A guest post from commenter Malkia of Kenya:
Africa is not a single country. The reasons for some of the crisis in Africa, e.g. the food crisis in the Horn of Africa and the need for emergency aid, vary from country to country. In fact, India and China combined probably have more people in poverty than all of Africa, yet they are not the object of charity and aid the way Africa has become.
The aid industry, built on Africa’s poverty and misfortunes, is now a multi-billion dollar industry with many local, national and international organizations stationed in many countries all over Africa, many of whom live in much better conditions than the same Africans they are trying to “save”.
Aid is addictive. For as long as there are so many aid pushers like Bono and Sir Geldof fuelling the addiction, Africans will never be able to stand up on their feet.
The idea that a bunch of rich celebrities can “save” Africa is an intellectually bankrupt idea to advertise to Americans and Europeans. When Western newspapers have headlines such as “Can Bono Save Africa?” or “Will Brangelina Save Africa?” can we then conclude that African causes are not as important in and of themselves as much as it is about the celebrity do-gooders?
Uzodinma Iweala (author of “Beasts of No Nation”) argues that such headlines are reminiscent of reports at the height of European colonialism, when missionaries were sent to Africa to introduce us to education, Jesus Christ and “civilization.” Bono has even been quoted as saying:
I represent a lot of people [in Africa] who have no voice at all… They haven’t asked me to represent them. It’s cheeky but I hope they’re glad I do.
Presuming to speak on behalf of millions of Africans, without their endorsement or permission, isn’t cheeky its colonialist. And no Bono, many of us are not glad.
Please look at the language used in the Keep a Child Alive/I am African campaign. It has white celebrities with painted apparent “African tribal markings” with words like “I AM AFRICAN”, which I found to be extremely condescending and strikes a nerve with a lot of Africans who have seen this ad.
I am grateful for Bono & company’s interest in our issues, but I am vehemently against turning Africans into helpless infants and children who would not know what to do without the “benevolence” of the West – never mind the role the West has played and continues to play in the regrettable circumstances in which Africa finds itself.
Africa doesn’t want to be saved. Africa does not need aid or armies of bleeding heart liberals to feed, clothe and educate its people, if we have responsive and responsible leadership. Those are the responsibilities of a government. Africa through fair and just trade and economic partnerships (read: KILL World Bank and the IMF economic policies) is capable of extraordinary growth.
See also:
Indeed every african country is different crazy that has to be stated right? The key to some african countries are good leadership and reducing endemic corruption. This ties in with less apathy and tribalism from the people themselves. For some it is years of war and bad weather conditions that create humantiarian crises. And of course we cannot forget the west’s influence who will constantly be there like a demon incognito that’s shows it’s form in the way of inciting revolts against good leaders (or ones that have simply become an inconvenience to them), assasinations (whether direct or indirect), unfair trade policies and charities who make a heck of a lot of money through their ‘noble’ missions. Africa needs to sort out it’s own problems. Like someone said yes asia and the pacific have tonnes more starving people than africa but you know what the difference is? Apart from pop size (of course) many asian countries are at least moving forward economically and I bet you their numbers of hungry will have been reduced in 10 yrs time. Don’t know if I can say the same for Africa. For some reason many of the leaders are greedy abd wicked. You think the Arab leaders were bad people? Haha that’s nothing. If Africa is going to really come into the modern world then they will need their own Spring AND a change in mindset where greed and grab-while-you can is not seen as what should be expected
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Check urban dictionary for the word “designer activism”
http://www.urbandictionary.com/iphone/#define?term=designer activism
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I’m not getting the point here. Please explain more. There are of course lots of people who do activism or charity for tax purposes, as flavor of the month, as a way to draw attention to themselves, for good PR, because they’re bored or because they have messiah complexes. Then there are other people who do these things because they think they’re the right thing to do.
I think from what I’ve read Bono falls more in the second group than the first.
India and China combined have about twice as many people than all of Africa.
India and China are becoming powers in the world; no African country can really make that claim. So the question which must be answered is why is it that India and China have made greater strides post-colonial period than many countries in Africa so far. That’s not on Bono or any other musician, intellectual, activist, pop star or whoever. Do you not want Bono to coordinate relief efforts, speak out about World Bank/IMF policies and bring attention to issues?
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@ Shady_Grady
Please read the links provided especially the last one on Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS). Also read the article by George Ayittey. Both articles show how poverty in Africa is a man-made problem.
Also many economists would disagree with you on African countries not becoming large economies. In fact, I think the Economist had an article a year ago (I will try and trace it) in which it stated that by the year 2050 (by all economic indicators) Nigeria would be one of the top ten largest economies in the world.
My point about celebrity activism is that it denies the African people a chance to save itself and infantilizes (no word like that but it suits my point) an entire continent. For example in the 80’s only Ethiopia was going through famine and yet there was a “Save Africa” concert. How can a rock star go to a G8 meeting in Davos and meet world leaders to discuss Africa yet there is no African present! Do you see how paternalistic that looks to a lot of us?
Why can’t the world not hear about solutions to OUR problems from US? I live in Africa, I am more acutely aware of our issues than Bono will ever be and I am better placed to finding the solutions for my country and my continent. But who am I?
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@ Lola
You and I agree on a lot of things save two things:
1. Your use of the world “modern world” is unfortunate. I live in a modern country, I have my whole life and so do millions of Africans. Please see the link below with photos of Nairobi and other African cities. Kindly also note that Kenya is over 90% black and most of the buildings and business are owned by Kenyans.
http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-51356.0.html
2. On whether Arab leaders are “better” than African leaders, I respectfully disagree. Africa is a continent. In my country, we have freedom of expression and our media is just as bad as the Brits! We hold demonstrations in fact there was a teachers strike just last month. Granted that a lot of what is wrong in Africa boils down to leadership, I will say that most African countries have some sort of democracy compared to many Middle East countries.
Lastly, do you know that Africa has one of the fastest growing middle class rates in the world? Not sure about the numbers, but I think we stand at 150-200 million. A lot of us are “modern”.
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@ Lola
Corruption is a problem in Africa we all know that. Its the most preached gospel in Africa. You know what shocked me? The financial meltdown in USA specifically the Wall street meltdown. Who knew America had its share of despicable, greedy and corrupt citizens? From the way the EU and the USA preaches to Africa you would think y’all are the cleanest most straight-laced folks in the world.
Yet a few people caused an ENTIRE world recession! Don’t remove the speck from my eye when you have a log in yours and all that.
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@ Malkia:
I added a picture to the bottom of the post – a scene from a mall in Nairobi. Please let me know if you want me to remove it. I think it makes a good contrast to the Gwyneth Paltrow picture.
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if they really want to help africa why don’t they send money to people wanting to start up businesses, to boost economies? that’s the only aid that makes sense to me, because with better economies, most problems african countries face will go away.
one thing that really irritates me is TOMS shoes. they’re a piece of crap (the shoe literally looks like bandages wrapped together) costing $54 dollars, when africans can buy much nicer shoes for less than $5, not $27. if the company’s main concern was truly to equip more africans with shoes, then they’d be more cost-effective. instead, they’re making bank, and I don’t think many people realize how little of the money actually goes to the cause
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@ Abagond
No! Any picture that shows another side of Africa is welcome to me. Thanks.
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Wow… really good post Malkia. I agree with everything you said.
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Corruption does seem to be a huge problem in Africa (save a few countries) and many other underdeveloped regions around the world, more-so than the developed world. Lola has suggested ethnic-chauvinism (I hate the word tribe/tribalism) as a reason for this plague. Does anybody else know any possible reasons behind the endemic corruption in the region? I’m really eager to find an answer to this question.
@Malkia
“Also many economists would disagree with you on African countries not becoming large economies. In fact, I think the Economist had an article a year ago (I will try and trace it) in which it stated that by the year 2050 (by all economic indicators) Nigeria would be one of the top ten largest economies in the world.”
I think Shady_Grady is speaking about Real GDP per capita and not nominal GDP. It’s true that Nigeria has the second largest economy on the continent, but it’s also true that about 80% of the population live under the poverty line. uneven wealth distribution tends to inflate the numbers a bit.
@dee
“if they really want to help africa why don’t they send money to people wanting to start up businesses, to boost economies?”
Co-sign
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Ever hear of Dambisa Moyo? She is an acclaimed international economist and author who hails from Zambia. She has graduate degrees from American, Oxford and Harvard universities (in case anyone doubts her credentials). Moyo argues that foreign aid to African countries from NGOs and others harms instead of helps. Please Google/YouTube her and check out this video.
Great topic, Malkia!
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It seems to me that the oil refineries work hand in hand to foster the government corruption in countries such as Nigeria.
As to Brangelina, read Fattening for Gabon first, before thinking they have helped Africa.http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91398323
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@malakia: Good post!
I heard back in the 80’s from some young african students about this so-called “aid” when I visited the continent. Some were kenyans. Most of them told me that in many cases so called aid goes two ways: to the corrupt leaders in those countries and trough those countries to the companies of the countries sending aid, which do major jobs in the countries. Also, at least in the past, keeping the nations on loans is a huge leverage for the west.
One example was finnish built new harbour port of Dar es Salam in Tanzania (if I remember correctly). It cost a huge load of money, which went to a finnish company which built the facilities,and here was the catch: the new port facilities could move more stuff in and out of the country than the rest of the infastructure could move. So the cargo got stacked on the port because there were not enough trucks and lorries to haul it out, nor roads and rail connections etc. It looked great, but had no connection to the rest of the country.
Few young guys were quite frank and said that the best development aid would be real free trade so that the african companies and producers could deliver their stuff to the West as easily as the companies from west could to Africa. African producers and companies could beat almost every western company in fair trading with their prices, which is precisely why they are not allowed to trade freely in the west.
Recently the chinese have started to move in and they keep smiling while they fish the coastal waters void, loot the countries etc., do basically what the west has always done.
Africans could get up, they have all the resources they need, they could compete, but “somebody” “somewhere” does not want that.
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Let me play devils advocate here for a second. We know the way of the world is the hustle. The BRICs are growing by in large due to an increasingly thorough understanding of the hustle. Perhaps even the save Africa industry is a part of the hustle. So I say African countries would probably be best served by getting in on the racket. That is, learn the hustle like everyone else is doing. This could truly be the way to save Africa.
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@ Louie Jacuzzi,
are you on this racket that aftrican nations are not in on the hustle!? We are talking about ppl who condem aid to their perspective nations because it DOES NOT HELP THEM. They KNOW the hustle.
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“[O]ne thing that really irritates me is TOMS shoes. they’re a piece of crap (the shoe literally looks like bandages wrapped together) costing $54.”
…
Looked them up and they’re pretty much look like men’s bedroom slippers — only made out of canvas-type material. They’re something I’d wouldn’t mind wearing around the house.
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@Anon
You Jerk! I was going to post her too 🙂
Notice how the Host and Jackie try to frame her as the “ungrateful African” along with Jackie using gender to sway her perspective. She is an example of an African that people don’t expect to see and I think it scares them a bit.
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“Few young guys were quite frank and said that the best development aid would be real free trade so that the african companies and producers could deliver their stuff to the West as easily as the companies from west could to Africa. African producers and companies could beat almost every western company in fair trading with their prices, which is precisely why they are not allowed to trade freely in the west.”
Exactly and they’d be able to set their own terms and regulate their own flow of resources and set the price.
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@ Warren AZ
I like the way Ms. Moyo held her ground. She knows her stuff, and is a force to be reckoned with. I agree that she is not an African people are used to seeing, and some don’t quite know how to take her. I hate I missed this Fareed Zakaria airing. People of African descent are a rarity on his show. Too bad.
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^ I liked that she’s sharp, unwavering, steadfast, poised and convincing. Africa’s future shines brightly if she’s representing the next generation of African scholarship.
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@Malkia
I think your post is very good, and I agree much. Im Norwegian and you should know that a lot of people here share your view. do Aid and charity do more harm than good?
Poverty and leadership issues in African countries are man made, and a product of European colonialism. I only know East Africa and se a lot of positivism, proud, development and economic growth.
Yara International ASA, the world leader in fertilizers, means Africa gone be the next big thing. Yara is one of the biggest foreigner investors in Tanzania.
It’s something awful humiliating and disrespectful in the underlying meaning of the word Charity; “We clean, civilized, nice and bright people up here, helping your poor shameless asses down there who are incompetent to take care of yourself and your bastard offspring.”
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“… Africans will never be able to stand up on their feet.”
I agree 100%.
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Great post and wonderful info in the comments too. Love this blog!
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About corruption, I have a theory about that, from my point of view, that I want some feedback on. Economic corruption accrues in all societies. My country, have less corruption than most other countries. Norwegians are not great network builders, and even if they know people in positions it doesn’t help much. From my experience East-Africans are great network builders, your network means a lot, and people know how to use their network for what its worth. The line between effective networking and corruption are in many cases very thin. Is it possible that it is a correlation between network culture and corruption?
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@unamused (God this name is fitting)
Dude, what the hell is your purpose?
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Malkia,
Thanks for writing a great post.
I’m personally sick of only seeing white people visiting Africa with pictures of children smiling in the background as if to paint some sort of savior image. Then again, that’s nothing new in the West media, but just the same it’s irritating. It’s message is always the same, “Only white people can save Africa.”
While on the subject, why is the mission always about feeding the children and not the parents or adults? A good point made here: http://nachalooman.wordpress.com/2011/09/18/feed-the-children-let-the-parents-starve/
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“I am vehemently against turning Africans into helpless infants and children who would not know what to do without the “benevolence” of the West – never mind the role the West has played and continues to play in the regrettable circumstances in which Africa finds itself.”
This is so easily forgotten. Almost every African country save Ethiopia/Abyssinia (which repelled the Italians) has a European official language and almost every national border is a colonial border created by some imperial power. They weren’t there to love Africans but to control human (slave) and natural (mineral) resources. That a continent thus raped should have its share of present problems to transcend is not at all surprising.
In any case, certain “help” ought to be viewed with suspicion. For example, the introduction of GM crops which have already caused a certain amount of social havoc in India. Certain kinds of population/birth control is something else to be wary of. When white people talk about ‘overpopulation’ they are not talking about themselves. While they worry about falling fertility in Europe and incentivize starting families they tell people of color in various parts of the world that there are too many of them. But of course, this is meant to “help” them consume less resources. However,
“The 12 percent of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe accounts for 60 percent of private consumption spending, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 3.2 percent. ”
http://www.worldwatch.org/node/810
“Be careful of Greeks bearing gifts”, the old saying goes.
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The late President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, initiated that famous self-help initiative called “Harambee” which, sadly, seemed to have died with him. This was one initiative that should have been spread across the Third World.
The former President of Tanzania also started and implemented a self sufficiency initiative called “Ujaama”. But this was controlled by bureaucrats and ran aground, unlike Kenyatta’s initiative which was run by the people themselves.
Concerning countries like India, economic gains are enjoyed by a relatively small percentage while the majority have to endure a very high cost of living and poor quality of life. A latest UN reports says that 300m – 25% of the population – Indians go hungry, and that India has dropped two places in the “hunger league”
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Mention has been made in posts about corruption. This is out and out theft. The bribe taker is usually far better off than the person he extorts money from ( the other way around would not excuse this crime), in a secure and pensionable job, usually with no productivity or time keeping checks.
Simple example. A man needs a copy of his birth certificate. Uusually a simple fee is prescribed for this purpose. But at the Registrar’s office he is hassled for a bribe from a well paid government employee. No bribe, no certificate!
Criminal! Transparency International has huge mountains to climb before eradicating this curse!
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@joe: It is very unfortunate that the western (=american) “Free markets” ideology is gaining ground in the other parts of the world too, because it is the biggest ponzi sceme in the history of the world. Think about this: invesment banks loaned out billions of dollars without any collateral, to unemployed out of work people, to companies without any assets etc. Why? Because the bankers got their bonuses (tens of millions annualy) from the transactions, they sold these garbitch loans to each other callin them “financial instruments” and told they worth of so and so much money, when in reality they were just minus, not plus anything.
Just yeasterday I watched a documentary where american Noble winner for economics pretty much told the truth about so called Free markets. “They just don’t work”. “We must have have some regulation.” “It is unfortunate that we must go trough the same what our grandparents did 75 years ago.”
I’ve said it before but I will say it again: look up the history of taxation in USA. The more progressive taxation there has been, stronger the country has been. In just few decades USA has been duped into belief that less taxes are good. In reality this has been benefitting only the wealthiest and the richest.Some how they were able to fool the nation and the politicians that this is good for all. It is not, it never was, it never will be. Somehow they have been able to fool people globally too.
Only now people are beginning to realise this, question this, but only after the rich looted the nation wealth. But better late than never.
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I wonder how folks are defining “corruption?”
Seems to me like the USA, Israel and their western allies are the most corrupt/foul entities in existence. The main difference between them and the rest of the world is that their corruption is mired in back-room & backstage deals that’s “covered” with glittery gold colored paint. Africa’s relatively minute, yet systemic, corruptions in comparison to the west’s sly network of good old boys underhandedness is like comparing the strength of a bumblebee to that of a jumbo jet.
The aid/charity industry complex is so vast and numerous in Africa to the extent that I suspect most, if not all, are cover for multinational NGO as well government espionage. Moyo is a very wise woman. The world needs more visionaries like her and H. Chavez of Venezuela.
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africa is rich!! you are veing tricked into believing africa is a shit hole by the powers that be. oil comes from afrca, not the middle east, as well as the minerals used to make all of the items we use everyday. just look at that mall that is posted, if you believe what the media tells you, there arent any nice places like that in africa. stop getting your information about the world from the boob tube.
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@jasmine, never been to Africa, but unless the stats are flat out lying, Africa(nation by nation) is not currently generating enough real production to be strong like other regions of the world.
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@malkia, good post!
the conditional aid from IMF and world bank are plain neocolonialist strategies. they want the governments there to invest the aid money into projects that benefit the global capitalists. the conditioned included ‘austerity measures’, which saw cuts in health and education sectors. one of the major reasons of widespread poverty, spread of diseases like AIDS and illiteracy in many african countries is these austerity measures on populations that are already living more austere lives than their counterparts in most other countries. which well-intentioned aid giver will want the government to cut down on welfare budget at a time when people are hit by a crisis and need welfare the most?
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@Matari
Corruption occurs when a person in a position of trust or office, private or public, puts the responsibility and obligations related to the position or office to the side and abusing the power of position or office, and thus to achieve either a private benefit or reward, or unlawfully seeks an advantage to its own organization or company.
I have previously argued that there is little corruption in Norway, but I think one can distinguish between domestic corruption, and corruption that happens to companies who work outside their borders, for example, by winning the tender for contracts. Companies such as in the oil industry, may have a very reputable image at home, but use corruption actively to gain advantage abroad.
Thus, one can say that the corruption United States and western countries are doing is worse compared to the corruption in some African countries. This would also say that the stats are lying because it takes a starting point only in domestic activities.
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I agree with this post and with Dambisa Moyo. Not being African myself and never having been to any part of Africa I am ignorant on a lot of what is going on. Two things have helped me:
1. Ankh’s series on emigrating to an African country. That’s a great starting point for doing further research into what so many African countries have to offer and their unique standing in the world. It’s also quite humbling from a Western perspective and as an African-American. Most of what I thought I knew about Africa came from a racist American perspective. The funny thing is I have often thought of leaving America but where could I go as a black girl and not feel as out of place as I do here? I knew so little about African nations that was positive or even better than what I’ve experienced here, because I was ignorant.
2. Learning about Sino-African and Indo-African relations. China and India, while certainly not perfect in their African outlook, do NOT look at African countries as charity cases. Chinese and Indian people move to Africa for opportunity and advancement. They see Africa as a place for progress, and this perspective is completely foreign to most Americans and Westerners in general, including me. It’s much less paternalistic and more a sibling relationship.
I’m tired of seeing Africa and Africans represented as in need of saving. Like Dambisa says, this is negative. Yes, even if, like Bono or whoever, you’re trying to do what you think is the right thing. It still perpetuates a negative view of an entire continent. It’s still “Darkest Africa” in need of light.
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@ ML
Thanks for your thoughts on the matter. My idea of “CORRUPTION” is:
War – to control the flow and price of someone else’s oil
– dropping atomic weapons on Japan
Terror – a FALSE flag reason to invade other sovereign nations
USA – Big Phar Drugs
Super hyper-inflated prices
GMO Foods – based upon greed
FDA – would sanction patenting air if possible
USA – Criminal Justice System
Private Jails For Profit, Slave Labor
USA – Police State
Kills and provides bodies for the prison complex
USA – Presidential Elections/Primaries
Politicians 99.99%
USA – Mainstream Media Investigative Journalism
True reporters are threatened, suicided or disappeared
Cover-ups, misinformation, propaganda, lies
USA – Education system
Deliberate and successful dumbing down
USA – Churches
Full of rapists, sex offenders, child molesters
USA – Capitalist Financial Fiat Monetary
Wall St, Banksters, Bailouts
Automobile Industry
Deliberately low gas mileage
I could go on – the list is virtually endless. In fact it’s hard to find any institution that isn’t corrupt. But when people point at Africa’s corruption as if it’s “the scourge” of the Earth, … well, I think thoughts about how DEMONIC whiteness and white supremacy (racism) truly is.
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but unless the stats are flat out lying
yes, the stats are flat out lying. why you ask? to give white people a superiority complex so you will keep being good little worker bees and not wonder what the powers that be are doing with all the real money and why they enjoy watching conflict between people.
whoop there it its for you.not rocket science stuff.
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i was getting my hair braided by a lady from africa i cant remember what country but i do remember it is a very small one. but anyway, in her hair salon she shows videos while you’re getting your hair done. she was showing a video that had a city with bright neon lights at night time, some beautiful parks, a water park where black people were having all kinds of fun and i asked her “oh is that downtown atlanta?” and she said NO! that is my country!
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jasmine, never been to Africa, but unless the stats are flat out lying, Africa(nation by nation) is not currently generating enough real production to be strong like other regions of the
see how white people get insecure when it is brought up that africa is NOT the shit hole that is portrayed in the media?
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I would much much rather have the corruption in the US then the corruption you see in many African countries. No country is perfect, but at least in the US you don’t see heads of states in office for thirty, forty years, or more. You’d have to be nuts to think there’s a comparison
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“whoop there it its for you.not rocket science stuff.”
Not sure what the point of this sentence is, you tryin to pick a fight?
“see how white people get insecure when it is brought up that africa is NOT the shit hole that is portrayed in the media?”
You do realize I’m black right?
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@ Cynic
Corruption in Africa is endemic because we have weak institutions. Period. Wish there was a deeper explanation e.g. how people seem to think Africans are greedy and corrupt by nature. Just bad institutions. Our governments are built for personalities mainly political ones and not on good governmental structures and institutions. Build stronger institutions (like we are attempting to do here in Kenya through the newly passed constitution) make them strong enough so that it does not matter who is in power, the fundamentals of the country does not radically change.
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A lot of comparisons have been made here (guilty of it myself) comparing Africa and Brazil, India and China. Please let us not forget that Africa is a continent with 54 nations most of whom are smaller both in size and population than the aforementioned countries.
Economists in Africa have argued that “United States of Africa” is no longer an option or a Utopian ideal but is simply the only way Africa can survive. We need to build stronger regional economic blocs e.g. East African Community. It is easier to bully a nation of 40 million people but it is infinitely harder to bully a region of 300 million people who have a common market, common currency and political identity. Unity is the only way Africa can advance and I am beginning to see a lot of Africans “get” this message.
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I think the corruption in Africa is just more visible and open than in the west. A great example is the bank bailout in USA 2008.
Out of top ten US treasure officials, more than half had been working on Wall street before. Including the secretary of treasure. These guys milked 770 000 000 000 dollars from US taxpayers in the scam of their own making. Next week one of the banks which received these goverment issued funds granted more than 6 000 000 000 dollars of bonuses to its top guys.
Currently some guys are working the same sceme in EU and for all that I see and hear, they will do it because the politicians are a)stupid b) ignorant or c) corrupt. I think all of those three.
Italian organized crime is worth of tens of billions of dollars. Not only in drug business, but in construction, clothing, waste management, trade, banking etcetcetc. You think that kind of business is possible without corruption?
In Russia corruption has been a way of life at least 120 years. Just read Dostoyevski or those guys.
In Finland few years ago it was revealed that the whole parliament had not made the clearences of their election funds as the law requiered. The explanation: it was not punishable. They had made a law that carried no penalties for them when they broke it.
Also in Finland one guy who had spent time in prison for economic crimes sat down with the prime minister in his official resicdence and made a list of politicians whom should be funded in up coming elections. No one, including the prime minister, got any trouble from this. Actually, our central criminal police (named as National Bureau of Investigation, NBI, after the american cousin by some dumskies) recently announced that the foremer prime minister did nothing wrong and there is no reason to investigate his actions previously.
All this in a country that according the official statistics is perhaps the least corrupted in the world.
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Nearly twenty years ago a young Indian woman was writing in an English magazine about her work with the Toda tribe in southern India. If you didn’t look too hard at her name you would think that it was a white person sending in these stories. One reader could stand it no longer and wrote in, virtually saying that such volunteer works are, and should be, the preserve of the whites. Look here, he told the Indian volunteer worker, we give you people money and then you have the nerve to pretend you are like us!
That magazine, now defunct, was funded by an international charity.
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@ The Cynic:
Unamused is a troll. Here is what he says on his blog about the comments he leaves:
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That’s exactly why I didn’t respond to his comment, I’ve ben to his site, and know what he’s about. Not wasting my time there
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Much of how Africans do business and get “things” done is no different than how many American businesses (restaurants, hotels, hair salons, etc) have some sort of surcharge, a “required” TIP, and TAXES, automatically added to the bill. Yet one is seen as “corrupt” and the other as a normal business practice – when viewed through the white racial frame perspective.
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@malkia
Great post!! I had the honor of spending a month in Ghana for my graduation gift. And it was a pure pleasure trip, lived like royalty! I definitely don’t believe the hype. Thanks for your post. Here’s a fun website via facebook about Africa–> https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7228515974
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@Malkia
A wonderful and informative post! 🙂
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Another thing I don’t like is the adoption of children from Africa by westerners who have the saviour complex. I was chattin with my friends the other day wondering what would happen if say a Nollywood star was to go to the UK or US adopting a little white baby talking about giving them a better life and all that.
Or if Wande Coal, or some other Nigerian music star were to come to London talking to the Prime Minister about how to run England.
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Bottom line is : Africa has no leverage or power in the world. FACT.Until this changes i don’t want to be fed these usless statistics about how Nigeria is ‘going to become the 10th (this number changes every time someone quotes it) richest county in the world in so and so years time’ or the ‘middle class are growing really fast’. point is that most africans do not have what we WESTERNERS (and that include you african americans) would call a decent standard of living because no matter how resource rich the country is most of the leaders are CORRUPT BEYOND BELIEF. yes, there is corruption everywhere *yawn* but let’s not insult our intelligence by ignoring the distinction between corruption in the west and africa/middle east.
I’m not here to sugar-coat things so AAs can feel good about their heritage and give fuel to superficial, (and often)ignorant arguments about African affairs. I’m a 1st gen Brit with Nigerian parents and been the Africa plenty of times so I know what I’m talking about. While there are amazing things about the continent (duh), there is a lot that’s wrong. And it’s the things that are wrong that are affecting people’s lives in unimaginably horrible ways – so let’s just stop playing nice here and using the same old excuses/soundbites.
I wanted to follow this thread properly but i haven’t had time to read all the comments. i did notice chocolategirl’s though and her point about people caring about blacks at home (in this case the USA). i fully agree
The Cynic – just call it tribalism. tbh if you have a problem with the world ‘tribe’ then that’s your complex. it’s just a word:
tribe/trīb/Noun: 1.A social division in a traditional society consisting of families or communities linked by social, economic, religious, or blood ties,…
2.(in ancient Rome) Each of several political divisions, originally three, later thirty, ultimately thirty-five. About why some regions have such entrenched corruption? Culture. A culture of nepotism and what they call a ‘poor metalitiy’ is what i’ve come up with. If you ever find out the answer though, do let me know
Also, Loui Jacuzzi about ‘the hustle’ <— THIS!!!
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Abagond:
White guilt is not a valid excuse. Some whites think that words and noble gestures are all that is required to fix the unholy mess their white forefathers created…Not So Fast! It’s clever, but not that clever. They think that we’re supposed to be impressed by slogans, t-shirts, songs, concerts, etc. Are we that gullible sistas and brothas? Whites in Europe, The Middle-East, Latin-America, and the US have not taken full responsibility for the atrocities that were committed against african people on this planet. Just because black folk have physical freedom, doesn’t negate the fact that we’re still not free…mentally, politically, financially, etc. Whites have no incentive to “Reboot” and start over from scratch. Most of the power and money they have came about because of slavery and imperialism…Bottomline! Add population to the mix, and we end up with a race of people fighting tooth and nail to maintain the status quo, Irrational Thinking! Black people don’t want anything from white people. All we want from white folk is to be left the hell alone. They’re obsessed with us, we aren’t obsessed with them…Ditto!
Tyrone
AfroDisia…Blak Luv 2 Da Max
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With all due respect to Abagond’s blog, lola are you trying to “fuck this.” Since we’re not sugarcoating things certainly we’re all old enough see “fuck” written. Now what I was getting at with my comment about the hustle is the way China/India have parlayed their statuses as poor/developing countries, taken a “lower than thou” posture, while slyly taking Western jobs and using the revenues to build and empower their countries. They’ve smartly managed to turn western arrogance and condescension on its head. Now we(the West) fear them. We behaved toward them as if they were a charity case or our weaker little brother, but now they’re rapidly outgrowing us. As your own comment implies, the problem in Africa(nation by nation) is that their leaders are not properly executing the hustle. Instead of playing the sympathy to its most savvy outcome, and taking aid dollars to build and modernize infrastructure, they’re lining their own pockets and as Dambisa Moyo herself said, abdicating their responsibilites as leaders.
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Lol not at all. I meant that I fully agree with that post!
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malkia said:
From the way the EU and the USA preaches to Africa you would think y’all are the cleanest most straight-laced folks in the world.
Yet a few people caused an ENTIRE world recession!
Excellent statement, and so very true!
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Africa–> https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7228515974
thanks sooo much for this link! me and my daughter will go thru each and every picture! “the africa they dont let youi see” now THATS what i’ve been talking about!! the negativity about africa is all LIES!!
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So OK, I started reading the links(particularly Structural Adjustment) on this post, and the common thread I see, is white people getting over on black people. Crafty international bankers(probably Jews, no offense Jewish friends) and Crafty Western politicians(probably northern Europeans) are getting sweetheart deals that benefit the west. This tells me the sharp, quick thinking black people of the world who can see and read “the hustle” need to get more educated and more involved in the process. These crappy deals that shaft black people the world over had to have negiotiated by some jackass black leader. These guys need to be replaced by smarter ones. We try to say we’re not a singular monolithic group of people, and that “Africa is not a country”, but clearly the world sees us that way. No matter what, we’ll be simply viewed as “black people” for the forseeable future. If we thought this way and reasoned this way, then as a people we’d be better served groupwise. If all the best educated, talented, entrepreneurial, black people said I’m taking my talents to South Africa, we’d be able build and establish strong global black business class. If the well moneyed black athlete in western country X said “I’m going to take my milions and attach myself to a talented black business person” how much more profitable would black business be? I know what I’m saying is a petty re-hashing of Marcus Garvey and Booker T Washington, but they were on to something.
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@ Louie Jacuzzi
Agreed. As i said up-thread, the only way that Africans can have some sort of leverage as posited by Lola is if we stand united. Of course a United States of Africa is still a long term ideal but we should strengthen regional blocs e.g. ECOWAS (West Africa), EAC (East Africa) and COMESA (Southern Africa). This is the only way we can change our continent.
As far as Africans in the diaspora (including descendants of slaves) are concerned how many of you are willing to be educated about Africa? Move to Africa? Invest in Africa? Get involved in African politics?
I would appreciate your answers.
@ Lola
I understand that stating that Nigeria may be one of the large economies in the world may not really change much when it comes to endemic poverty and corruption in Nigeria. But as British-Nigerian, what are YOUR solutions? Because this is a positive thing and we as Africans must take our positives and try and turn them into good things. We must come up with solutions to our problems. Its easier to see all that’s wrong with our continent sometimes, we forget to see the good. We must try and sum up all these good things and use them as momentum for change.
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To answer your question Malkia, it’s one of my romanticised dreams to do business in Africa. Admittedly I’m not in a position to execute this dream. But if/when I become a successful business man, I certainly plan to invest in some of the already strong African businesses. I’ve never tasted Tej, Palm Wine, or Bantu beer. I want to-and hopefully market it as a tradeable product to non-Africans. Ciroq, Conjure, Nuvo, etc have proven that if properly marketed, people will buy it. I look at the history of Africa and see how useful a pan-African model would’ve been historically. Think of what gun powder, and the compass did when the Europeans, and Asians traded it amongst themselves. Now imagine this: Haya(Tanzanian) carbon steel production techniques disbursed throughout the whole of the subsaharn African sub-continent. East African engineering and water manipulation techniques disbursed throughout the whole of Africa; The Mali/Songhai educational system, and economic system taught throughout black africa; Medicinal techniques such as c-section, cataract surgery, small pox vacinnation, properly disbursed, how would Africa/the black man in general be viewed today? A nice what if game, I admit, but it’s in large part how Europe and Asia became so strong.
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@ Malkia. As a trainee-journalist, I am specialising in Africa and developing world economies and will *God willing* work over there soon.
I don’t have any magic solutions to be honest.campaigning and protest is often dangerous in the third world, but sometimes effective. But protesting in the africa takes a lot of guts. Are people ready to give up their lives for change? It’s a big ask.
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@ Loui Jacuzzi
That is a nice thought and its true that if Africa was more united at the time colonialism begun or even slavery we would be in a much better place.
Please do seriously think of investing in Africa it is worthwhile. Why should the Chinese, White Americans and Europeans invest in Africa only when we have so many of our brothers and sisters living outside the continent? Africa is much yours as it is ours. I am one of the few people who think this but I really do believe it.
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@ Lola
I don’t think there are any magical solutions for our continent. Truth is change does come slowly and we as human beings effect change like tortoise. But we can put in positive blue prints that can stand the test of time. Sorta like how Paris was built in the 17th and 18th centuries and is one of the most organized cities in the world because their city fathers had the right visions and right plans.
I do believe that there are many Africans who are willing to fight and do fight for our right to have democracy and proper governance. Nobel Laureate the late Wangari Mathaai (RIP) showed us that one woman can change an entire regime.
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malkia said:
”@ Louie Jacuzzi
Agreed. As i said up-thread, the only way that Africans can have some sort of leverage as posited by Lola is if we stand united. Of course a United States of Africa is still a long term ideal but we should strengthen regional blocs e.g. ECOWAS (West Africa), EAC (East Africa) and COMESA (Southern Africa). This is the only way we can change our continent.”
I don’t agree with a ”United States of Africa” or any other United continent or World for that matter! The way for Africa to become strong is for each and every country on the continent becomes strong themselves. With the usually things like trade, education, security etc.
However I do agree with the regional blocs but they must be based on trade and not become a political entity. Also each country/state in what ever regional bloc should have the right to opt out of it for whatever reason without going through some long a**ed ”referendum”
I think the EU and Greece is a fine argument against a united continent or world as a political entity. The EU was meant to be a trade agreement. Now look at it……………. A bloated mess. I hope Africa or any other continent doesn’t follow suit!
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Hello,
Great website you have here Abagond! And this is a really nice informative post on Africa. Just wanted to link to another article that talks about recent events in certain parts of Africa:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MJ21Dj03.html
The writer does a good job connecting the civil war in Libya to the US recently sending 100 special forces troops into Uganda. Long story short: The US is currently competing with China over who can make a power grab for this resource-rich continent.
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India, one of the world’s favorite BRIC country, has power cuts in almost every town and every village, every day.
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@ RKC
“The US is currently competing with China over who can make a power grab for this resource-rich continent.”
That’s right. AFRICOM is the MILITARY industrial/complex COMMAND “..responsible for U.S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations – an area of responsibility covering all of Africa except Egypt.”(According to Wikipedia)
Because the America’s military has very little – if that- to do with actual freedom and justice, and everything to do with projecting the U.S. corporate/economic/political interests world-wide, this capitalist expansion move, couched in defense, does not bode well for Africa.
Now that Libya’s deceased leader has been “finally DEALT with” by foreign powers with the ability to stir political and violent unrest overseas, the surviving African leaders would be wise to unite and re-think/untangle their relationships with these elitist and problematic nations.
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Joe. I had that same experience. I had gone to volunteer in Africa after paying about 500 pounds to medair, went for a 5 day workshop to prepare us. First of all I was one of the only 2 black people there.
Secondly, the look on most people faces varied from absolute shock to jealousy to shock.
These are people who would rather believe that Africa and Africans should be poor. Thats what they are used to. It benefits them to think that way. Again probably to serve their own self worth. So to see a black person wanting to do what they feel is their natural preserve makes them feel irrelevant.
Personally, it wasn’t something I could tolerate so I left on the 3rd day.
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Oh and by the way, I once challenged a white girl who was married to an African who had that sign I am African on her cheek. The funny thing is her stupid husband came to her defense, completely didn’t understand what point it was I was trying to make.
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[…] the lines of Diesel’s 2001 campaign for our day, that move beyond simplistic western “save Africa” crusades, and creates better understandings about the actual large scale unfairness of our […]
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Oh my goodness. Africa was best before greedy “folks” manipulated it. Now y’all want to rescue it!? No need to repent on behalf of your forefathers by trying to build your reputation on ripping people off and saving on your tax dollars to continue to live your fantasticly expensive boho chic lifestyle.while Africa still suffers on behalf of your “leadership” all so you can wear a diamond!
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