and politically.
To realize that Africa is more than catastrophes, wars and hunger, is to realize that African societies are also pluralistic, and include trade unions, women, schools, theatres, cities, towns and much more. There are many different social classes and groups in a series of different societies. This social diversity is a part of our political perspective. A consequence of this is that we want to show solidarity with the weakest groups in society.