I will try my best to refrain from going into an all out rant, but I'm sure there will be instances in this post whereby it will seem as though I am ready to assault someone. But after reading numerous blogs and articles, I feel that it’s time that this issue needs to be addressed. For every argument there has to be a basis, so I will start the basis of my argument by saying this: AFRICA IS NOT A COUNTRY, it’s a continent. The amount of times I heard people (most notably Americans) referring it to one is quite frankly, shocking. We have, in fact 54 countries, each with their own government and culture
With the vast knowledge of information at our fingertips why this major detail is overlooked is beyond me.
This then leads on to my second statement: Africa as a CONTINENT is not poor. Yes that's right, it is not poor. It probably has the most natural resources in the world. Oil, diamonds, gold, titanium, cocoa, maize, you name it. This whole nonsense that there is no food to feed the hungry children is totally false. The fact of the matter is that there are economies in the continent of Africa that are doing really well and would give some countries in Europe the run for its money. Botswana has such a robust economy that it actually lends to the IMF. Cape Verde has a GDP that would be fit to contend with one of the countries in the EU.
So bearing the points above in mind, why then the negativity towards Africa? Firstly, there are corrupt governments in various countries within Africa. This is a well known fact, but what is often overlooked is the fact that the West condones the corruption. I'll go right in there and be controversial by saying that it’s not in the West’s favour to see Africa as a rising power. Many natural resources are brought by the West on the cheap, so by having the cost of raw materials rise wouldn't be good. This is natural economics I get that, but how the West ensures that this doesn't happen is to maintain the instability of governments. The fact of the matter is certain governments in Africa are unfortunately corrupt at best and unstable at worst. How this is done is by governments allowing the flow of arms to countries where there is political unrest. You could argue that there are War Lords who supply guns in exchange for raw materials such as diamonds, but to be honest the amount of guns found could not have all possibly been brought from the black market. The flow of arms, hence continued civil wars is what stops certain countries in Africa from being productive. The West is seen in the knight in shining armour by providing aid to alleviate the so-called pressures of poverty. What in fact the West should do is to construct dialogue between warring factions and help to resolve the issue.
Secondly the media of the West loves to paint a negative picture of Africa. I am not trying to paint a light hearted picture of the ills of Africa, but sensationalism is key to attracting viewers. This is why you see the bombardment of Oxfam ads and of other charities with extreme scenes of children malnourished in Africa. Surely, you would ask, there is a basis for them to be showing starving children? Simple it’s the extreme example to get a reaction. People would feel less inclined, if they saw a child who looked relatively healthy playing with her friends and the charity is asking for some cash. I personally blame these charities for lumbering up the countries in Africa as one and duping the peoples in west to think that Africa is one big mass of hungry aids ridden people. I also feel that their ‘aid’ in Africa is doing more harm than good, but that is for another blog altogether.
Africa as a continent has its problems that purely on an economical platform you would argue have a lot of catching up to do compared to the West. However, this is not an excuse for the mass ignorance that is out there and the perception that anyone is from the continent of Africa is poor, has got aids or is trying to scam you
Peace
Hello Remi,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely loved this post but the problem is where do i begin? Firstly, like you said there are so many African countries that can give European countries like Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria, Armenia, and Ukraine a run for its money. But of course, this isn't covered in the media. I know you've also watched "The danger of a single story" by Adichie and in it she traces the long history of demonizing and re-telling Africa's story. You can't just rob a person, sell them into slavery without first justifying your actions. And this goes for every human being. You have to make your potential victim wrong in order to harm them. Ex. Blacks are not quite human and that's why it's okay to take their countries or mistreat them. And this stereotype has to hold in order to partially justify the past and future wrongs.
Secondly, am actually going to do a post about the fact that aid hurts more that it helps. I thank Dambisa Moyo for opening up my eyes.
And I thank you for this post but I think that the ball is now in our corner b/c it's obvious that we can't depend on western media to tell our story, we have to do it ourselves.
Peace to you too.