A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of Immorality

I was reading the New York Times Article entitled "A Promise to Be Ethical in an Era of Immorality" and it got me thinking about doing business in post conflict countries. Is there a way that business leaders doing business in those areas (and the rest of the world for that matter) can take a similar oath to be ethical? If that were possible would the blood diamond conflict in Sierra Leone have happened? Would the war in the Congo currently be taking place? I can go on, but I don't think it's necessary to list all the wars and conflicts that have arisen as a result of unethical business leaders.

How can ethics lessons be taught to business leaders at all levels from the smallest of business owners to business leaders heading multinationals? Can you imagine if there was enforcement all over the world if such "promises" were broken? How can such lessons be adapted in post conflict countries' business environments?

During our orientation as freshmen at Davidson College, we too, had to sign an honor code pledging to uphold the highest standards of integrity. I really believe that Davidson College produces ethical leaders. I'm glad that more schools are adopting such practices.

I hope we can find out the answers/solutions fast because I think that we have the opportunity to prevent future conflicts.


To read the article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/30/business/30oath.html?_r=2&em

Iron ladies of Africa that have inspired me

Left to right: Ms. Wureh, Esq. (Chair of the International Colloquium, Jacqueline Musiitwa, Esq., Minister King-Akerele, Liberian Foreign Affairs Minister)

For the past month I have been negligent about updating the blog. Being super busy is not an excuse (even though it has been super busy). I have taken time out during the past month to learn and absorb a lot of what has been hapening around the world. I have continued to post Twitter updates of news that is relevant to Transitional Trade`s work. Sad to say, the situation in the Congo and Darfur remain the same, violence in Sri Lanka, Iraq and Pakistan has escalated. It is sometimes disheartening for me because as one conflict subsides, another arises. Not all is grim though. A few weeks ago I attended a dinner hosted by Ambassador Barnes fo Liberia at which several other Liberian politicians and business people were congregated to discuss the trade potentials in Liberia. I was especially inspired by the words of Minister of Foreign Affairs, Honorable King-Akerele who challenged everyone in the room to find the many opportunities in Liberia and take part in Liberia`s continuing success. The night after I was one of many who saw President Sirleaf-Johnson discuss her new book, This Child Will be Great. It was such a humbling experience to see such an accomplished woman discuss her trials abd tribulations and better yet learn how she overcame them. Then, two weeks ago, I moderated a panel at the Stanford African Business Forum, where many speakers gave updates on the postive developments taking place in Africa`s economy. The Honorable Amina Ali, African Union Ambassador to the United States spoke about Africa`s potential to grow into a greater trade force than it is. Indeed, Africa is ready for business. Lastly, this past weekend I moderated a panel at the Rwanda Convention which was held in Montreal, Canada where the Rwandan Minister of Commerce, Monique N`Sanzabaganwa spoke about all of the positive developments being made in Rwanda to improve the trading and investment environment.

Left to right: Jacqueline Musiitwa, Esq., Ambassador Amina Ali, African Union Ambassador to the United States

One of the most impressive elements of all of the above spokespersons for Africa is that they are all female. At the end of the day, an effective leader is an effective leader regardless of gender, but I think that the fact that at long last African women are taking such prominent roles in the public sector is an inspiration to us, the younger generation of aspiring leaders.

Africa related conferences I spoke at this weekend

This past weekend I had the pleasure of speaking at the Columbia African Economic Forum. I was a panelist on the Law & Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Globalized Markets & Legal Regimes (http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/aef/law.html) and a moderator for the Post-Conflict Economic Development (http://www.sipa.columbia.edu/aef/post-conflict.html).

I had a great weekend interacting with people in different sectors and brainstorming creative solutions to Africa's problems. Better yet, several people and I got together to start taking action rather than just speaking. I was very inspired by the people I met.

The keynote speakers, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, William Kamkwamba, George Ayittey, were phenomenal. Great job Columbia!

I also spoke at the “Neo-Imperialism” in Post-Independence Africa:
Definitions, Case Studies and Human Impacts at Yale University. I also met some interesting people and learned a lot about different aspects of Neo-Imperialism in Africa. http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/african/Neo-ImperialismSchedule.pdf

I am even more ready than I was before to be of service to Africa.

Presiden Kagame of Rwanda interviewed on HARDtalk

Watch the interview with President Kagame of Rwanda. Some touch questions about Rwanda's role in the Congo are posed. A must see.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/7948535.stm

Is Sudanization of aid Sudan's solution?

After the ICC put out a warrant for Al-Bashir's arrest, the Sudanese government retaliated by expelling foreign aid workers. This seems counterproductive when many aid agencies are not directly involved with lobbying the countries of their origin. Also, aid agencies provide relief for citizens that the government is failing to provide for.

The idea that aid agencies are somehow a threat to the governement or that by expelling them the international community will see where the power in Sudan lies makes no sense. If the government wants more Sudanese to work with aid agencies then the government should enable more Sudanese to get trained in those skills. If the government wants to implement Sudanese solutions to Sudanese problems, that is okay provided that the Sudanese government is fair to all its citizens and protects the human rights of all. Unfortunately that is not the case.

I fear that expelling aid agencies and alienating the international community will for regions like Darfur (other parts of the country are doing much better as a result of the exploitation of oil) result in humanitarian crisis similar to that in Zimbabwe. Did not Zimbabwe start its downward spiral with similar "pro Zimbabwe" sounding slogans? Where did that leave the country? I am in full support of African solutions to African problems, however I believe that diplomacy with the African Union and the rest of the international community is essential. I also think that learning from countries like Zimbabwe will help save many lives, livelihoods and the current stage of development.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=30201&Cr=darfur&Cr1=

A warrant it out for Al Bashir's arrest

After about a year, the prosecutors in the case finally got a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese president Omar Al Bashir. This is a powerful message that the international community will not sit back as leaders commit or allow crimes against humanity to be commited to their people.

There are several legal issues, including whether or not Al Bashir can be arrested. According to Sudan's law, a head of state has immunity from criminal prosecution during his term. That said, nothing in Sudan's law or international law has recognized immunity for crimes against humanity.

This is definately a case I will continue to follow.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU200903049632&lang=e&rss=recentnews

Transitional justice in the Hague

One the one hand, prison sentences were handed to five senior officials in the government of the Milosevic government and on the other hand, former Serb president Milutinovic was acquitted.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/world/europe/27hague.html?_r=1&ref=world

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/02/26/world/AP-EU-War-Crimes-Kosovo.html?em