Mutumwa Mawere

The term "Brain Trust" traces its origins to 1899 when it first appeared in the Marion (Ohio) Daily Star as: "Since everything else is tending to trusts, why not a brain trust?" What is a brain trust? Does Africa have one? If so, how does it manifest itself? Does Africa need a brain trust?

A brain is a critical part of the central nervous system that is located within the cranium skull. It functions as the primary receiver, organizer and distributor of information for the body and has two halves called hemispheres. Africa can only be as good and great as its minds allow it. The level of development of any country is linked to the ability of its citizens to convert ideas into practical things that can be used by humanity.

Who should lead the charge for Africa's economic advance? The investment in the education of black Africans paid dividends in form of the nature and content of the anti-colonialist struggle.

The brains behind the strategies and tactics of the anti-colonialist struggles in Africa were to be found in the intellectuals who were educated on the expectation that such intellectuals were to be assimilated into the colonial system and in doing so would be the custodians of the transformation agenda.

Black intellectuals who although they had acquired Western education, were never accepted as equals in the scheme of things generally led the anti-colonial struggle. The expectation was that the brains that led the anti-colonial struggle could lead the charge to build an inclusive and non-racial post-colonial state.

After 53 years of independence, it is never too late to reflect on the journey travelled so far in building the kind of Africa that works for all who live in it. Where are our superstars? Most of the African intellectuals were educated at a great social and economic cost but regrettably for private benefit.

Africa's brain trust is more at home in the countries they accuse for being responsible for under-developing the continent.

The term "brain trust" is most associated with the group of advisors to Franklin Roosevelt during his term in office as President of the USA. If Africa's future were to be entrusted to someone who should that person be? Should it be the intellectuals? If so, what have they done to help advance the African cause?

There is no doubt that Africa has invested in its people in terms of literacy. Africa's brain trust is found everywhere. However, it is fragmented and self-centered. There is nothing that connects and unites this trust. The continent as a brand has failed to give African intellectuals a sense of belonging. Why is this the case?

America started as an idea and remains so. It has attracted brains from other countries and all they share is a sense that they can scale the heights without let or hindrance. The 300 million people in America, for example, share one geographical entity and wherever they originated from they have a sense of belonging to their adopted home deeply founded in the values that inspired the founders to craft a constitutional order that saw in every citizen the capacity to rise up and be counted.

The face of America is the sum of its people and yet the face of Africa is complicated by its past to the extent that it is difficult to chart an African agenda without attempting to reach a consensus on issues of identity and ideology.

Africa has produced its share of superstars who have distinguished themselves as individuals. What Africa needs is for the people who have reached the mountaintop in their professions to reflect on what is required to build a seamless ladder of opportunity that many can use to climb up.

Are African intellectuals and superstars worthy of being called "drivers of change"? Many of the continent's superstars have excellent personal brand equity but as a collective realize that the African brand has its own complications. It is not unusual, for instance, for Nigerian billionaires to build mansions only to find themselves driving to them through pot-holed roads.

The need for Africa's superstars to galvanize together in search of solutions that can make the continent an economic tiger that it should be cannot be overstated. In the final analysis, every citizen of Africa is a superstar whose choices are critical in informing the direction of change and development. The choices that Africa's brain trust have and continue to make have to form the first part of any conversation about what kind of Africa we want to see.

Are they people we look up to worthy of the respect? Any person who steps up on the opportunity ladder inspires others to want to do the same. The people who rise up have an obligation to lift the people in the valley and yet Africans have failed to come up with institutional mechanisms to allow the free movement of people on the opportunity conveyer belt.

We need the brains and we also need to trust the brains that lead us. We all have work to do to create the Africa that we want to see. Education does help but Africa's fate lies in the choices made by all of us. If we believe in Africa, then we have no choice but to be the change that we want to see. Africa's superstars like the colonialists who found value in the continent must realize that working together they can accomplish more things not only at the personal but also at a collective level.