Slender Agenda
Member
- Aug 26, 2014
- 57
- 45
Foryears there has existed talks of uniting Africa into one and having aUnited States of Africa. This was a dream for leaders such as Gaddafi, who some ten months before his assasination told an audience that Africa should have a single navy to combat piracy. He alsoadvocated for a single African currency and a united government.
With the death of Gaddafi, Robert Mugabe has now risen up and shared hisbeliefs that this dream must continue, he says, "The continent of Africa: this is what we must become. And there, we must also have an African head. Yes, we need one. We are not yet there. This is what wemust go and discuss, but we must also discuss the issues that divideus." So why is Africa not united? May be the question should be,what is dividing us as Africans?
A thing that has always fascinated me, and also whose role has been down played is the role that aids/loans from international organisations or countries play in our countries. An illustration of this is the IMF (International Monetary Fund), it was created in 1944 and its original function was to "promote international economic cooperation and provide its member countries with short term loans so they could trade with other countries".
However in the 1980's there was a debt crisis and the IMF took it upon its self to bail countries out of their debt. The IMF is now a global loan shark that lends money to countries all over the world. This is of course done at a price. The receiving countries are expected to follow the IMF's policies. As a result, the IMF decides on the fiscaland monetary polices within your country. They have a say in how much the receiving country can spend on education or healthcare or even environmental protection.
Now let that sink in for a moment. A lot of African countries are indebt. They are receiving aid/loans or grants from international organizations that are not necessarily giving these for free. These monies come with conditions that allow external parties to have a say in what happens within our countries.
One of the main aims of the coming together of the African countries is to allow for trade to happen between our countries. We export our raw materials and in return receive manufactured goods that we buy and that are costly. So why not trade with each other instead? Why not have the raw materials and the manufactured goods produced within Africa? Why cant we sell our goods to our neighbours and have them make them into finished products and vice versa?
But this in no way serves the purpose of the West. Imagine this, if we are united, and can trade with each other, why would we need to trade with them? Our continent produces 13% of the world's oil., 46% of its diamonds, 21% of its gold, 57% of its cobalt and 50% of its platinum group metals. If as Africa we can manufacture our goods here and then sell it to the West at the price with which they sell them back to us, will they not make a staggering loss? Let this sink in.
With the death of Gaddafi, Robert Mugabe has now risen up and shared hisbeliefs that this dream must continue, he says, "The continent of Africa: this is what we must become. And there, we must also have an African head. Yes, we need one. We are not yet there. This is what wemust go and discuss, but we must also discuss the issues that divideus." So why is Africa not united? May be the question should be,what is dividing us as Africans?
A thing that has always fascinated me, and also whose role has been down played is the role that aids/loans from international organisations or countries play in our countries. An illustration of this is the IMF (International Monetary Fund), it was created in 1944 and its original function was to "promote international economic cooperation and provide its member countries with short term loans so they could trade with other countries".
However in the 1980's there was a debt crisis and the IMF took it upon its self to bail countries out of their debt. The IMF is now a global loan shark that lends money to countries all over the world. This is of course done at a price. The receiving countries are expected to follow the IMF's policies. As a result, the IMF decides on the fiscaland monetary polices within your country. They have a say in how much the receiving country can spend on education or healthcare or even environmental protection.
Now let that sink in for a moment. A lot of African countries are indebt. They are receiving aid/loans or grants from international organizations that are not necessarily giving these for free. These monies come with conditions that allow external parties to have a say in what happens within our countries.
One of the main aims of the coming together of the African countries is to allow for trade to happen between our countries. We export our raw materials and in return receive manufactured goods that we buy and that are costly. So why not trade with each other instead? Why not have the raw materials and the manufactured goods produced within Africa? Why cant we sell our goods to our neighbours and have them make them into finished products and vice versa?
But this in no way serves the purpose of the West. Imagine this, if we are united, and can trade with each other, why would we need to trade with them? Our continent produces 13% of the world's oil., 46% of its diamonds, 21% of its gold, 57% of its cobalt and 50% of its platinum group metals. If as Africa we can manufacture our goods here and then sell it to the West at the price with which they sell them back to us, will they not make a staggering loss? Let this sink in.
