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Africa: Africa's Wealth for Africans
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 Published by the government of Zimbabwe |
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The Herald (Harare)
OPINION
7 August 2008
Posted to the web 7 August 2008
Tsitsi Makwande
Harare
Africa, is without doubt, the richest continent in the world in terms of both natural and human resources yet, ironically, it is also the poorest.
This may be a bit difficult to understand for someone who appreciates the vast wealth of minerals to be found across the length and breadth of the continent.
Countless valleys, innumerable mountain ranges, limitless flowing rivers, a variety of flora and fauna, the most beautiful natural tourist attractions and so many more features of wealth and interest abound in Africa.
This picture contrasts sharply with the levels of poverty on the ground.
Of course, all is not doom and gloom, but the fact is that pandemics like Aids have wreaked havoc, wars have played their part and food insecurity is real and present across the continent.
According to one Unicef report, about 30 000 children die daily due to the effects of poverty.
Water-borne diseases such as cholera caused by poor sanitation also claim their share of precious lives.
Life expectancy has been declining, while in other parts of the world, which do not have the kind of natural and human resources that we have, people are living longer and leading improved lives.
It has been estimated that the gross national product in the countries worst affected by HIV and Aids could contract by 18 percent by 2020, and the disease could kill 13 to 26 percent of the agricultural labour force in those countries during the same period.
The United Nations said its efforts to provide anti-retroviral treatment for one million infected people in 2007, was outpaced by the number of new infections, which numbered 2,5 million that year. (Thankfully, though, in Zimbabwe's case new infections are declining.)
Millions others have died or were displaced as a result of civil wars and natural disasters. The disturbing images of malnourished children in Sudan or Somalia with more bones than flesh, quickly come to mind.
But this is more than just an image; it is a stark reality that has to be dealt with immediately.
The question we have to ask ourselves is: why are our people living under such conditions when the continent is the richest in the world?
Mining giant De Beers details in one report that Africa produces about 76 percent of the world's supply of diamonds valued at US$10 billion.
Zimbabwe alone boasts of deposits of more than 40 minerals, including ferrochrome, gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, copper and asbestos, and about 19 million hectares of forest as of 2000.
With such amazing wealth, it is confusing to see our people so disadvantaged.
The reason is although we are rich, we continue to live in poverty because we still have not found ways to harness our resources for our own good and for that of our children. Instead, many African countries continue to be a source of raw materials, leaving foreign countries to benefit from the real business in the resultant finished product, a situation no different from what happened during the slave trade and colonialism.
As Zimbabweans, we need to come up with sustainable strategies that will allow our people, and not only foreigners, to benefit from the vast treasures of gold, diamonds and other minerals available in our land.
We should open our eyes and see how other countries have done it and follow suit. It may take a while and require strong financial backing, but if others have done it, so can we. Zimbabwe needs to take charge of its economy and alleviate poverty in our nation without having to depend on donors and aid relief organisations.
Despite the economic challenges we are facing, we can take a leaf from Cuba, which has been under economic sanctions since 1963 but still managed to revive its economy and boast of the best social services in the world.
This is not an event that will happen overnight, but a process requiring innovative and dedicated people and strategies.
We have such people in our country, people who can make things happen, people who can build realities out of dreams, intelligent and hard-working people.
It is pleasing, therefore, to see Government embarking on its empowerment drives with such gusto.
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Land reform signified the first stage of the process of harnessing our resources for our own development and now we have an all-encompassing empowerment law.
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"The reason is although we are rich, we continue to live in poverty because we still have not found ways to harness our resources for our own good and for that of our children. Instead, many African countries continue to be a source of raw materials, leaving foreign countries to benefit from the real business in the resultant finished product, a situation no different from what happened during the slave trade and colonialism." - rubbish. Value adding to exports is a good idea if the economics of doing so make sense; but the failure to do so in not the... [Read Full Text]
The rationale here articulated is profoundly Pan African and I lament that after 52 years when African states started to be independent the ownership structure of mineral resources is still under foreign white domination.
Take an absolute thought that; we are God created subjects and from time immemorial Africa had known the black race as its human incumbents, thus Africa is for Africans; mineral extraction is directly related to land degradation therefore resources in africa can only influence the african environment placing all activities in africa under african ownership regardless of the nature of investment capital.
We believe the creator... [Read Full Text]
It must be very difficult for you to look around the world and see this Western created monster called capitalism thriving in China, Russia, Vietnam, and many many other formerly centrally managed economies. Equally it must be disturbing for you that the people of these countries are busily winning market share and attracting massive volumes of foreign direct investment whilst all time not giving so much as a minutes thought to the fact that Africa is the only region in the world to have gone backwards economically in the last 50 years.
The aggressive protectionist policies that you espouse will... [Read Full Text]
"I am moved when former communist Soviet Russia cut all gas supplies to its European cousins causing untold suffering and death of children in hospitals for the refusal of same Europe to embrace new tariffs for Russian gas. " - do you have a reliable source for this comment about untold suffering and death of children in hospitals?
I suspect not. If you want to be taken seriously try and avoid presenting your vivid imagination as fact. By all means lets hear your opinions, but don't try and pretend that what you say is factual unless you can back it... [Read Full Text]
I have learned that capitalism has two faces; 1). In its rawest form, capitalism is the label given to the way things are; nature's way, where the fittest survive. 2). In its more sophisticated guise and literal sense, it is a means of economic activity that encourages the accumulation of capital.
Nature's way cannot be challenged or confounded, I think it wise to accept the things one cannot change.
However, the economics of capitalism, where through contrivance and planning, individuals and organisations accumulate more capital (wealth) than they can consume in a few life times, wealth for its own sake,... [Read Full Text]
Selector - spot on; however the smaller the country the easier it is for that society to catch the unfortunates. Hence the Scandanavians will always have an advantage over say India or China, although I willingly accept that this is only a small part. The big part is a sense of inclusiveness and a desire to do the right thing.
On the subject of small countries our friend onesoulzim stated "Land economics and mineral resources are the only provisions that will make Africa a developed continent as an economic powerhouse", - I should have reminded him of Singapore: built on... [Read Full Text]
Foreign White domination? Get with the program... Have you not seen the presence of the resource hungry China pillaging our continent? Have a closer look at Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Sudan to name a few. China mine the resources and ship them straight back to China for their own use.
The only difference is that China is "liked" by neo colonialist leaders because of it's supposed non interference. i.e. China do not interfere in the politics of Africa. This is not so. How is not intereference when China was shipping those arms to Zimbabwe? Many current African states are selling their... [Read Full Text]
I am not sure what neo-colonialist you're talking about. Africans have been resisting colonialism, old and new, for a number of decades now.
I'm talking about Africans who believe (whether rightly or wrongly) that since their respective independence their countries are/have been subjected to a new form of colonialism by the former coloniser and/or other developed nations. This is in short is a basic form of neo-colonialism that is present in Africa.
Those who think the Chinese are their best friends had better take a leaf from what has recently happened. Mugabe tried to force himself to the Olympic games' opening ceremony and even went as far as Bangkok but the Chinese government refused him entry into China and scooted him back. What a friendship!
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