Eric Mensah Kumeh
18 Jun 19 | 00:22

  • A growing population is making Africa an attractive destination for future trade deals
  • Global economic powers recognise this, and they are investing aggressively to exert their influence in all matters of Africa
  • Africans must not be deceived by false promises of security and secured market access.
  • Rather, a strong focus on institutional building and a policy of non-alignment is Africa´s best bet at striking non-exploitative deals

It is late spring. We’re a few miles off Liège and on our way to Luxembourg. The landscape is flourishing with small but dense patches of old trees which are sharply contrasted by fields burgeoning with lush-green corn that are so full of life and yet, so fragile that the slightest of adverse weather will obliterate every ounce of their allure. With every effort that I summon to relish the landscape, I find myself completely adrift and drowning in thoughts about what I am now convinced occupies the greatest chunk of my passive mind: Africa’s development.

Like a stream that has wandered for long and in dire need of a temporal abode to recharge itself for the perils that await in the next lap of its journey, visions of Africa dripped through every neuron of my brain. It is exhilarating. It is exceedingly beautiful. So beautiful that I neither want it to fade nor fold.

I see millions of Africans who, united in our diversity, are basking in the dazzling beams of sunset and have no concern about the perils of tomorrow.

“I see fearless, skilled and motivated Africans who are keen on facing the future”

Rather, we are motivated to confront it, because we have the skills, will and support systems to overcome whatever tomorrow may bring. I see patriotic Africans discovering the vastness of our home from her desert’s dunes, through its mountains, forests and gratifying valleys alike. We are experiencing our rich and unparalleled culture, exchanging ideas and relishing a brotherliness that no eyes of the world has ever seen nor eyes ever heard. I see technology easing the drudgery associated with farming, and young people frolicking in the richness of our lands with much alacrity to till our lands to nourish us and our rich biodiversity alike. Suddenly, I feel sharp and yet affectionate strokes on my shoulder and with it, a tender voice of concern. ‘Eric, Eric, why are you so quiet?’. I turn to see a genuinely concerned brother and respond: Malik, ‘How I wish you can see through my mind and experience my thoughts”… “I was envisioning our people being liberated from the oppression of our very own politicians who skim with foreigners to improvise us’. Then, I asked, ‘Why have we, Africans, allowed ourselves to be a vital cog in the grand machinery of development by global powers and an object of manipulation by our leaders?’ Hmm, he sighed, and after a short moment, he blurted out only one word: Greed!

A few hours ago, we were in a presentation within a Directorate of the European Union in Brussels and it’s remarkable how crystal clear the EU is on its plan towards gaining grounds in Africa. The latest vehicle, an Africa Union, European Union (AUEU) Alliance. Negotiations are also far advanced for resigning the Cotonou Agreement and several trade partnerships in other parts of the continents. However, the extent to which provisions in the former version signed in 2000 (expires February 2020) were achieved and the competitive advantage emerging trade deals afford Africa remain speculative at best.

Only a day earlier, the Guardian through its wide networks had unearthed a grand plan by Russia to infiltrate and gain a strong presence in Africa through military cooperation, meddling with elections results in strategic countries, and manipulating the local media.

On the other hand, it is no secret how China is gaining a foothold on the continent through trade deals forged on the anvil of “working on an equal footing, as partners”, whatever that means, emerging evidence are contradictory.

The USA has for a long-time used security and military partnerships as well as “aid” to solidify its presence on our continent and where it benefits him, he turns a blind eye to human right abuses and intense corruption to enable it to benefit from oil and minerals exploitation in the region. To hell with humanity when oil is at stake, right?

The UK, with one foot out of the EU, is also busily reinforcing alliances with its former colonies to safeguard her interests. Who needs to be a member of a bloc, the EU, where strong institutions and safeguards exist to ensure equality, especially when fewer resources can be used to rein in weak, former colonies to increase one’s dominance, right? W-R-O-N-G!

The next big rush for Africa is well at play and several factors account for this. First, is the issue of a population growth and the opportunity it presents for market access. The African population of 1.3 billion (2017), more than doubled the EU population, is predicted to reach more than 2.5 billion by 2050. Meanwhile, our unparalleled demand for foreign commodities, against stringent caution and the wisdom of our founding fathers who foretold that we not to guard against developing a taste for foreign good, continues to grow exponentially. Import should exist to complement a nation’s production efforts and not replace them.

“Our excessive reliance on imports is crippling our economy and eroding our culture”

Sadly, however, imports have replaced and disoriented our local production. We import so much that we are losing our culture and sense of identity. Starting with food, we no longer take pride in our local food and have become excessively reliant on food of foreign origin, rice is one such example. For whatever reason, we seem to be convinced that only products of foreign origin is wholesome, quality and worthy of consumption. But that’s a story for another day.

Second, it is known that our raw materials have long courted attention, and I will explore this under the theme of Africa´s resource curse in the forthcoming week.

A promise of protecting our borders, security, and aid remain the primary tools used by foreign actors to penetrate our society. However, their allure and how this sharply contrasts actual outcomes as well as their inability to deliver the momentum needed for our total and utter economic liberation seems not to have never dawned on us.

If more than four powerful blocs are striving to gain a foothold in Africa, it’s because they see the potentials that were outlined and many others. The question is do we see them? And if so, what are we doing about it?

I think that we will never discover a meaningful answer if we lower our guards and continue to sheepishly cower to the demands of other powers of the world. The same way, we’ll never find out let alone realise our potential when we tow the traditional lines of alignment. Global powers are not philanthropists. They have never and will never be. Even the noblest of their intentions come with strings attached. To them, altruism is all but a tool to get us to lower our guards and become embedded in their master plan towards a more subtle form of slavery. But we are not slaves. We are independent nations, and we owe none of them allegiance, whatsoever.

We, therefore, need to strongly hold up our guards and pursue a policy of non-alignment. Let’s not be blinded by false promises of higher moral values used by some blocs to build their reputation and downgrade their competitors.

“Let us not be blinded by wolves who come to us in sheep clothing because competition is a good thing, perhaps the best of things.”

Competition is a good thing, perhaps, the best of things. If anything at all, our history has a lot to teach us. We need to make every effort to inform ourselves to see through the deals offered by global powerhouses. We need to be able to recognize and diffuse all attempts aimed at making us succumb to deals that are predominantly exploitative. Let’s us the emerging competition to our advantage. We have options.

Better still, we need to be busy with building our own institutions. Strong institutions will save us billions of funds – currently lost to corruption. We can be invested in our own economy. Strong institutions will enable us to make more informed decisions and partner with specific world powers on the merits of their case and not based on blind allegiance.

“We cannot negotiate good deals from a position of weakness. So, let´s toughen up and build our institutions.”

But until then, let’s us be hesitant in tying ourselves with deals that will hurt us for generations. Should we want deals, nonetheless, then, let us strive to rid ourselves of the colonial pacts that continue to stagnate us such that a small country, like France, is able to control the resources, economic structures and political systems of 14 precious countries of ours. Deals that reduce our dependence on other countries are the only ones worthy of our time; not new deals negotiated from the position of weakness to further weaken us and increase our dependency on other nations.

Let’s start with those kind of deals.

Sustainable Development Goals related in this article