Garvey's Ghost: Black Talk

No Backbone

Once again, Lt. Ghaddafi has turned out to be the voice of reason among the So called African Union. The Telegraph of the UK posted an article entitled: "Gaddafi damns 'African begging' as Nigeria calls for aid to end poverty " in which Ghaddafi is quoted as saying:

who told the meeting that Africans had to rely on themselves. "Begging will not make the future of Africa," he declared.

The Libyan leader, whose oil revenues allow him to bankroll African countries - and to throw fistfuls of dollars out of his motorcade when visiting impoverished states - insisted: "We are not going to beg at the doorsteps to reduce debt.

"We are insulted constantly and we deserve it. We don't need assistance and charity."

Of course Ghaddafi is correct in his analysis, though I think he ought to refrain from throwing money out his car. That the group of eight white men gave 18 countries debt relief with massive strings attached. should be nothing to cheer about given that the brin drain and other resources that have been taken from Africa is worth far more than the debt that is being cleared.

It is clear to me that if there is not a fundamental shift in the actions of Afrian States, that they would soon be right back into debt and just as dependent on foreign aide. In my opinion, every debted nation in Africa should have "declared bankruptcy" by refusing to service their debt. FOr many countries this would have not changed the plight of the average citizen who are mired in poverty anyway. This would have forced these countries to form new economic relationships with each other and other countries such as those in the Caribbean. For foreign investment, these countries, as a block, would seek partners on terms more favorable to themselves (as in being done with China) which should include local co-ownership and management and strict environmental regulations where applicable. Also key to this is the immediate cessation of warfare. As indicated in an earlier post, warfare is the leading cause of African stagnation. You simply cannot expend so much energy and time into warfare and not expect an already poor nation to suffer.

So Ghaddafi has it almost right. Africa needs to get off it's knees. Drop the hat from one hand and the gun from the other.

Links:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/05/wafr05.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/07/05/ixworld.html
http://www.prudentpressagency.com/CENTER/articlePreview.php?Article_id=2652