OPINION: Africas Bed of Thorns By Boh Herbert The international community wants Africans to believe - and many of us, Africans, have bought into this reasoning, hook, line and sinker - that the underdevelopment and misery Africa is reeling from must be blamed on Africans themselves. See - they argue - slavery played a role in holding Africas development back, but that was centuries ago. Colonialism, they agree, did not helpful. But, did colonialism not end decades ago with independence? As for neocolonialism - the term for the backdoor reincarnation of colonialism in independent Africa first coined by Ghanas independence president Kwame Nkrumah - the argument goes that neocolonialism existed only as a conspiracy theory. Which leaves one choice, right? The blame for all things wrong with Africa today must, somehow, be laid squarely at the doorstep of Africans themselves. While there is no denying that Africans must share a good part of the blame, with so much blame to go round, it seems useful to focus here only on the blame that others - the non Africans - should own up to. An Epidemics Window into Africa The unfolding Ebola crisis opens a window into how Africas strength is broken; how its misery was created; how it has been sustained; and why the continent needs to radically rethink the development path it is on. The countries at the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic have - or so one would think - privileged ties with three of the worlds richest countries. Millions of Liberians are descendants of slaves freed from plantations in the USA. The former slaves were literally dumped in Liberia (the only African country besides Ethiopia to have not been colonized) and in parts of Sierra Leone, notably the capital, Freetown. Great Britain was landlord of the colonial plantation named Sierra Leone, where they tried to set up a replica of the Oxford and Cambridge University model for Africans. Even as colonial empires folded up, France bullied its colonies, including Guinea to stay in the France Outre Mer column. Not surprisingly, when Guineas independence president Sekou Toure looked the dependence gift horse in the mouth and said no, thank you!, France dumped Conakry. Without firing a single shot - even if Paris reportedly plotted the foiled coup in which Sekou Toure was supposed to be ousted - France instilled all the fear that was needed to so badly intimidate Africans into choosing independence by remaining inextricably linked to the colonial umbilical cord. As a result, by the time French President Charles de Gaulle asked who wants to be next, after Sekou Toure? not a single country raised its hand. Not even the only two ex-French African colonies that had gone to the extent of waging armed rebellions for independence: Algeria and Cameroun. The intended outcome was exactly what France achieved. African countries picked subjugation, in reality. In practice, everyone pretended that international sovereignty had been achieved. Fifty Years of Development Failure Fifty years after, the three Mano River Union countries at the epicenter of the Ebola crisis are among the worlds poorest nations. The tragedy of these countries, though, is not their past. It is the fact that even today, these countries and others across the continent continue to bet that they will climb out of poverty on the wings of a governance system set on a colonial foundation. These countries hope that prosperity will flow from an economy bequeathed by colonialists and definitely not built to benefit Africans. In the time of peace post-Samuel Doe and post-Charles Taylor, even the outstanding leadership of President Sirleaf Johnson has not prevented the looting of Liberias natural resources (diamonds and timber). Beyond inheriting colonial rubber plantations presented as an essential leg of the failing economic stool on which the country perches, Monrovia cant find support for value addition - making tires, for example, instead of just exporting rubber. Often described as a geological scandal on account of its colossal natural reserves, Guinea remains unlikely to qualify for the credit it would need to mine its iron ore and bauxite deposits a among others. In large part because Guinea has not surrendered as much of its share of the resource as has Niger to France over its uranium reserves. The bloom of a new rapprochement in relations between Great Britain and Sierra Leone under ex-Premier Tony Blair brought forth withered flowers in the promising fisheries, tourism and trade sectors. A class of politicians from London to Washington and beyond are pulling the strings; itching to build their personal empires and fortunes on the backs of the bad governance they exploit. Countries - But Only in Name Few instruments spell dependence like the inability to hold the strings of a countrys wallet. In all three Mano River Union countries the currency or the everyday yardstick for income and wealth - the Leone in Sierra Leone; the Dollar in Liberia and the Franc in Guinea - were designed to be and remain little better than the monkey versions of their colonial forebears: the British pound; the American dollar and the French franc. Yes, it seems the international community wants Africans in the year 2014 to believe that their countries are independent because they fly a piece of cloth (flag) and are at liberty to chant a national song (anthem). Step away from focusing on Africa! Take the USA, for example. Would the USA be considered an independent country if it remained dependent for economic, monetary and economic policy formulated out of London? Would the U.S. economy thrive on a close-to-worthless version of the pound sterling, minted by London and perked to the British pound? Part of Africas biggest problem is the ability of the international community to continue to make-believe that all African countries are independent and that it is now up to their citizens to chart a destiny for their peoples. Baloney! Pretend all they want, but the international community continues to anoint African rulers, notably by using colonial agreements to impose leaders at gunpoint or maintain preferred puppets in power. The international communitys lullaby to Africans is fear not for Africa will thrive despite economies care of colonial powers, unfair international trade, monkey currencies and uncertain flows of seriously limited development aid. Continent Where Hope Never Dies There is hope, though. It rests in the indomitable spirit of a majority of Africans to endure even the worst forms of hardship, misery, and punishment almost in their stride. That spirit has not been broken in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone even by an epidemic as bad as Ebola. As with slavery, colonialism, and neocolonialism, the ongoing trampling afoot of Africa by the international community focuses on protecting and preserving the interests of the rich and powerful countries and political elites of the world. As appendices of the colonial powers they represent, Africas governing elite may not adjust quickly enough to prevent the next epidemic. Despite the bitter lessons of this Ebola crisis, Africans know they can neither count on a majority of their leaders nor, for that matter on the international community to prioritize investments that foster the access of citizens to basic services (education, healthcare, housing, jobs, etc.) Want proof? Three decades since the end of armed conflicts in the Mano River Union countries, there are still no modern hospitals or a modern public health system in place, despite the many pledges by donors and partner governments to help these countries turn a new development page. Sadly, the situation is about the same even for many African countries whose development has not been interrupted by destructive conflicts. Obviously, there is no disputing the fact that Africa has limited resources to address its many development challenges. However, lack of resources is just a part of the story. The main problem is the failure by African leaders and the international community to prioritize investments in basic services, notably in healthcare. It is this failure that has created the conducive environment for the Ebola crisis to wreck havoc, killing nearly 5,000 people and sickening more than 10,000 others. That failure is Africas story of man-made misery. It is the story that has become so dominant in Africas narrative that it has blinded the world to any - and there are many, many - opportunities in Africa, if one looks beyond the occasional outbreak of epidemics and the frequent eruptions of violence and armed conflict. For a continent that has survived centuries of slavery and nearly 200 years of colonialism and neocolonialism, Ebola may have made up another of Africas bed of thorns. But, that too, will pass. ENDS
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 00:11:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015