Public Agenda (Accra)
17 July 2009
editorial
In his inspiring message to Africans through the Ghanaian Parliament, President Barack Obama said the United States of America and by extension, other developed countries must help create the conditions where aid will no longer be needed in Africa.
He stressed that for African countries to grow less dependent on aid, their leaders must break the old habits. He specifically mentioned the unfortunate situation where most African countries have been dependent on single exports, which concentrates wealth in a few hands. President Obama quite rightly pointed out that countries thrive when they invest in people and promote multiple exports.
Obama showed he was aware of Ghana's economic weakness, due to it's dependence on cocoa, which makes it a mono-crop economy. For more than fifty years, Ghana has continued to export raw cocoa beans to Europe and North America, instead of adding value to the commodity to earn more money.
In fact government after government over the years relied heavily on cocoa exports for foreign exchange to the extent that anytime there is a shortfall in cocoa production, the entire economy suffers. The reason being that gold, which should have beefed up Ghana's exports earning has never been in the hands of Ghanaians.
Much as this newspaper agrees with President Obama on the need for Ghana and to a large extent African countries to diversify their exports, he failed to tell the whole story. The other side of the story is that unfair trade practices pushed down the throats of poor countries is partly to blame for the non-diversification of our exports. Mr. Obama knows more than we do that, finished products of any kind face stiff tariffs and other restrictions like phyto and phyto-sanitary specifications aimed at frustrating African exports. According to a study by some UK charities, the chocolate industry in the UK in any given year is more than one billion pounds. The figures could be ten times more in the US market. Yet, hardly does one fine any made in Ghana chocolate on the shelves of UK super markets or any western super markets.
It has been well documented in development circles that if the developed countries would open just three percent of their markets to African countries, these countries would earn more income from exports trade than the total foreign aid doled out to them in any given year. Mr. Obama shied away from the controversial issue of US farm subsidies which is killing small scale farmers, especially cotton farmers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
The reverse is that the European Union is cleverly coaxing poor African countries, already bogged down by trade liberation to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement which will further open their markets to imports from Europe. EU members subsidize their farmers, just as the United States is doing, yet the impression is being created by western leaders, including Mr. Obama that Africans simply do not want to diversify their exports. The battle for fair trade, which is the life blood of every country, big or small will not be won by diplomatic niceties being exhibited by African leaders. It calls for bold measures, if need be retaliatory measures to compel western countries to open their markets. Western leaders must for once be sincere to Africans for the simple reason that if they need our markets, we also need their markets. Mr. Obama who has 50 percent African blood in him must lead the crusade for fair trade for Africa. If he does not do it, no one else will do it.
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One of the problems causing Africa all their problems is the problem of corruption and inefficiency. President Obama made mention of this , but since then nobody has even taken up this topic. For some of us this is the main problem facing Africa. if you dont beleive me just visit ghana for a week, people take bribes at the airpot and everywhere in broad daylight like there is no tomorrow. You wonder who is in charge of this place. And if ghana is like this, then i wont like to see nigeria and all these other places.
At least Nigerians admit that they have a problem with corruption, unlike Ghanaians that live in a state of euphoria with Western adulation that seem to close their eyes and minds to our common African problem. Common sense dictates that the best antidote to curing a disease is timely and proper diagnosis of the illness b4 it fester. 10 to 15 years from now, we shall revisit the comparative Tale of Two LDCs. Five years ago, Ivory Coast was doing much better than Ghana, and well...I will assume that we all know the rest of the story...
Africans need to WAKE THE HELL UP!
Obama spent 9 months in a white womb, fell from white loins, spent toddler years under a white skirt, spend the rest of his formative years in a WHITE household, and now represents an historically evil European nation that repress Africans!
With those kinds of experiences to form his identity, Obama is as African as the man in the Moon! Merely being African POLITICALLY (as Obama is) is a far cry from being an African in ESSENCE, which Obama IS NOT!
One of the fundamental problems with the european-created African countries is that they were european created for the privilege and plunder of Europeans. These european-created 'countries' that were fashioned from multiple cultural groups, and AGAINST THE WILL of the African people. This means that these African countries are inherently INCOHERENT! Countries that are incoherent/divisive within itself CANNOT flourish! The evil Europeans knew this then and now! But the evil Europeans worked for Africans to be in a state that makes them susceptible to 'divide and rule'.
So this BIG LIE and nonsense of blaming Africans over so-called 'corruption' is the usual deception coming from wicked Western leaders, who are intent on domination and plunder. After all, the MOST CORRUPT creatures on the planet are Europeans! If corruption is what could make African countries poor, then Africans would need to be as corrupt as the thieving Europeans.
The author raises very pertinent issues that partially answers Obama's question on why Ghanaians are doing well in the US but not in their owm country.
Another pertinent issue is how do we curb our taste for foreign goods, which we don't necessarily need? If we prefer Swiss chocolates to the Ghanaian golden tree, what message do we send to the rest of the world? There would be no Toyato vehicles today if the Japanese government hadn't continue to protect the industry during its teething periond, which span over a number of years!