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Hi Anne,I really wonder what it that you read that made you both so glad and sad to the point that you raising one of the most fundamental problems of our societies. I hope our friend Jason will help us in this with his fine analysis as usual. Let me just states some few of my thoughts on the subjects you raised. On your frustration with our leaders lack of awareness of the need for LED. You are of course right. It is clear that with the exception of South Africa, LED is still pretty much foreign to most African countries. And even in South Africa, there is growing criticism that it is just well written on pages with no or little acheivements to point to due to lack of effective implementation. But at least South Africa has it, it is high on the agenda and they striving to implement with more or less fortune. Elsewhere on the continent, it is just not yet firmly on the agenda. Perhaps a worthwhile line of thinking could be involving civil society for sustained advocacy and local lobbying around mainstreaming LED, completing decentralisation processes particularly in terms of fiscal decentralisation and positioning the promotion of local economic production as one of the core mandate of both local and national governments; it is not just yet the dominant vision now despite lip service. On the issue of 'only the haves getting access to resources and opportunities yet the have-nots with all the potential left ignored', I would like to state that perhaps we should stop thinking as if the fate of the have-nots lies in the hands of the haves. Our very humanity and sense of equality tell us that it does not or should not! And it is precisely that type of disempowerment, the belief that government, leaders, elites will do it for us that is the root cause of our problems. Everybody wants to life out of some funds coming from the state. But is it not normally the state that should live out of funds produced by citizens? Perhaps we should start reflecting too on non-state modes of changing society! It is very key that our reflection focus on restoring individuals, families, communities' economic production power. That calls primarily for some degree of self-relaince, seeing with a new eye economic opportunities available next door, not necessarily the ones that requires "business plans" or are written about on website with the benefactor standing next in the picture. That means the informal sector is central but a good dose of high ambition and sense of saving (however small) are must, not assistance begging! A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step, says the Chinese proverb.  I will add and with nothing else than a determination to arrive at the destination.

Hi Jason I understand your concern with the practicality of the household development Ethel suggested. 'How to' is of course always the big question as far any new initiative is concerned! In your previous post you rightly pointed out the 'hegemonic' role the contemporary African state plays in wealth acquisition in Africa. Hence the bitterness with which people/elite want to control power; precisely because it is perceived as the only source of fast and easy enrichment. And of course it is no rocket science to see  corruption and bad governance as the natural consequence of this state of affairs rather than, as some are proned to suggest, an intrinsic African problem. We can even make the bold claim that one finds very little occurences of corruption in traditional African state/kingdom. And as the Ghanian Economist, George Ayittey rightly pointed out nobody in traditional Africa went to the Chief or King for his means of livelihood or for building his wealth: people just worked for it themselves, full stop! So restoring that productive mindset, that self-responsibilty is very key to the problematic of househood development! And somehow this ideal runs counter to a certain, currently dominant, human rights discourse that only vehiculates values of entitlements, grants and the 'state-must-do-for-us'. How to restore this individual, families and communities economic agency was your concern. A simple truth is that we are all attracted by activities/careers that enjoy a certain 'prestige' in our society.Repositing productive activities as the most prestigious activities in our society is very important. Somehow the myth of white collar jobs = success has got to be challenged. Pointing out strongly that an entrepreneur is more valuable to society than a mere civil servant signing forms is also very key. We hear it everyday in our societies: "...but he is just a trader!" or "...just that he is a farmer' said with such contempt while "He works for..." is so much admired!  We got to make it clear to all that our very collective existence depends on those among us that engage in producing something! So it is very much, as I see it, about change of the mainstream values of the post-colonial African society!  But this change is more about doing than preaching! It is about leading by example! Offering alternative role models! If as one scholar asserts entrepreneurship is about creating a future out of many possible futures, then the African entrepreneurs (those of us who care as you and Anne pointed out) should not just stop at criticising governments! That is what everybody else does- and doing that only is not being creative! He must create his space of productive autonomy and have as one of his 'corporate values' the nurturing of other autonomous entrepreneurs in his community. That will be what I will call an example of a non-state mode of effectively changing society! You blamed the African extended family as an impediment to household development. Well, I do not agree! Firstly we must state that without that family support mechanism many of us would have long died of starvation! For in a context of unemployment rate far beyond the 60-70% and with no government social security how would people have otherwise survived without that family support system? And how many of us owe their education to that system? I would even describe that family support system as one of the last remnants of the fast disappearing African non-state dependent institutions and mindset. Hence you are blaming the very remedy for the sickness! That system has traditionally been a mutual support system for all family members. I support you when you are in trouble, you do so for me when I am in trouble and we, the majority of family members, collectively support those few family members that are, perhaps due to a handicapt, always in trouble! So that system is currently being stretched to its limits by the very problem we discussing here, namely the increasing absence of productive activities! Hence the Kenyan breadwinner finds himself almost perpetually trapped into supporting 8 dependants that never ever get financial autonomy so they therefore never have the opportunity of supporting him back! Perhaps the Kenyan/African breadwinner should now focus on supporting his 8 dependants in ways that lead them to financial autonomy. Not just paying school fees and expecting paid-jobs at the end when statistics clearly show that for every 1000 graduates there is paid-job opportunities for only 10! Unless he prefers to count on corruption and favouritism to secure for his dependant one of the fiercely-fought-after 10 jobs!