THE future of any nation belongs to builders, and yet at the individual level, humans are driven by the same basic needs that drove our forefathers even before colonialism -- food, sleep, sex, the feeling of being loved and appreciated.

In order to appreciate and understand our common future, we are compelled to know the past and what has taken us to where we are today and what has changed along the journey of life.

It is true that human beings are born to die and in life we strive for freedom and communication and more importantly, to be able to get in control of the world around us and time. Nothing will change in the future to extend the time in a day and to prolong life indefinitely.

Whether you are rich or poor, black or white, believer or non-believer, there is nothing you can do to change the cycle of time and mortality of humans. All the gadgets that human beings have invented, and in so doing created a façade of development, only serve to make life easier and not permanent.

The future is intriguing and yet it is really a product of the actions of today. The Africa we see today may not be what we want to see because those who came before us were not prepared or unable to organise themselves to create the kind of future that we see as the present in other nations.

As Africans, we need to start to think seriously about what kind of future we would like for ourselves and to pass on to the next generation. Then we need to know what kind of decisions at the individual and collective levels we need to make today so that we can get the best result in the future.

The future is nothing but the opposite of the past. It is the time after the present and contains all events that have to occur. But no event in human civilisation will occur on its own other than consequences of gifts of nature.

The process of creating human beings is known and our exit from this earth is unpredictable but certain. The past is only real to those who have experienced it, and the future is unreal to those who may not live it.

Any builder will appreciate the importance of planning and execution. Knowledge is critical as is capital in converting ideas into concrete structures that define a generation and in so doing create an identity of a people. 

If the majority of native Africans were organized at the time of colonialism, then the political and economic subjugation of the continent would have taken a different content and context.

Are we a cursed generation? I do not believe that we are. For the first time in the short history of Africa Heritage Society (AHS) www.africaheritage.com, we celebrated the American Day of Independence not because we wanted to be American but have come to the realization that in the idea called America there is a point that needs celebration. This idea has inspired many to leave their places of birth in search of opportunity in America.

The minds of the founding fathers of America must have been occupied with the challenge of creating a new and enduring nation founded on new values and principles. 

On 2 July 1776, they signed a declaration of independence and over the last 233 years, the new civilization unlike our post-colonial experience was characterized by investment and not aid as the driver of social, political and economic change.

Our African founding fathers must also have been inspired the idea of a free and sovereign Africa and yet after 53 years of independence, the idea of a free and prosperous Africa is as elusive to the majority as it was during the colonial era.

Sovereignty brings with it obligations at both the personal and collective levels. 

It is often easy to blame others for our lack of progress as a people forgetting that it is the responsibility of all of us to be the change that we want to see. 

Often we trust other people to make the choices that we are not prepared to make for ourselves. We procure goods and services from people we despise. We work in companies and for people we despise and yet expect to be paid. It is not uncharacteristic for us to blame those who dare to invest in the future of Africa while choosing to do nothing to deliver the kind of services and products that we want for ourselves.

Most of the founding fathers of Africa appeared to have the right image. They were products of an evil system and fought hard to bring a new dawn. They were educated and articulate. They appeared to understand the urgency of acting now and were prepared to sacrifice their lives for a better society. But were these reasons enough to trust them to lead the charge for a better and prosperous Africa?

What kind of leadership does Africa need? Being a President of post-colonial Africa is a complex and demanding job not least because the majority of Africans are not part of the kind of social contract needed to spur development and allow for checks and balances to exist.

The general qualities that we often associate with good leaders are: proven record, education, knowledge, understanding of complex issues, the ability to make things work and to effectively listen, relevant experience, honesty and integrity, etc.

Hindsight says, that most of the African founding fathers did not have much to offer in terms of the above attributes. 

Being able to speak eloquently the language of the former colonial master did not mean that they had the talent to lead and mobilise people to look at themselves and not to donors as the point of light.

In a globalised market environment, it helps to speak a language that can be understood by your partners. However, it would be far better if the people who occupy the highest offices in the land to make the right decisions and for citizens to ensure that they remain the custodians of the kind of society they want to see.

What kind of future do we want? We need a shared vision but more importantly recognition that the future is our collective project. Africa has been able to produce celebrity politicians, businesspersons, academics, artists; sport personalities, professionals and most of these have distinguished themselves as individual actors.

The dots are far too many but fragmented what we lack is the connection between the points of light. In each and every African heart is a point of light. 

Poor parents have been able to produce successful children and yet the connection ends there. If poor Africans can produce remarkable individuals, why is it the case that such individuals are not able to connect and working together produce a superior outcome for the rest of the continent.

Leaders can play a part but we have to recognize that because of our unique history and background, most of our leaders whether in the corporate or political worlds were never prepared for the positions they are now holding. 

We the people are also to blame because we never pause to think about the people that we elect or place on a higher pedestal in terms of what kind of support they need to be effective.

We take for granted that a person who carries the title, for instance, of a CEO actually knows what we expect of him. What kind of support do these first generation role players need from the followers? 

We have seen the danger of assuming that political leaders have all the answers. Instead of us appreciating their unique challenges, many of us have opted to look to others to be the change that we want to see. Is it not ironic that most of us the so-called enlightened Africans look to the West for values, principles, and moral compass to guide our choices?

The colonial project did succeed in transforming our attitudes and appetites to the extent that we have not been able to appreciate the importance of working together to create the kind of energy required for progress. 

Any leader would know that the only difference between him/her and the governed is that the governed have elected to serve in different fields of human endeavor but collectively they all belong to a class of service providers.

The only purpose of any human endeavor is to serve mankind. It is dangerous to look up to leaders as if they have more hours in day for salvation. Individuals make choices every day guided by their own self- interest. Our future has to be informed by our understanding of human interest and what is required to make an individual perform and shine.

If African people are hungry and cannot convert land and water into food then the starting point must be for us to look at what kind of conditions would be required to attract the people with the knowledge, capital and execution capacity to do the job rather than focus on irrelevant attributes like race, tribe, gender, or religion.

It is self evident that at the transaction point, it is irrelevant who produced the product that you pick in a store but what is relevant is that you must have a unit of exchange to gain possession legally of the goods that you want for your own purposes. If you pick and refuse to pay at the transaction point then that is considered to be theft.

On the 18^th July, we are meeting at the Sandton Convention Centre http://www.africaheritage.com/calendar.php?id=44 to recognise one of Africa’s founding fathers and use the opportunity to pause to reflect on what kind of leadership we need in Africa and our own obligations to make the leaders as effective as we want them to be. The future belongs to anyone who chooses to make today the day to act.