Without a strategy, we’re finished!
Two things need to be borne in mind. Firstly, we should always remember, that no country that has enjoyed supremacy will want to become a beggar nation any time soon. That goes for human beings too. Too many African cultures have prayers against reversal of fortunes. So why do African countries not see that the […]
Two things need to be borne in mind. Firstly, we should always remember, that no country that has enjoyed supremacy will want to become a beggar nation any time soon. That goes for human beings too. Too many African cultures have prayers against reversal of fortunes. So why do African countries not see that the superpowers of today, being the strategists that they are, will not just while away their times and coast along (like we often do in Africa), while the resource-rich continent of Africa simply overtakes them? These countries have strategists thinking on their behalf, even the best from Africa (like Emeagwali and co), and have often been known to go to dastardly limits to continue to maintain their hegemony.
Secondly, we should NEVER expect Western countries (who are super-strategists) to purchase our raw materials and resources (like crude oil), pay us hard earned dollars for such resources, and then generally sit back and watch us turn into their oppressors while their own economies go down. In truth, many of the high-priced resources that Africa brags about today, have been lying under the ground for centuries, while we (Africans) did not know their uses or means of exploitation. Therefore, since it is the western countries that brought the technology for the exploitation and use of these resources, they have indeed, reserved the prerogative of setting the prices. And they are ensuring that whatever they pay African countries will NEVER be enough to take our continent out of the woods, or if it is, that our rulers and their cohorts will promptly siphon the monies back to their region. That is why we have a corruption problem. We did not invent corruption. THEY DID!
Be that as it may, the issues that will affect the future of black Africa will once again come from outside. There is a phenomenon unfolding today in the erstwhile successful European Union. The EURO currency is under tremendous pressure to collapse. A few weeks ago, it hit a ten-year low against the dollar. Why is this happening and what does it mean to us in black Africa? The Euro is losing value because there is a fundamental mismatch between the ways of life of Europeans and the resources in that continent. QED. The mismatch was shrouded for too long by colonisation.
Greece is where the European bubble burst. When the new government of George Papandreou announced that contrary to what was announced by the former government, Greece’s deficit stood at 12.7%, the markets reacted adversely, and problem set in for the currency. Investors started dumping Greek government bonds. The trend went on for a while until the European Union had to come to Greece’s aid with 110billion Euros. Now, a number of countries in Europe also have the same problem. How long can they keep up before they are exposed too? The Euro is crashing because the European Central Bank is buying up Greek government’s bonds, contrary to the statutes establishing it. As agreed when the European Union was formed, no country should be bailed out. But the reality is now different. And experts think the Greek situation is almost hopeless. So the bonds being bought by the ECB today will gradually become ‘toilet paper’.
Greece is expected to default on the bailout arrangement. This is because the bailout requires Greece to raise taxes on its people and also reduce government expenditure (lay off workers). The problem is that there is no room for further belt-tightening in Greece. The people are jobless and poor already. That is why we see the riots on the streets. The same bad situation exists in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium and others. As someone who sojourns in that region from time to time, I cannot envision how those economies can be re-jigged for improved productivity. I cannot see how the industries will return from China and operate profitably in Europe, or even the USA.
For the situation in the USA is even worse. As the world’s biggest debtor, with public debt in the region of $64Trillion (when you add exposures emanating from social services etc), the USA’s economy has a gargantuan task ahead. And whereas the dollar is presently gaining against the Euro, that currency (Dollar), going by every fundamental index, is primed to fall massively in value in the coming year or two, as the USA tries to deal with the huge debts and deficits it has been acquiring during the two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
But there is an option for the ‘developed’ countries. And that is to capture the economies and resources of developing (and often unthinking) countries. And that they can do in many surreptitious manners. They can stoke wars and conflicts in such resource-rich African countries such that when those countries enter an orgy of self-destruction, they move in and secure the resources for their own use. As the wars and conflicts go on, they can sell arms and ammunition, which they produce en-masse (and even subsidise manufacturers), but never use in their own countries. Or if they don’t use this combative approach, they can simply approach African leaders and offer them money to continue along the same corrupt lines as has become the norm. No escape for any country without a considered strategy.
But there is even worse news than this. According to economists, the trends we are seeing with the near-crash of the Euro, which has led to a freefall in the price of crude oil and many other resources that African countries depend solely on, is the stuff that world war preludes are made of. If Europe disintegrates and trade protectionism returns, these ‘advanced’ countries, as well as China, will make another dash for the resources and regions of Africa (the whipping boy). And where that does not solve the problems of stark poverty facing their people, the only option is a global war, with a concomitant reduction in world population. And then after such a war, the world will start to ‘reboot’ again, with whoever is left standing. We should keenly watch Hilary Clinton’s activities in the Koreas. She has been seriously trying to start a war there.
Well, all these may sound fantastic, though it makes sense to someone like me. And human beings have always gone mad from time to time, collectively. Like we say in Nigeria, ‘kini big deal?’ But whether true, fantastic, real, or fantasy, the question to ask is; ‘Who is thinking for black Africa?’