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Date: Sun, 28 Jan 2001 08:45:04 EST
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Subject: [wa-afr] [unioNews] Is Africa Chasing The Globalisation Mirage?
Thema: [unioNews] Is Africa Chasing The Globalisation Mirage?
Datum: 28.01.01 14:22:22 (MEZ) Mitteleuropäische Zeit
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Is Africa Chasing the Globalisation Mirage?
The scramble for Africa of the 1880s is back. The world powers are back in
Africa, each trying to be the dominant economic power in a new game called
globalisation.
As his term in office was coming to an end, President Clinton made two visits
to the continent, arousing interest for trade with African in the United
States. One of the benefits of this initiative is that Kenya can now export
textiles to the US duty free.
Japanese Premier Yoshiro Mori recently made a historic visit to South Africa,
Kenya and Nigeria. It is hoped that this visit too is the beginning of better
things for us.
Then there is French President Jacques Chirac who met 24 African Heads of
State to discuss the challenges facing Africa in this time of globalisation.
Through free trade and capital mobility, a global market civilisation is
taking root. It promises prosperity round the globe. But will all the
stakeholders benefit?
The players in the global trade are not among equals. Weak Third World
economics will not respond well.
That globalisation is just another form of Western imperialism was seen in
the economic crash of the much-feted East Asian tigers in 1997. Difficulties
in Thailand caused fear among investors who took away their money. The result
was massive currency devaluations and plunging of the stock markets. Since
then, doubts have been raised about the prospects of sustainable development
in a globalised economy.
Yet the assault of globalisation cannot be evaded. It touches on all
dimensions of human activity - political, economic, social, military and even
environmental.
Marshall McLuhan, the Canadian communications expert who coined the phrase
"global village", would have been excited by how advances in communication
was quickly "shrinking the world". There is no place too far distant for
making any business deals these days.
But proximity is not necessarily prosperity. The fact that one can easily
browse on the Internet for the features and prices of the latest Japanese
cars does not mean he can afford to buy one.
In a true African village, people interact with one another. They offer
mutual support and share resources when they are readily available.
In the globalised village, the rich and the poor are lumped together, and the
law of the jungle reigns. Knowledge, wealth and technology characterise the
core tools of trade in the new economy.
Plagued by political and social problems, Africa risks being marginalised. It
is both a passive actor and stakeholder in a process it has no control over.
Economic policies are drawn up elsewhere, and dumped on African countries.
For instance, the policy of cutting public expenditure, which is the
cornerstone of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), has drastically
reduced Government support to the agricultural sector, Africa's main source
of export. How this is likely to help Africa is hard to tell.
Globalisation is a product of economic history. The British explorer, H.M.
Stanley, was enthralled by the economic prospects Africa had for his country:
"There are 50 million people beyond the gateway to Congo and the spinners of
Manchester are waiting to clothe them. Birmingham foundries are glowing with
red metals that will presently be made into iron work for them and the
trinkets that shall adorn those dusty bosoms, and the ministers of Christ are
zealous to bring the poor benighted heathens into the Christian fold". (H. M.
Stanley, Journalist and Explorer).
Since then, Africa has supported humanity. It produces what it cannot consume
and consumes what it cannot produce. The natural wealth has been plundered.
That is why there is trouble in all mineral-rich countries, from Sierra Leone
to the Congo. It is immoral to draw wealth from blood diamonds.
Africa needs to integrate its economy for competitiveness. It needs to train
its human resources, and structure production to reflect changing global
needs.
One of the major setbacks for Africa has been its reliance on cheap labour as
a means of production. Unlike in the West, there have been fewer scientific
and technological innovations. Now with scientific revolutions like genetic
modification of crops, unskilled labour is not an asset any more.
So we must change or disappear. Kenya, like most African countries, has had
to make tough choices on privatisation. The sale of State assets does not
benefit local people but multinational corporations. Yet failing to sell them
invites the wrath of the Bretton Wood institutions which immediately cut back
on assistance. These institutions advocate a strategy which prioritises the
opening up of economies to global market forces, and limited government
intervention in the running of the economy. As a "borderless" global economy
flourishes, governments lose their sovereignty and autonomy.
It is because of these hard choices facing Africa that the "second scramble"
is being welcomed with both fear and hope.
In his address to the 21st France and Africa summit in Yaounde, Cameroonian
President Paul Biya said: "Confusedly, peoples of the world feel that they
have moved into a new era where their common destiny will be further asserted
on a daily basis. The now accepted expression 'global village' conveys this
feeling quite well."
The feeling is good but we will be excused if we found the gains of
globalisation a mirage, at least for some years to come. That is, if we
survive the hurdles of the conditions to be met before we receive donor
funding.
A tale is told of a man, who after starving for a long time, decided to see
an astrologer for a solution. He was told he would continue to suffer poverty
and hunger for 20 more years.
"And then?" asked the elated client, convinced that he would strike it rich
after two decades of anguish.
"You will have got used to it," was the astrologer's short reply.
Like the poor chap, we should start getting used to the hunger and start
managing well the little we have.
Mr. Mogoy is a student of journalism.
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The Nation COMMENTARY *January 27, 2001* Andrew Mogoy * Nairobi / KENYA
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