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SOMETHING special, something wonderful, something unusual must be happening on the African continent. Whatever is happening to Africa is not a normal occurrence.
Africa has become the “special one” to the industralised world and the scramble for influence on the continent no longer is a backroom event. It is not even a page three story. It is a front page story with trumpeted razzmatazz surrounding it.
The world is taking notice and the normal anxious moments and diplomatic deals that surround all high level meetings has also been extended to Africa when it attends meeting en bloc as a continent. When today’s smartly dressed African leaders speak through the African Union the world listens.
That is perhaps why Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana wanted Africa to unite so the “African Voice” can be heard.
Today after 50 years since Nkrumah declared Africa must unite, the continent is working. There is good governance on the continent. A new crop of leaders honestly desirous of leading their various nations out of abject poverty are spearheading the African renaissance. The continent as a whole, has for a decade been achieving an average economic growth rate of 5.4 which is at par with the rest of the world. There is something good happening to the continent and that explains why China met Africa last year, America has just met Africa and Europe needed to meet Africa under the great African condition of having Robert Mugabe there else we will not come. This was unimaginably unthinkable a few years ago. Africa giving conditions for a meeting.
Economic growth prospects really changes things.
As Europe hosted Africa last weekend in Lisbon, Portugal for a second summit what then was at stake? A lot of fine European language will be used.
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The expectations of the summit indicated “ The Business Summit will bring together African and European business leaders and politicians, aiming to reinforce the economic dimension of the relationship between Africa and the EU and to urge the political leaders to pursue a structured political dialogue.
Building on the ACCRA conclusions, the EU-Africa Business Summit will seek the reinforcement of the private sector’s commitment to work with the African and the European Unions to strengthen Africa’s economic Development, with special focus on trade and Investment, Resource development and Infrastructure.
The EU-Africa Business Summit can and should therefore be a prime moment to lend a new drive to the relations with the African continent, which must also include the regional Economic Partnership Agreements, promoting effective integration of these countries into the regional and global economy.
This event will also constitute an opportunity for both African and European business leaders to debate, in Parallel Thematic CEO’s Round Tables, issues such as Trade, Investment and Resource Development and Infrastructure.”
What does this fine language mean to the ordinary rice or tea or banana farmer on the continent. They are not lazy people. They are desperately working hard with the same energies their kith and kin exhibited in the sugar cane plantations. Their children are sick,they do not have any benefits to rely on. They just want a fair trade system to rely on so when someone like Robert Mugabe speaks and speaks with no fine language which reaches their understanding he becomes a hero just like Don McKinnon, the past Commonwealth secretarygeneral is reported to have said recently.
The poor farmers are are hoping that Mugabe will be given the chance to ask the following questions for them……..(I did not hear him give an address though) In a Mugabe voice he will go, comrade presidents, as you know the world is not a fair place. We have been oppressed for ages by the same European powers we sit and drink tea with. We had to fight a war in order to regain our freedom from the champions of democracy (the rest of the speech is unprintable but know ye therefore that Gordon is in trouble in the speech) ….………Ian Smith…….Aparthied…….. Land…….Sanctions
Now my comrades want me to ask you these important questions, Will you give us free access to your markets or not?
Are you ready to invest on the continent or not? Are you ready to cut subsidies you give to your farmers (yet forbid us to do same to our farmers) so that our products can compete on equal basis or not?
And one last thing, will you allow the young prince to marry the beautiful Zimbabwean girl or not? If any of your answers is no, then take your Europe let us also take our Africa.
On a much serious note what are the aspirations of Europe and of Africa? What are the hidden stakes couched in fine language Europe hopes to get out of Africa? More political and economic influence for Europe in the face of a Chinese onslaught on “territories” Europe used to have influence over or more trade on genuine and equal terms for Africa will be on the table for discussions?
Africa for hundreds of years has been the backbone for the development of Europe. There is no doubt that Africa’s human blood sustained the economic growth of the world through slavery. It continued to fuel the growth of the industrial revolution as colonies of Europe with as much of the gold, copper, uranium, bauxite, iron, coal, timber and agricultural products including tea from the continent ending up in the bank vaults and breakfast tables of Europe. (Is it not strange that some countries in Europe that do not have gold mines yet has more gold in their vaults than the gold producers?)
After reluctantly granting independence the economic colonialism policy continued with a calculated trade practice that harms and kills millions of Africans rigidly adhered to.
It is just so difficult to understand how Europe for instance in the present trade system can deny Africa the opportunity to export certain products into the EU yet demands complete access into the African market and yet think it is assisting Africa end poverty.
How can farmers in developed Europe for instance through the world bank and International monetary fund demand that African governments deny African farmers subsidies yet it grants subsidies to it’s farmers on the continent.
Today an agenda of this nature will fail as Africa is gradually becoming economically independent thanks to competition from other trading partners.
A new africa watches and waits for a fair and equal trading system.
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