Africa is not resource-poor, however:
For generations, Sub-Saharan Africa has been taken advantage of; our natural resources are extracted, then exported to produce goods that are sold for higher prices in rich, developed nations. This dynamic has been fundamental to the prosperity of foreign countries: they need the raw materials, and they need them to be as cheap as possible. It is Africans who bear the burden with little to no reward.
A crippling model of exploitation; a different iteration of colonialism – that holds the continent in the suffocating grip of dependency.
It is one of the main reasons African nations that are overly dependent on raw materials, whether cotton or oil, coffee, diamonds or Cobalt, are poor. Africans must confront the political dimension of endemic poverty, the result of short-term self-interested political and economic decisions taken by very few individuals at the expense of African families and children. Africa, unburdened can play a leading role in making the world a better place; working with the West, as a partner, not under the suffocating model of conformity and exploitation, the conditionality of “aid/help.”
If African nations are to build vibrant economies, they must:
- Reject the defunct model that creates dependency: aid, debt and the toxic structural adjustment programmes, the overarching umbrella of control.
- Collectively shift away from foreign interventions in African economies and reject total dependence on foreign aid.
- Challenge the exploitative status quo and reductive notions of “helping Africa” based on using Africa as proxy in self-interested geopolitics.
Healthy risk-taking
To face Africa’s development issues and challenges, Africa needs to be innovative. But, for the sake of innovation, there needs to be a willingness to take healthy, educated risks – this is where young people play an instrumental role.
As a continent perpetually branded as underdeveloped, high stakes and an over-reliance on the status quo means it can be hard to take risks. It makes more sense to find other alternatives – foreign investments. Evidence shows however that the disadvantages of those foreign alternatives outweigh the benefits, with a long-term dynamic that favors foreign economies over Africa’s.
What role do you think young African entrepreneurs could play in moving Africa away from over-reliance on foreign influence? Reach out to us via our Contact page and let’s collaborate.
