Law lecturer Duncan Ojwang calls for Africa to leverage its resources, human capital, and historical knowledge to reduce dependence on Western markets.
He highlights challenges in coffee and sugar production, education, and trade, arguing that market forces often work against African farmers.
Ojwang emphasizes using local value addition, legislation, and diaspora expertise to drive sustainable development and self-sufficiency.
Speaking in a Radio Generation interview on Monday, he argued that African countries, including Kenya, have yet to fully exploit their own resources, human capital, and historical knowledge to drive sustainable growth.
He traced Africa’s economic vulnerability to colonial times, explaining that resource extraction defined the continent.
“Africa was marked based on the resources the whites were getting from it. Ivory Coast, a Gold Coast, based on whatever they were extracting,” he said, emphasizing the long-lasting consequences of colonial extraction on local economies.
Ojwang highlighted the difficulties facing Kenya’s coffee and tea sectors. He acknowledged efforts to dismantle local cartels and streamline farmer participation in global markets, but noted that world market prices largely determine earnings.
“Today the price of coffee is on the world market, not the Kenyan market. The reason is because somebody else who’s a big grower of coffee is having problems, usually Brazil,” he explained.
Despite these challenges, he credited initiatives such as farmer mapping and legislative reforms with empowering producers.
He pointed to the importance of value addition and direct marketing as methods to bypass exploitative intermediaries.
He noted that laws allowing farmers to roast and package coffee locally, for example, can increase the share of profits reaching producers.
Sugar production, too, has faced systemic inefficiencies. For decades, farmers and factory workers relied on government funding due to political and operational failures.
“All the farmers have been paid. All the workers have been paid not from the Exchequer, but from what they are producing,” he said, adding that a new seven-day rule ensures timely wage payments.
However, the law lecturer cautioned that Kenya remains far from self-sufficiency in sugar production, with local output still unable to meet national demand.
Education reforms were another focus, with Ojwang noting efforts to address teacher shortages and classroom deficits.
He acknowledged challenges in the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) rollout, describing it as a work in progress. “We’ve seen the highest number of teachers being hired, but CBC still has very many teething problems,” he said. University funding reforms aim to better target students in need rather than provide blanket support.
Ojwang also critiqued global trade systems, highlighting how market forces often work against African producers.
He compared the pricing of Kenyan coffee to that of imported luxury goods, emphasizing the structural inequities that disadvantage local producers.
“They determine the price of your coffee, but we can’t determine the price of their Mercedes,” he said. He called for African countries to assert control over trade systems and leverage initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area to bypass entrenched global inequities.
Drawing on history, the lecturer argued that Africans now possess tools, knowledge, and networks to reshape their economies.
He praised the diaspora for contributing expertise despite systemic barriers. “We are very fortunate to learn and benefit and craft a way forward. The human resource to do it, we have the evidence in the diaspora,” he said.
Ultimately, he stressed a proactive, solution-oriented approach. He encouraged Africans to study global systems, understand their mechanisms, and develop strategies that benefit local populations rather than relying on external powers.
“I don’t dwell on it. I understand what was done. I understand, study it, and you understand what you need to do next. It’s really not that complicated,” he said.
His analysis reaffirms the persistent challenges facing Kenya’s agricultural, educational, and economic systems, while offering a vision for strategic self-reliance and systemic reform.
By combining local value addition, legislative support, and diaspora expertise, Ojwang believes Kenya and other African nations can break free from the cycles of dependency that have defined their economies for centuries.
