Our responsibility as Africans

I noticed in life that growth is always expected because it is a constant. Yet development, though it is normal; is more appreciated than mere growth because it is of more value and it brings a lot of relief to a society. So, one is expected to grow up whether as a child, a student or a trainee. A company is expected to grow so as to bring about development in the way it discharges services to consumers and meet growing demands. Therefore, I came to the conclusion that to grow is to exist but to develop is to live. For example, imagine a person who is 30 years old with both external and internal body organ sizes of 3 a year old child. That person is considered an abnormal person because though he is grown in age he is not developed in body size.

It is also abnormal for a nation to boast of economic growth (GDP) for a long time with no proof in economic development ( expansions in basic infrastructure like well equipped hospitals, well resourced schools, first class roads, and generally, activities and structures that spurs up the living standard of the people). It is common to hear in Africa, on political platforms, how shameless leaders boast of so much economic growth created by their party in government ─ just to win the votes of some ignorant citizens so they may serve another term in national office ─ even though in so much growth there is so little to show for it. Development is expressed in qualitative terms, the quality of life, and not in quantitative terms. If you cannot translate quantity into quality then it's so clear you are at loggerheads with productivity. The reason is simply because it is only a developed mind that can create and produce quality out of the whole lot of resources available to it; development of this kind is not common.

Fidel Tetteh-ModernGhana.com