Dreaming Africa; A case study of the Ghana agenda
Thank you for taking time out to read this column. My idea for the next year will be to take you on a journey of how Africa, and for that matter Ghana, should look like in our wildest dreams.
Advertisement
I bet some of us are already having a mental block, but relax, it’s just a dream. A fiction which can make us do the impossible and attempt the insane. Once we can dream again, our pride should make us see them come through. By the way, DREAMING AFRICA is going to be the theme for next year’s African SME Summit.
Theories on dream
Among the theories on dreams, one stands out for me; Dream Incubation, defined as a practiced technique of learning to "plant a seed" in the mind, in order for a specific dream topic to occur, either for recreation or to attempt to solve a problem. Though similar to lucid dreaming, dream incubation is simply focusing attention on a specific issue when going to sleep.
However, for the purpose of this article, we will define dream as a deliberate activity we engage our minds in, to fantasise, inspire, create, venture and cause to happen the very nature and lives we so desire. These dreams can be had whether we are awake or asleep.
Dreaming Ghana is our quest to foretell how we want it to look like in 10, 20, 100, 200 years from now. It’s supposed and going to be a regular exercise we and our children and posterity engage in everyday of our lives, because when we stop dreaming, we stop thinking. Our thought processes have been blocked due to the laziness we have gotten our minds into.
We have made simple things complex due to the simple nature of our thoughts. I assert that ‘simple minds make things look complex, but complicated minds make things look simple.’ Our dreams shouldn’t be carried on for just a generation, they should be what posterity breathes, get inspired by and wake up every day to pursue, preserve and observe. Then we can say we have a culture which stands the test of time.
Africa’s state
The narrative on Africa is common knowledge; the second biggest continent with 50 per cent of its population below the age of 19, has many natural resources, covers about 20 per cent of the land surface of the world with a population of 1.1 billion as of 2013. Our problems are a myriad and we know it.
Issues with leadership, poor infrastructure, low foreign direct investment, poor healthcare system, water and sanitation, but chief among them is the fact that the people of Africa have also stopped thinking and getting intelligent.
These are evident in Ghana. We have huge deposits of oil and gas, cocoa, timber and all these natural resources, but we find it convenient to export the raw products and import the finished products at higher prices, then turn round and assert that our economy is import dependent. How naïve could a country be?
Fantasising about Ghana
It is time we start fantasising about the Ghana of tomorrow. It is going to be a difficult task, especially when we have created a society which hardly talks about issues and philosophy. Running our minds as though they were crazy is the last thing we want to get ourselves involved in, but it’s about time.
Delivering a dream requires detailed critique, common sense, intelligence, pragmatism and a lot of venturing into the deep. Our dreams should be filled with having power to change our future and making our children cherish what their forbearers left for them, not the figment of material possessions which withers with each passing day.
I dream of a Ghana where we invite the world to sit and learn from us. Where, we manufacture the new world of knowledge, intelligence, beauty, language, cuisine and all the nice things which make us unique. A Ghana built on strong and sound philosophies, a Ghana which is in bed with global standards and seeks to surpass them all the time, so it rather sets the agenda.
A Ghana where we engage in research to solve our problems and get wiser. A place where we give aid to the deprived instead of begging for handouts. A people, who will be respected and reverenced not because they are just human beings but because their contribution(s) to the world cannot be ignored.
A legacy for the future
Dreaming Ghana is not just a lofty idea which shoots up to our minds when we feel and get angry. It is the consistent re-creation of an aspirational state which we are all willing to consent and make a reality.
Join the dream team
The power and willingness to pursue our shared dream is what beckons in the new age of a Ghana which is determined to re-write its history and coverage. Let’s start talking on this, but most importantly, let’s start dreaming and acting. The attitude of waiting for people to change before we start dreaming and acting should be buried, just get down and do your part, but I dare say… come prepared.
Nothing kills a dream than unpreparedness which has left intelligence screaming for attention. Read relevant books, watch meaningful programmes, stop listening to unintelligent conversations… they will just make you look stupid, build an association of dreamers and action-oriented individuals. Live the dream which affects the well-being of the people around you.
Using business as a case study
I have postulated that business is equal to life and since life is a continuum, then so should businesses be. We need to start making our businesses have meaning in the lives of our people. Thinking linearly about just the people around you will not solve the problem, have the bigger picture in mind. Think complex. Ask yourself how your business can affect the masses, by crafting and carving a strong philosophy. It’s time Ghanaian businesses learn from each other, put resources together to tackle bigger projects and look at the global picture.
• Yaw Asamoah works at Creative Trends, the organisers of the African SME Summit. Comment on the article at African SME Summit on facebook.