Pedro Pires

The other day I was listening to a BBC story (so intellectual I know) about Pedro Pires the newly former president of Cape Verde in Africa. Pires was awarded the 2011 Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership. The prize was awarded in recognition of Pires role in making Cape Verde a "model of democracy, stability and increased prosperity"

(The prize is supposed to be awarded each year to a democratically elected leader who has voluntarily left office.There has been no winner for two years.)

I mention this story because it is too infrequent that we hear a positive story about an African leader. Most people, myself included usually associate Africa with more macabre stories of genocide, civil war, and gruesome sexual assault. The media inundates us with these stories on a daily basis. Usually the backdrop of the story is about some African leader who has directly contributed to the conflict. Bashir, Mugabe, Museveni, the list goes on of African leaders who have held promise at one time only to become the stereotypical African dictator. The Pires story was a stark contrast to the aforementioned leaders. In short, he came to power in 2001 and left in 2011 when his term was up. The Guardian UK sums up Pires achievements by writing Cape Verde, a country of 500,000 off west Africa's coast, achieved middle-income country status in 2007. The World Bank said good governance, sound macroeconomic management, a responsible use of donor support, and the adoption of effective social development policies produced impressive results throughout the archipelago. Growth in real income per capita reached more than 5% during 2005-08, well above the average for sub-Saharan Africa and for small-island states.

As an educator and someone who is very passionate about Africa I am guilty of falling into the trap of educating students on the negative side of Africa...Darfur, The Congo, Mugabe etc. Pires should be an inspiration to myself and others to seek out the positive things coming out of Africa, I believe there are many. Pires can also be an inspiration to the future leaders of African countries. Paul Kagame , president of Rwanda was quoted recently in a Time article as saying "A lot of what happens in Africa has a bearing on the past when the West had a hand in there for decades." While I partially agree with Kagame, it is time to break the cycle of dictatorship and for the other "Pedro Pires" to rise and take control of their countries.