Africa is rich in people, resources and agricultural land. But it is currently poor because of the way capitalism has exploited it. Its problems began with the Atlantic slave trade, which financed the birth of industrial capitalism (see below). This was followed by imperial domination that set up trading patterns designed to benefit the colonisers. Most countries emerged from colonialism dependent on one or two crops that the former colonial power promoted for its own interests. But with independence, most countries invested in education and health care, rather than profits for imperial companies. They invested in industry that would move them away from dependency. Yet they couldn’t escape the Cold War that led big powers to back “reliable” dictators over radicals that might challenge existing power relations. And when prices of raw materials plummeted during the recession in the 1970s it devastated economies that were still dependent on them. This soon led to “advice” from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on how to run economies. Since the beginning of the 1980s the message has been the same free market mantra. The IMF has imposed one structural adjustment programme after another on Africa despite their failure to deliver. In the late 1980s it imposed free market reforms on Zimbabwe and trumpeted their success after grain production trebled. But, as author Alex de Waal explains in the book Famine Crimes, “National food surpluses did not solve the problem of hunger among those too poor to buy, and 40 percent of communal farmers were in chronic deficit.” The IMF has been pleased with its work because many of the countries with the world’s highest economic growth rates are now in Africa. Sierra Leone had the world’s second highest growth rate in 2013 at 13.3 percent. Liberia was 11th at 8.1 percent. China was 16th on 7.4 percent. Figures for very poor countries are misleading as they start from such a low level. However, some people are getting very rich. There are 27 billionaires across Africa. Their position in the economy meant that in most places the ruling elite found themselves in debt to the West. But in countries like South Africa and Nigeria we see a ruling class that is prepared to look after its own interests. Think of Britain’s ruling class having to decide if its interests will be served by becoming subservient to the EU or the US. African countries continue to be dominated by imperialism and are part of a wider international system based on competition between the big powers. The media and the World Bank agree that the alternative to seeing Africans as helpless victims is to say they are lazy. socialistworker.co.uk
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 08:22:05 +0000
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