Chilean democratically-elected president, Salvador Allende was
killed because he introduced what was known as the Chileanization of the economy
of his country. Chile’s economy was in the hands of foreign companies. Salvador
Allende tried to empower the locals to manage their economy. This was his
undoing. Another casualty was Patrice Lumumba. He was killed for advocating for
his people’s socio-economic supremacy. Along with Allende and Lumumba was Jocobo
Albenz of Guatemala who was overthrown in 1954 because he wanted to buy back the
land that was owned by an American United Fruit Company (UFCO), to give it back
to his landless citizens. UFCO used to undervalue the land so as to pay low tax.
When president Albenz wanted to buy the same uncultivated land, UFCO demanded
more money than the value declared. When Albenz held his horses, that was his
undoing.
History sometimes repeats itself especially when those supposed
to understand it well fail to do so. Africa, since independence, has been
repeating the same mistakes. Our economies still depend on our former colonial
masters. We’re but banana republics producing what we can’t consume and
consuming what we don’t produce.
If Africa is to go on with the ongoing diabolic investment,
chances are that landless Africans will resort to fighting for freedom afresh.
Many African regimes have been singing the song of investment and globalization
without any scientific, fair and safe preparations or measures in place. Many
mineral and energy companies are landing multi-billion investments in Africa
without paying tax or investing in human development.
What is evident in many African countries is the rise of
antagonism between poor citizenry and foreign companies which have much
influence in the upper echelons of power due to the kickbacks they give to venal
rulers. Human rights and environment are gravely abused.
I am not against investment. Omnishambolic and exploitative
investment – No. Yes to fair and reasonable investment. Without taking a leaf
from the above incidents, Africa is going to cascade even more into
neo-colonialism. While rich countries are using their companies to rake billions
of dollars from Africa in order to invest in their people, African greedy rulers
are selling their people with their resources. We are not allowed even to
subsidize our poor farmers or offer social services especially welfare as it is
in rich countries. They don’t allow us to do this fearing that the prices of our
produce will rise and therefore making it hard for rich countries to buy them at
low and exploitative prices as it has been going on since time immemorial.
Source:The African Executive Magazine Oct.,17, 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment