Thank you for this article, it's an interesting read, but I have an issue with a certain narrative that is common amongst African writers who write about Africa to a predominantly western audience and I fear that African affairs are being coloured in the light of American culture war narratives of victim Vs victor, racism etc. an example of this can be found in a point you made which I'll quote below
"As I say in the video below, if you line up 100 Africans on one side and 100 non-Africans on the other, and you ask them, Why is Africa poor?, most Africans (and their allies) will come up with the usual suspects: colonialism, slavery, they’re stealing our natural resources, racism, yada yada yada yada."
The point you made above is so painfully wrong and unimformed that I'm astonished that you would make such a point. If you indeed lined up 100 Africans, colonialism and slavery, would not be in the top 5 reasons, that's if they're mentioned at all. Racism will not even be mentioned. Africans are more likely to blame corruption, bad government, mismanagement and a host of other things you mentioned rather than mentioning colonialism and slavery or racism.
Africans are so past these things that they exhibit a snubbish attitude towards African Americans when they emigrate to the west when things like slavery and racism are mentioned as holding Black people back.
So, why would you write something that's obviously incorrect? I have seen this trend amongst many Black writers writing for a western audience. This narrative of looking at African affairs through a western culture war narrative paints a false picture.
You're more likely to hear complaints like the one you mentioned from Africans living in the diaspora rather than those on the continent, that's because they have also imbibed western culture war narratives as causative factors. Most Africans aren't worried about racism not in the least.
Lastly to answer the question, why is Africa poor, it's due to varied number of factors and yes that includes the ones you mentioned such as corruption, bribery, etc, just as much as it includes the ones you're disputing such as colonialism/neocolonialism, resource exploitation, predatory loans and the setup of the global economy which favours the global North at the expense of the global South, while the points you mentioned are much more obvious, the points you're disagreeing with are much more sinister because there is a tendency to ignore them and paint whoever raises them up as playing the victim, many things can be right at the same time.
This is interesting, focusing on the standpoint of a cultural/economic critic. It's food for thought. But it seems like a bit of a mixed message. You first suggest Africans are largely "over it" in terms of placing blame on the West (or North). But, in your final paragraph, you - who I assume to be African - do not seem to be "over it" at all, but perhaps caught up in the arguments made by those in the woke West. We have a predatory loan problem here in the US - such loans being made mostly to those ignorant of their real cost and maybe some aware of the cost who find no alternative. Or perhaps others who are unable to distinguish between a necessary loan and a desired loan. Education (lack of it) seems to be the biggest problem. Predatory loans on a national or regional scale are surely exacerbated by corrupt players - lenders and borrowers - who are profiting on both ends. Additional development problems for Africa, perhaps, are the paucity of natural deep ports, for a continent with so much shoreline, and the geographical (and maybe political) impediments to continental railways. The post-colonial stuff, whatever it is, surely has to be evaluated in light of the billions sent from the West (North) in the form of aid that, by all appearances, hasn't been put to the best uses.
Good land title records, supported by dependable property rights and enforcement mechanisms, also might be helpful - although the woke would surely describe this as imposing toxic Western (or Northern) culture on pristine tribal systems.
Where is Rwanda in this? I know there is still corruption as I was just there and saw the presidents massive “new house” which looked more like an entire compound or small university- but there was good infrastructure and a lot of small businesses and women owned businesses especially in Kigali. Just curious….
Colonialism extracted tons of resources, impoverished communities, created inter-communal hatred (i.e. Hutu/tutsi) then when they pulled out it created power vacuums everywhere and the ambitious/corrupted happily filled the gap just as its happened in the Middle East, Caribbean, South America and wherever Europe has meddled. It’s not only that, the points about corruption/bureaucracy are very valid and would help initiate growth, but the current symptoms of dysfunction isn’t without traceable roots
Interesting. Was there ever a time when such "economic unfreedom" was eased, perhaps during the days of European colonialism? From what I've read native Africans were the bulk of the economic workforce during colonialism with relatively few European executives and Indian managers. How did the economies of, say, (South) Rhodesia, South Africa, and Kenya perform then compared to now (especially on a per capita basis to factor out the massive rise in population since then)?
History is often a useful guide to determine a country's or continent's limitations and possibilities. Can Africa's still recent history help to demonstrate and encourage its future potential?
Thank you for this article, it's an interesting read, but I have an issue with a certain narrative that is common amongst African writers who write about Africa to a predominantly western audience and I fear that African affairs are being coloured in the light of American culture war narratives of victim Vs victor, racism etc. an example of this can be found in a point you made which I'll quote below
"As I say in the video below, if you line up 100 Africans on one side and 100 non-Africans on the other, and you ask them, Why is Africa poor?, most Africans (and their allies) will come up with the usual suspects: colonialism, slavery, they’re stealing our natural resources, racism, yada yada yada yada."
The point you made above is so painfully wrong and unimformed that I'm astonished that you would make such a point. If you indeed lined up 100 Africans, colonialism and slavery, would not be in the top 5 reasons, that's if they're mentioned at all. Racism will not even be mentioned. Africans are more likely to blame corruption, bad government, mismanagement and a host of other things you mentioned rather than mentioning colonialism and slavery or racism.
Africans are so past these things that they exhibit a snubbish attitude towards African Americans when they emigrate to the west when things like slavery and racism are mentioned as holding Black people back.
So, why would you write something that's obviously incorrect? I have seen this trend amongst many Black writers writing for a western audience. This narrative of looking at African affairs through a western culture war narrative paints a false picture.
You're more likely to hear complaints like the one you mentioned from Africans living in the diaspora rather than those on the continent, that's because they have also imbibed western culture war narratives as causative factors. Most Africans aren't worried about racism not in the least.
Lastly to answer the question, why is Africa poor, it's due to varied number of factors and yes that includes the ones you mentioned such as corruption, bribery, etc, just as much as it includes the ones you're disputing such as colonialism/neocolonialism, resource exploitation, predatory loans and the setup of the global economy which favours the global North at the expense of the global South, while the points you mentioned are much more obvious, the points you're disagreeing with are much more sinister because there is a tendency to ignore them and paint whoever raises them up as playing the victim, many things can be right at the same time.
Thank you
This is interesting, focusing on the standpoint of a cultural/economic critic. It's food for thought. But it seems like a bit of a mixed message. You first suggest Africans are largely "over it" in terms of placing blame on the West (or North). But, in your final paragraph, you - who I assume to be African - do not seem to be "over it" at all, but perhaps caught up in the arguments made by those in the woke West. We have a predatory loan problem here in the US - such loans being made mostly to those ignorant of their real cost and maybe some aware of the cost who find no alternative. Or perhaps others who are unable to distinguish between a necessary loan and a desired loan. Education (lack of it) seems to be the biggest problem. Predatory loans on a national or regional scale are surely exacerbated by corrupt players - lenders and borrowers - who are profiting on both ends. Additional development problems for Africa, perhaps, are the paucity of natural deep ports, for a continent with so much shoreline, and the geographical (and maybe political) impediments to continental railways. The post-colonial stuff, whatever it is, surely has to be evaluated in light of the billions sent from the West (North) in the form of aid that, by all appearances, hasn't been put to the best uses.
Good land title records, supported by dependable property rights and enforcement mechanisms, also might be helpful - although the woke would surely describe this as imposing toxic Western (or Northern) culture on pristine tribal systems.
Anyway, good, thought-provoking comment. Thank you.
Where is Rwanda in this? I know there is still corruption as I was just there and saw the presidents massive “new house” which looked more like an entire compound or small university- but there was good infrastructure and a lot of small businesses and women owned businesses especially in Kigali. Just curious….
Colonialism extracted tons of resources, impoverished communities, created inter-communal hatred (i.e. Hutu/tutsi) then when they pulled out it created power vacuums everywhere and the ambitious/corrupted happily filled the gap just as its happened in the Middle East, Caribbean, South America and wherever Europe has meddled. It’s not only that, the points about corruption/bureaucracy are very valid and would help initiate growth, but the current symptoms of dysfunction isn’t without traceable roots
Interesting. Was there ever a time when such "economic unfreedom" was eased, perhaps during the days of European colonialism? From what I've read native Africans were the bulk of the economic workforce during colonialism with relatively few European executives and Indian managers. How did the economies of, say, (South) Rhodesia, South Africa, and Kenya perform then compared to now (especially on a per capita basis to factor out the massive rise in population since then)?
History is often a useful guide to determine a country's or continent's limitations and possibilities. Can Africa's still recent history help to demonstrate and encourage its future potential?
Excellent read. Thank you.