Many Africans I’ve spoken with in the past few weeks have been riveted by unfolding events in Egypt. Most are hoping the winds of change on the Nile will blow south.

This resonance is easy to understand. Despite notable progress in a dozen or so countries since the fall of the Berlin Wall, as a region, sub-Saharan Africa still has the second lowest democracy rating in the world (ahead of the Middle East). Autocratic leaders claiming to be bulwarks of stability, restricted civil liberties, corruption, widening disparities in wealth, police impunity, sham elections…are all too familiar to Africans.

Ironically, most Africans already ostensibly have the very things that the Egyptian protesters have been demanding –- a multiparty system, freedom of speech, independent media, elections, etc. In fact, only four of Africa’s 49 countries officially don’t have multi-party elections.

The problem is that despite this veneer, in most cases, these are hollow democracies. That is, they have no real mechanisms for checks and balances, minority protections, or real political participation and competition. These are the guts of democracy -– what makes it responsive and accountable -– and which make elections meaningful.

Unfortunately, lack of accountability typifies most of Africa’s political systems today. Some half of Africa’s governments are stuck at the authoritarian or “authoritarian-in-democracy-clothing” stage. Most are still personality rather than rules-based. Due to patronage, loyalties tend to be to the individual, rather than the institution. Leaders are above rather than subject to the law.

This stunted political environment –- with its cronyism, inhibited private sector, and controlled media –- in turn, directly contributes to Africa’s poverty and instability.

So, while there are major cultural, economic, and geographic differences, the Egyptian experience is likely to serve as a model to Africans. Like in the Arab world, however, protests are more likely to emerge in places already with a modicum of civil liberties, than in the most repressive contexts.

Having watched ordinary Egyptians challenge and topple the most powerful regime on the continent, Africans are going to be less willing to accept stolen elections, presidential term extensions, police impunity and high-level corruption.

Moreover, African reformers have the same powerful new tools to organize themselves that proved so crucial in Egypt: their cell phones and social media. More than a third of Africans now have access to mobile phones –- up from around five percent just a few years ago. This enormously levels the long tilted playing field. Those in power will no longer be able to monopolize the narrative –- or keep people from talking to one another.

The Egyptian revolution has raised the bar of expectations. The next time African citizens suffer egregious abuses of power, rather than simply wringing their hands, they will be asking, “Why not here?” And start pushing harder with demands for genuine democracy.

What’s happening in Egypt is unprecedented -– and not only politically. Despite extraordinary efforts on the part of the Egyptian regime to silence pro-democracy protesters, this may be the most communicated, documented and media-ready political upheaval in history. On January 25th, Egypt caught the world’s attention when thousands poured into Tahrir Square, Cairo’s biggest public plaza. Protests were organized on the social networking site Facebook, on pages of groups like “We Are All Khalid Saeed” by anonymous administrators embodying generational frustrations.

On the following day, January 26th, the government blocked access to Facebook to stifle information sharing. When this proved ineffective, the state intelligence agency shut off the internet off at the central national router; mobile phone services, including voice and SMS, followed almost immediately thereafter. The government went after journalists, detaining and confiscating essential broadcast equipment, rendering media channels mute. Despite this, Egyptians continued to communicate. Using memory cards, dial-up modems, and ham radio, they documented and disseminated the experience. Satellite media -– notably Al Jazeera -– seized upon these accounts, supplementing reporting with first-hand witness. The world watched as skirmishes in Cairo embodied the struggle for democracy, dignity and human rights.

With information flowing out unimpeded, and the economy collapsing, communications were eventually restored. Images, video, and audio flooded the web, and the world lived vicariously in Tahrir –- sometimes in whimsy, sometimes in visceral, brutal horror. Even as “events’ seemed uncertain, actions were captured in permanent posterity. Today, pro-democracy protesters continue to press the government, promising continued defiance and rejecting gestures of incremental change. With all eyes on Egypt, the only outcome that seems certain is the output -– a continued promise of the documentation of raw revolution.

Dr. Ahmed Zewail, Nobel Peace Prize winner and the president’s special envoy for science to the Middle East, outlines four steps that Egypt needs to take to resolve the crisis in a New York Times column:

“Though Egypt has seen some economic progress in recent years, the masses of the poor have been left behind, and the middle class has actually gone backward. Only the small elite at the top has benefited lavishly by exploiting its influence with the government. The corruption resulting from this marriage and the constant demands for bribes by officials has further exhausted the tolerance of the people.

There are four important steps that must be taken to resolve the current crisis: First, a council of wise men and women should be assembled to map out a new national vision and draft a new constitution based on liberty, human rights and the orderly transfer of power. Second, the independence of the judiciary must be guaranteed. Third, free and fair elections must be conducted for the upper and lower houses of Parliament and for the presidency, overseen by the independent judiciary; Fourth, a new transitional government of national unity must be formed as soon as possible.”

Raj M. Desai, nonresident senior fellow with Global Economy and Development team at Brookings, gives some context as to why Egyptians are revolting and why Hosni Mubarak has held on for so long:

“Dictators in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have survived for long periods of time through an ‘authoritarian bargain’ with their citizens. For decades, the state granted a series of economic benefits to its people: free education, employment guarantees, subsidized housing and other entitlements. In times of financial distress, however, rulers have occasionally turned to partial political liberalization. Facing plunging oil prices in the 1990s, for example, several countries permitted local elections for the first time, and took steps to allow opposition figures to campaign, as long as they did not threaten the regime itself.

As unemployment increases beyond 30 percent in some MENA countries, several rulers have tried to do the same thing — make pledges to step down and take limited steps toward political reform. But this time it may prove too little. Over the past 15 years –mainly due to rising fertility rates and falling mortality rates in previous decades — a large cohort of youth has entered the marketplace. Because of the failure of Arab governments to reform in previous years and to revitalize their private sector, these young people have found few jobs. Their parents would have been given places in universities, government jobs, and a generous set of benefits. But the new generation has received little of that, and as a result, their frustrations with the system have been building for well over a decade.”

Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, says that although we can only hope that Egypt transitions to a fully democratic regime, things don’t always go as planned:

“We should have known there was a demand for democracy in Egypt –- surveys suggest public support for democratic institutions is higher in Egypt than in the United States. And frustration was heightened by recent and dramatic food price rises alongside a growing and increasingly educated youth population denied opportunities by a sclerotic private sector based on patronage and favoritism. But food price increases have been felt worldwide, and youth unemployment has been growing for more than a decade. The spark came from Tunisia -– events there asked Egyptians to ask ‘if in Tunis, why not in Cairo?’

As to what is next, we all hope for a rapid and peaceful transition to a fully democratic regime that respects rights -– along the model of South Korea. But things don’t always turn out so well –- think about some of the countries in the former Soviet Union that have fallen back to dictatorship, or pretty much all of the countries that saw revolts in 1848. Again, true institutional progress is usually evolutionary not revolutionary. Take the example of the US, where liberty was declared the right of all in 1776, but it took nearly a century to abolish slavery — and we remain far from ensuring equality of opportunity for all. In the best of circumstances, it will be an ongoing struggle for the Egyptian people to gain and maintain their liberties, but recent events are a hard-won opportunity for a breakthrough.“

Now it’s your turn. What do you think of the revolts in Egypt? What do you think the country’s next steps should be? Share them with us in the comments below.

It’s undeniable — the world’s attention is focused on the protests in Egypt. The reasons why these protests are happening are clearly complex, but according to news reports and analysis, it seems like some of those reasons are central to ONE’s mission: ensuring that people have access to education, economic opportunities and food security. Though not much is clear at this point, the events in Egypt make the links between governance and development pretty straightforward.

People’s grievances vary. According to CNN, young people living in the North Africa region are frustrated by the lack of economic opportunities to support themselves and their families. Although this generation is educated, the quality of their schooling is poor. A “considerable number” of young people are unemployed, leaving them with “stifled aspirations” and little outlet for their hardships.

The rise in Egypt’s food prices hasn’t helped, either. Forbes reports that “high costs of certain food items, which has been a common complaint among protesters, have risen by 20 to 30 percent in recent months.” In fact, the cry “bread and freedom” has been heard at protests across the North Africa region, says the Guardian. ONE policy expert Emily Alpert wrote a piece this week on why this means we need to make more smart investments in agriculture.

We will continue to watch the protests in Egypt closely. Meanwhile, watch Al Jazeera English’s live stream of the events and read through the New York Times’ “Protests of 2011” page.

Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera English.

As a wave of protests and violence sweeps across the Middle East and North Africa, bringing new instability to a troubled part of the world, developed nations must dramatically reconsider how best to promote democracy, stability and peace in the region. While our foreign relations have traditionally revolved around military aid and diplomacy, it might be worth considering the role that food prices, which have reached unprecedented highs in 2011, are playing in this civil unrest.

While US and European farmers celebrate skyrocketing incomes from these record prices, the food budgets of Africans and those in other parts of the developing world have been squeezed like never before, and many of these impoverished, hungry people have taken to the streets to demand affordable ways to feed their families. Articles linking the violence in Tunisia and Egypt to these high prices remind us that food security and national security are inextricably linked.

What can the developed world do to help fill bellies and restore peace? Honoring its commitments would go a long way. The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), the multilateral component of the $22 billion commitment to developing country food security made in 2009 in L’Aquila, is designed to bring large scale, sustainable agriculture to developing countries. While the US and other rich states committed nearly $1 billion to the GAFSP fund, which finances elements of developing country food security programs that their national budgets can’t cover, they have been dragging their feet when it comes to actually delivering their funding pledges, with only $330 million paid in so far. The US has contributed a measly $67 million out of the $475 million it promised, and the rest of its commitment is under threat. As the Economist reported last week, the collapse of the GAFSP because of a lack of American support would be a great embarrassment to the US, which was the driving force behind the fund’s creation.

Without serious efforts to grow developing world agriculture, hunger and unrest of the nature we are seeing in North Africa risks becoming more widespread, and its effects will reverberate throughout the global economy.

Photo courtesy of Living Proof.

Cell technology has enabled poor African countries to bypass the messy infrastructure and expensive start-up costs of setting up fixed-line systems. As a result, wireless technology is reaching isolated rural areas where fixed lines were never able to penetrate: while the number of African cell phone users reached 282 million in 2008, there are still only 35 million fixed lines on the continent.

For Africa, these new connections have the potential to reap widespread development benefits. Where roads are bad, fixed lines nonexistent and email rare, cell phones are forging communications links that are vital to economic and social progress. Everyone from farmers to health ministers to market vendors is coming up with innovative ways to harness cell technology. In Kenya, for example, the Kenyan Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE) linked up with Safaricom, the country’s largest cell phone company, to help farmers access market prices over their phones. For about 20 cents, farmers can use text messaging to get current prices for goods at markets throughout Kenya, allowing them to reduce transaction costs and bypass middlemen, who often charge below-market rates.

Donors are getting the hint that cell phones can help overcome deficits in Africa’s health infrastructure. PEPFAR, for example, is working with African health ministries and the private sector to set up the Phones for Health program, a $10 million initiative that will allow health workers to use cell phones from the field to input health information to a central database. The program is modeled after TRACnet (http://www.pepfar.gov/pepfar/press/84654.htm), an impressive web-based system in Rwanda that collects and disseminates antiretroviral treatment program reporting, drug shortages and CD-4 tests across the country.

In the long term, coverage and usage must expand significantly if African countries are to realize the full economic potential of cell technology. Evidence indicates that high levels of cell phone usage can fuel economic growth and even attract foreign investment. One widely-cited study found that a developing country with an average of 10 more cell phones per 100 people has 0.59% higher GDP growth than an otherwise identical country. Seizing upon this opportunity will require prioritization by both the international community and African governments, who must continue to combat regulatory bottlenecks that constrain the competitiveness of cell operators across the continent.

-Nora Coghlan, ONE.org

The anxious anticipation that comes with hard work has just given over to pure, unadulterated excitement as we arrive at the Pyramids to check out the site where an expected 2,500 people will gather tomorrow evening for the live Pangea Day program. We can almost feel the presence of long ago civilizations here at the only remaining wonder of the truly ancient world. The production crew has been working hard for days, and their efforts are paying off. It’s an impressive sight and will be even more stunning tomorrow night with the giant screen alive with images and the Pyramids illuminated.

People watching the live program on television, the Internet, or at one of the many independently-organized Friends of Pangea Day events will join us here in Cairo, and join with the other live broadcast locations in Los Angeles, Mumbai, London, Kigali, and Rio de Janeiro… and we’ll be able to laugh, cry, and cheer together with people from all over the planet.

Locally, we’ll be celebrating with the friends and family of Egyptian-American filmmaker and Pangea Day creator, Jehane Noujaim as actor and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Khaled Abol Naga takes the stage here in Cairo as our host for the evening.

Everyone all abuzz because Egyptian pop star Mohamed Mounir is scheduled to perform. Kelly tied up her bandwidth earlier today downloading some of his songs.

As the crew puts the finishing touches on the buildout, continues to test and refine the technical aspects, and perfects the lighting on the pyramids, the idea that tomorrow we’ll be in this very place watching films / speakers / musicians at the same time with people across the globe is inspiring enough to give us chills even in the heat of the desert. We hope you’ll be watching with us, wherever you are.

-Pangea Day Team Members Kelly Stoetzel & Jennifer Trone