One of the intangible cultural assets in Africa is TIME. The rest of the world keeps time, but Africans own time—“the African time.” It’s why Black people everywhere tend to have an elastic relationship with time.
We’re never late to events; we’re just not early enough (except for our babies who are born prematurely and our senior citizens who die promptly in their 40s). We borrow generously from other’s scheduled appointments and spend hours to introduce speakers at functions so they’ll have minutes to speak.
Africa has time. So, a simple “hello” or welcome is an elaborate ritual, and a task of five minutes easily takes 3-7 days. Output is based on activity not productivity, while work slated for completion forever ago are still undergoing construction.
Since our culture believes in body art, in Africa, wristwatches are for adornment, not for time-keeping. Thus, our cultural concept of “African time” allows us to arrive at meetings late—and when we eventually arrive, we start the meetings late, and end late. Good meetings are endless repetitions of the same things and echoes of what others have already said. It’s why unpunctuality has almost become the trademark of all Africans—whether on the continent or in the Diaspora. Even among Christians, lateness has been converted into a ubiquitous spiritual gift.
Because Africa has time, expiry dates on food and health products don’t really expire (after all, they are not valid, they’re merely artistic decorations). And in the hospitals, we can afford to wait long hours to see the doctor. The worst that can happen is to be “called to glory” to spend much more time— eternity—with our Maker. And in the event of that, we (especially in Ghana) can spare months in funerals, a mere short period when compared with how much time we already have—and will eventually have.
Our African politicians celebrate our wonderful democracy by high-sounding campaign promises that only those who live as old as Methuselah will enjoy. And because we have so much time, our leaders want to be presidents for life. Thanks to rigging ballots replacing ripping bullets–and, in recent times, changing national constitutions to allow our democratically elected politicians stay in power till they die—or are violently overthrown.
Our African journalists and media, grateful for the freedom of the press, maximize prime time by educating us on the usefulness of frivolities and non-issues. Why shouldn’t they? Our citizens seldom read, for they wisely spend the time watching movies or European football. And, oh, we even offer free adult education on radio by running live commentaries in our local languages for those who have no TVs to watch soccer matches between their favorite European teams.
Markets in Africa have no fixed prices on goods, hence we spend part of our time bargaining for right prices. But no need to worry, we learn the skills of haggling early enough by observing how our careful drivers constantly negotiate with some of our honest police officers at road checkpoints.
Because we have time, our college and university professors can afford to catwalk to their lecture halls to teach. And it’s perfectly okay on arrival for them to utilize the time to read from the worn-out lecture notes passed down by the colonial and post-colonial masters. Students in turn reward their teachers by regurgitating for them what they’ve devoted time to swallow.
With so much time available, why would we need to sleep during the night? After all, religious groups help us utilize our wakeful moments by an endless supply of free, high decibel drumming, praise songs, prayer laments and petition shouts. Should we ever feel a need to sleep during day time, no problem; we can always borrow the time while we’re at work—where we spend the time sleeping. Yes, sleeping at work! Why not? We need to catch up on sleeping time so we can continue the all-night vigils which are part of the 40-day fasting and prayer. Never mind, our made-for-profit prophets can always add additional time, extending the 40-day fast by two more weeks.
Did I mention at the beginning that, whereas others keep time, in Africa we actually own the time? Yes we do. In fact, Africa is the only continent that has an eighth day of the week. We call it “Someday,” the day we actually get most of our work done.
Because time is not such a big deal, we’re calm and laidback. The only pressure we have is the annoying crowing of the African rooster or cock, reminding us each morning that Africans don’t really have time—let alone own time. The voice of the rooster warns: There is no African Time. Never was, and never has been.
African Time is a time fraud. It’s not a cultural asset. Our nonchalant attitude to time is a mindset that must change. For it excuses (nay, rewards) procrastination, laziness, indiscipline, and rudeness. Let Africa remember that, those who disrespect time are severely punished by life. For life is made up of time. And a respect for TIME is universally mandated in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11; Matthew 5:18, 19; John 14:15).—Samuel Koranteng-Pipim
© Samuel Koranteng-Pipim: Permission is granted to share thought nuggets and/or pertinent quotes from the nuggets. Users of both nuggets and/or quotes must acknowledge Samuel Koranteng-Pipim as the author and give the appropriate EAGLESonline link as the source.
SAMUEL KORANTENG-PIPIM,PH.D. , is a US-based Ghanaian author, inspirational speaker, leadership trainer, and an advocate for youth empowerment. He was trained in engineering and systematic theology, and has authored more than twenty books. They include his bestselling works Hope Through the Dark, Six More Chances, Healed Wounds but Ugly Scars, and Patience in the Midst of Trials and Afflictions. Dr. Pipim currently directs two Centers for Leadership Development known as EAGLES (Empowerment & Advisory Group for Leadership, Excellence, & Service) and ANANSE (African Network & Advisory for Needed Services & Excellence). www.EAGLESonline.org. He also serves as a special consultant on Bible projects for Remnant Publications. 