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Productive capabilities are pathway to reclaiming economic sovereignty in Africa
31 May 2024 | Story Kamva Somdyala. Photos Lerato Maduna. Read time 4 min.
The question on Professor Horman Chitonge’s mind as he prepared his inaugural lecture, delivered at the University of Cape Town (UCT), was: Why does Africa as a continent lack economic sovereignty when it’s rich with people and resources?
With his lecture titled, “Reclaiming economic sovereignty in Africa”, Professor Chitonge set out to illustrate how increasing high-value-added activities can strengthen economic sovereignty, engender positive structural transformation, and create inclusive and sustainable economics.
“Out of 25 impoverished countries on the globe, 22 are on the African continent. This means the continent is not producing what it should produce, yet in terms of resources, this is a rich continent,” Chitonge said. “What happens to resources and how we handle those resources are questions we must ask. It’s not just about the minerals we have; the continent also has land, water and biodiversity resources. However, the most important resource we have, is the people. We are a young and vibrant continent, and it should follow that young and vibrant people bring ideas, innovation and transformation. The future, therefore, looks promising.”
Chitonge, a professor of African Studies, focuses on strategies which strengthen sectoral linkages within and between African economies to decentre and transform the colonial economy on the continent.
“A country’s sovereignty is determined by how much economic power it muscles.”
He grappled with why the continent is not using these resources because production is done by people and the expectation is that young people ought to be more productive.
“To answer the question, I did research to find the answers and some of them are historical: colonialism. There’s also governance which is poor leadership and corruption. There’s also an issue of social institutions and a big factor here is ethnic fragmentation. Geographical variables are also at play. Given these explanations, I propose a different one: one of the major reasons is because it lacked economic sovereignty. To make progress, it must reclaim it.”
On the sovereignty framework, Chitonge said: “I proceed from the conventional idea of sovereignty, and I see it as having two key dynamics: political and economic sovereignty, with political being self-rule and territorial control whereas economics is anchored on monetary and financial sovereignty and productive capability, and these speak to how a country [can] dispose of its natural resources. I make an argument that a country’s sovereignty is determined by how much economic power it muscles.”
Transforming resources
What is economic sovereignty in this context? “Traditionally, it has been understood as the prerogative of the state to issue its own currency. This is an archaic idea. I argue it’s much broader than just monetary sovereignty. It also refers to the autonomy of a country to make decisions without pressure from other nations, including decisions of how you dispose of your natural resources,” he explained.
“And it is here where productive capabilities come into play, because without such, you have no control over what is done with your natural resources. We have the resources, but we don’t have the capability to transform them into other forms of produced capital and we end up selling them as primary commodities, in most cases, semi-processed and that takes away power of the value.”
There is also much to be said about what economic sovereignty means in Chitonge’s framework: “How do we measure economic sovereignty? I’ve put it in a negative formulation to say economic sovereignty is measured by a level of dependency; the more dependent a country is, the less sovereign it becomes. And dependency here is on many things: development, technology, manufactured products, and foreign investment.
“Strong productive capabilities help us reduce monetary and financial dependency, which is important for our economic sovereignty.”
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The UCT Inaugural Lecture Series
Inaugural lectures are a central part of university academic life. These events are held to commemorate the inaugural lecturer’s appointment to full professorship. They provide a platform for the academic to present the body of research that they have been focusing on during their career, while also giving UCT the opportunity to showcase its academics and share its research with members of the wider university community and the general public in an accessible way.
In April 2023, Interim Vice-Chancellor Emeritus Professor Daya Reddy announced that the Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture Series would be held in abeyance in the coming months, to accommodate a resumption of inaugural lectures under a reconfigured UCT Inaugural Lecture Series – where the UCT extended executive has resolved that for the foreseeable future, all inaugural lectures will be resumed at faculty level.
Recent executive communications
2024
Professor Susan Cleary delivered her inaugural lecture on 14 March.
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2023
Prof Lydia Cairncross’s inaugural lecture provided a snapshot of the career path of a surgeon and community activist whose commitment to social justice means her work doesn’t end in the operating theatre.
02 Nov 2023 - 8 min read
2022
Professor Linda Ronnie is in UCT’s Faculty of Commerce.
28 Sep 2022 - 6 min read
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2021
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2019
2018
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2016 and 2015
No inaugural lectures took place during 2015 and 2016.