Senegalese Loner Works to Build Africa, His Way

Senegalese Loner Works to Build Africa, His Way April 10, 2002 By NORIMITSU ONISHI DAKAR, Senegal, April 2 - The divide between Africa and the West never seemed wider than after Zimbabwe's recent election. As Western governments condemned President Robert Mugabe, African presidents - all except one - rallied behind him or greeted his stolen victory with silence. The critical voice belonged to Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, who was elected president two years ago in this West African nation after struggling in the opposition for 26 years. In two years, despite having taken some unpopular positions on a continent that has long valued solidarity, Mr. Wade (pronounced wahd) has emerged through the force of his ideas and personality as one of sub-Saharan Africa's three leading spokesmen. (The other two are the presidents of the much more powerful South Africa and Nigeria.) "Mr. Mugabe did not respect the rules," Mr. Wade said. "The opposition could not wage its campaign. There were many deaths. Electoral laws were changed days before the election. We can't call that an election." "I was in the opposition for too long to forget the opposition as soon as I arrived in power," he added. "I refuse to belong to this trade union of presidents. Mugabe or not Mugabe is not my concern. My concern was what the people of Zimbabwe wanted." Mr. Wade spoke during a recent late-afternoon interview inside the presidential palace. The most conspicuous objects in his simple office were models of pet projects now underway: educational centers for toddlers; a cyber village to enhance Senegal's commitment to high technology; a university of the future where, the president says, African students will be able to take courses in "real time" from "Harvard, M.I.T. and Princeton," thanks to satellites and computers. He walks from one model to another, slowly, his pace perhaps reflecting the fact that he has just returned from trips to Mexico and Nigeria, or perhaps his 76 years. But ensconced in an armchair, he speaks with boundless energy, moving from one topic to another with the ease and force of the university professor he once was. Nowadays he is focusing his energy on nothing less than rebuilding Africa. In the recent development summit meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, or at a regional meeting in Nigeria, Mr. Wade has been selling the New Partnership for Africa's Development, an ambitious economic plan to attract Western investment to the continent in return for guarantees of transparency and democratization. The plan was the product of an earlier Wade initiative called the Omega Plan, and another put forward by South Africa's president, Thabo Mbeki, and Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo. But the new plan's emphasis on privatization and business was rooted in Mr. Wade's thinking. "I've never seen a country develop itself through aid or credit," said Mr. Wade, who was trained as an economist in Senegal and at the Sorbonne. "Countries that have developed
- in Europe, America, Japan, Asian countries like Taiwan, Korea and Singapore - have all believed in free markets. There is no mystery there. Africa took the wrong road after independence." Most of Africa's post-independence leaders believed in strong federal governments and vaguely socialist economic policies. In Senegal, Mr. Wade was known as the only intellectual of his generation to be staunchly anti-socialist and a strong supporter of a free-market economy. He was a pan-Africanist, believing as the revered Ghanaian statesman Kwame Nkrumah did in the eventual unity of Africa - but a capitalist one. In addition to economics, Mr. Wade studied law, becoming dean of the University of Dakar's law and economics faculty. In the mid-1970's, he eventually entered politics to become the chief opponent to Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegal's famous poet-president. Senghor nicknamed him "Diombor" - "Hare" in Wolof, Senegal's main language - for his agility and toughness. Over the years, the press called him "Général Wade" or "Président de la rue publique" - "President of the street"
- because of his popularity with young voters. In 2000 he campaigned a fourth time, with his wife, Viviane Vert, who is French, and his son, Karim, constantly at his side. He won an election that has since been regarded as a model for the continent. And so, Mr. Wade likes to say, he has had a lot of time to sharpen his ideas on Africa. Today a few countries, especially in southern Africa, have moved away from centralized economies; but in the rest of Africa, especially the former French colonies, few share Mr. Wade's strong commitment to the private sector. "Africans are still imbued with socialist ideas, even though they may hide the fact," Mr. Wade said. "My ideas are very clear on this point. I believe in business." "In the Omega plan, there was not a mention of debt relief," he added. "Me, I say, let's do business. I want Africa to be a partner and not a parasite that has to be fed." When the plan is presented in its final form, at a Group of
8 summit meeting in Canada in June, it will most likely contain provisions on debt relief and cancellation. Most African leaders, especially Mr. Obasanjo, have championed debt cancellation. But on other issues, Mr. Wade has not shied from being the lone uncompromising man. During a conference on racism last year in Durban, South Africa, Mr. Wade opposed most African leaders in their calls for reparations for slavery. Africa, he said, must look forward. "I am African," Mr. Wade said. "If something is worth it, I will take the risk of criticizing. If the interests of Africa are at stake, it's at that moment I will criticize." It is perhaps Mr. Wade's frankness and willingness to suffer personal repercussions that have earned him praise, even from longtime foes. "Wade has ambitions for himself, for his country and for Africa," said Pathé Diagne, 65, a well-known intellectual here who supported Mr. Wade's rival and predecessor, Abdou Diouf. "There are not too many African leaders like him." His detractors, however, say his singlemindedness betrays arrogance. He is unable, they say, to work with others, either Senegalese on domestic issues or other Africans on international ones. He may have great ideas, they say, but he is unable to carry them through to fruition. "He doesn't have good relations with African leaders - they have to recognize him as the president of Africa," said Amath Dansokho, 65, who served as a government minister for eight months until a falling-out, and who, like many Senegalese politicians of his generation, was Mr. Wade's student at the University of Dakar. "If he had become president of Senegal in the 1960's, he would have proclaimed himself emperor." Asked whether he enjoyed the power he had so long pursued, Mr. Wade paused - relishing, it seemed, the opportunity of delving into the abstract. He spoke of the dangers of power, of the psychological transformations. Tellingly, even as he spoke of the need to resist the isolation that is caused by power, Mr. Wade was unaware that Senegalese had a new nickname for him, "Mor Ndjadje," loosely translated as "the man who likes to speak and meet people." "All around you have people seeking advantages, who flatter you and tell you everything you do is beautiful," he said. "You say something inane, but they laugh. Power is very dangerous. I think a lot about power. I'll write about it one day." http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/10/international/africa/10WADE.html?ex=
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