Zimbabwe: The Quiet Revolution Part 1

LET me share with you a few reasons why Zimbabweans and Africans, in general, should succeed. The DNA of success is not just the preserve of the West.

Time will fail me if I share about some of Africa’s greatest ancient achievements. To understand a people, you need to go back to their roots. Have you ever wondered why many African Americans search for their roots in Africa? It is because the many years of slave trade had brain-washed them to think that nothing good can come out of Africa.

It is when they find their roots that they realise success is their inheritance. Now if we had an ancestry who was not as educated and as exposed as we are, yet were so successful, there is no reason why we should not succeed.

Legacy of Suave Dealmakers

Picture this, Munhumutapa at the ancient Great Zimbabwe in an animal skin dealing with Arabian merchants and closing a mega bullion deal. The objects of trade might have been different, but the principles of dealing were the same. They could bargain, counter offer and play hard ball.  They talked of bullion, we now talk of billions. External trade existed between Great Zimbabwe and Sofala on the southern coast of what is now Mozambique.

Sofala was an important port where goods from India, China and the Islamic world were imported and then sent into the interior, which in turn exported products from inner Africa. Items found at Great Zimbabwe include a glazed Persian bowl from the 14th century, Chinese celadon dishes, glass among others.

Zimbabwe and Africa’s “Look East Policy” might not be anything new after all!

Archaeological evidence from the ancient Nubian Kingdom (south of Egypt, the Kush and the Sudan Saharan Neolithic, points to a thriving commercial and political kingdom in about 3800BC). Although a desert, some of Africa's greatest civilizations emerged here and centers of achievement whose existence was based on industry and trade.

If parts of Africa were thriving that much way back then, why can we not thrive even more now?

Our generation owes it to the future to write a new chapter in the course of African development. We need to challenge our minds, build our communities and establish strong African kingdoms which can hold their own in the global arena. Are we not the generation which is going to make a new deal for Africa? Do we continue to play at the fringes and get crumbs from the master’s table? What history chapter do we write today?

Heritage of Techno-Savvy

Great Zimbabwe is the largest mediaeval city in sub-Saharan Africa. Great Zimbabwe was constructed and expanded for more than 300 years. It is located in south central Zimbabwe. It is the ruins of monuments and cities built of stone. These ruins extend a radius of 100 to 200 miles, a diameter almost as big as the entire nation of France!

It was built by Africans too and is a clear evidence of a thriving culture in the heart of Africa.

Up until recent years, the ruins were believed by Western historians to be the remains of a "mysterious white race" in the heart of Africa. Layers of artifacts were trashed by European treasure hunters and amateur archaeologists. This was all in order to reach the bottom layer which, it was assumed, would prove that whites had built Great Zimbabwe.

The wall of the great enclosure, measures 244 meters in length, is 5 meters thick at its greatest point, and is 10 meters high. Interestingly, it is tapered so that it is narrowest at the top, suggesting highly sophisticated architecture. The monuments still stand 1 000 years later but no cement was used! How techno savvy can we get?

The Revolution Has Started

Have you ever heard of a top African IT Scientist who beats IBM design teams at their own game in the heart of Silicon Valley? This man is Nigerian, Philip Emeagwali who designed the program and formula for the fastest computer on earth, the Connection Machine. He designed the system of parallel computers that are used by all search engines, for example Yahoo or Google.com.

The Connection Machine with a program developed by Philip Emeagwali solved a 350 year old packing problem that was considered to be one of the great unsolved mathematics problems. It can basically solve computational ‘grand challenges’.

Pause! He also designed equations to explain how, polluted groundwater flows, how the Earth's interior moves and causes volcanic eruptions, finally how to recover petroleum safer and in larger quantities.

This brother is pure genius!

Now here is the interesting part. He had to drop out of school at age 14, because his family could not afford to send all the eight siblings to school. He had to learn by correspondence. He was born in Onithsa, in Nigeria. I bet most of you have never had of this city.

The point is the new revolution is not limited by our backgrounds. It is about rising above the challenges in our communities or nations. We all can make a difference because we can.  We have genealogy of success.

You are next in line. This is your time. The mighty in our midst need to stand and be counted in this new revolution.