Alhaji Moriekeh Fofanah

The just concluded BEIJING African Summit is the best that could have happened ever since the world was created. It came out as an attempt to transformation of the World’s economy in a way that gives Third World countries an even competition as well as leverage in the determination of their respective socio-economic development in the face of an already existent North-South divide. The Africans traded with China and other European countries for centuries. The East Africa Coast is evident of this. It was the establishment of commerce that will be of mutual benefit. Africans in particular, have traded with Europeans for a very long time, but unfortunately, this trade has always been at the advantage to the Europeans alone.

The friendly association of Africa with China has a history which spans several thousand years. In the Second Century B.C. during the HAN Dynasty (206 B.C- 220 A.D), there was indirect trade in precious goods between Africa and China. History has it that the role of CLEOPATRA VII (69 B.C to A.D 30) the Egyptian Queen, during the First Century B.C was made of silk from China. During the TANG Dynasty (618-907) the Chinese set foot on African soil, south of the Sahara.

The Europeans first took away our best men and women to Europe and the Americas as slaves to work on their cotton and rice fields. When they have exhausted our best able-bodied men and women, they embarked on the exploitation of our mineral resources and agricultural products. In India, there was trade which was to a certain extent mutual. Africans were hired as mercenaries by Indians and some as workers. Africans went to the extent of deposing Maharajas and install themselves in their place. Today there is a large community of descendants of Africans in India to be specific, the Gujarat Sidis.

There is also a big settlement of African descendants in the United States that wield political and economic power and so are the United Kingdom, Canada and France. After this inhuman interaction, followed the colonization era and during which Africans were made to believe that China was a backward, primitive and dictatorial. This notion and generally held belief about China was proved wrong by the determination and collective will of the Chinese people led by Chairman Mao. The foundation set by this radical socio-economic and political transformation is what has put China today at a very strong position to effectively and adequately compete with so-called First World countries and World powers.

That was why earlier African leaders including the likes of Ahmed Sekou Tuore of Guinea, Kwame Nkrumanh of Ghana, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Modibo Keita of Mali, Patrice Lumumba of Congo (now Congo DR) Augustine Neto of Mozambique, Luis Cabral of Guinea Bissau, Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt etc adopted the socialist model, principles on which the Chinese society is built. But this was however thwarted by Capitalist powers using their longstanding socio-cultural connections with these emerging states. The principal reason for the seeming jittery over a China presence in Africa was that the monopoly Western countries (Colonial Masters) enjoyed over Africa’s (their Colonies’) resources-mineral and agricultural, would be grossly threatened by this presence.

This did not however dampen the resolve of the Chinese to help Africa out of her socio-economic quagmire and strangulation and the determination of some of these emerging African leaders to attach to China.

The construction of the Tanzam railway from Tanzania to Zambia, land-locked countries, after Western ‘powers’ had given excuses of the non economic viability of such a project is a case in point. Since then the Chinese have ensured they have viable and sustained socio-economic projects in almost all of Africa even as they are continually dubbed as ‘primitive and backward’ by the West. Today, China, like the countries of the West can boast of everything that is of human convenience and are also proud to being every where-on planet earth and in space. Today, China has over US $ 300 Billion in trade deficit. Today, China has decided to open up trade and other economic ties with Africa and has cancelled debts with African states with ‘No Strings Attached!!’

The Chinese in their bid to turn around the disparity in the world’s economy a system that has caused so much misery, underdevelopment and socio-political chaos in Africa have now to be at the vanguard of this renaissance, the rebirth of Africa with the decision to construct needed social infrastructure with again no strings attached. Of course these are not done on the premise that China is not interested in Africa raw materials. The fact here is that with pittances paid to Africa’s farmers by the West for cocoa and coffee, diamonds, maize, cotton for example, for over three hundred years and still termed by these same exploiters as poor, undeveloped, corrupt, HIV riddled and in the face of the World Trade Organization (WTO), subsidies and so on, it was about time Africa and Africans turn round for a new trade relationship. What may not have been of any significant socio-economic benefit for over three hundred years may face a turning point when a radical review is made of what has past. China’s intervention therefore is perhaps out of such a radical consideration by present day African leaders in the interest of the continent and her peoples.

Now let me pose the question; has Africa’s trade relation with the West over three hundred years being a fair one? Africa has made industries in the West to prosper with her uninterrupted supply of raw materials making the individual states achieve the highest standards of living much to her detriment. Instead of helping Africa develop industries that should be transforming these raw materials to usable goods for maximum profit, it has merely been encouraged to supply and be a ready market for the sale of these transformed raw materials at exorbitant costs- a circle of exploitation. Today the continent is classified as the poorest and most backward on planet earth as a result of this vicious circle.

It has not only stopped at exploiting raw materials. Even the human resource of Africa has not been spared. We know of Africans in the West who are doing extremely well and contributing immensely towards the socio-economic and political development of Western Countries. Rather than encouraging these to return and give back to Africa what they are supposed to morally give, they are being encouraged to stay or rather discouraged from building interest in Africa through other means which range from bad press, open condemnation of human right records, indebtedness (too much conditionalities from lending institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF-institutions controlled by the West) and so on.

In Russia for example, an African, Alexander Pushkin is a renowned Poet. He like thousands of others across the West has never been able to come up with something advantageous; economically, socially or politically to their mother land. Instead some have even collaborated with our Colonizers, the British, the French, the Germans, the Belgians and the Portuguese to fleece the continent of her natural resources.

Africa has always been in an economic down trend, no fair trade for her vast natural resources. African countries are paid pittance for their resources that are so much in demand in the West. The only way the West thinks it can help Africans from it socio-economic quagmire is to send University drop outs as Consultants and NGOs as implementers of what has now become known as ‘tied aids’. These Consultants or Expatriates are paid fabulous salaries and allowances for work which Africans can do better and perhaps for less money. Some of them while on these projects in Africa are exposed to facilities and privileges which they hardly could get in their countries of origin, all being part of the so-called ‘Aid" by so-called donor countries. Not only are these Aids string attached, but have remote control mechanisms that make the recipients appear like poppies to their masters. They have their so-called mercenaries in the form of ‘Human Right Advocates’ as well as the watch words; "Transparency and Accountability", which have also come to be seen as tools of exploitation; this is as if they (in the West) are angels in heaven with no sins, no unblemished socio-economic or political records.

The Beijing Summit has therefore destroyed all these capitalist antecedents and economic clichés towards Africa. The whole Western economic system that existed must once more be re-visited and revamped. The theories of the Adam Smith, Greenspan, Friedman, the principles of supply and demand, the accumulation of capital, land, labour and capital have all been proved wrong by the Chinese. A taste of the pudding lies in the eating. African leaders whiles in Beijing, were exposed to the vast economic development China has made since 1947 as inspired by Chairman Mao. Beijing today is not only better in all aspects of development compared to New York, London, Paris or Berlin, it is now world power, despite the vast anti Chinese propaganda perpetuated by the West as was the case during the colonial era and post independence era.

The Chinese have turned to Africa full swing to enhance her economic development with no conditions. And do I hear from these exploiters and colonizers that there is no freedom of speech in China, that there are human right violations in Africa, that China is introducing another type of colonization?

I don’t think so. That is apparently just another ploy to create another round of chaos for Africa, to be where they have been for the past three hundred years so as to continue fuelling western industries.

The Chinese have come to Africa in a big way and Africa is ready to accept them in a big way even their surplus population is also welcome. China owes no obligation to Africa as compared to the West especially Europe and America. Western Europe and America enslaved Africa, raped the continent economically and left the continent undeveloped (‘How Europe under developed Africa’ by Walter Rodney).

Eric Williams, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago wrote in his brilliant thesis; ‘Capitalism and Slavery’ how this phenomenon of under development of Third World Countries by the West came about. All these are pointers to the fact that the West are very much obligated to Africa for ‘its’ development. They must sow what they have reaped from the continent. China on the other hand because of her political philosophy- Communism, Socialism, finds it necessary to share her wealth, technology with less fortunate Africa that has been exploited and devastated by the West and America. Criticizing China over issues of human rights, political reform and governance is no cliché enough to ever discourage this Africa/China forward march. Africa now needs this Chinese generosity. I beg your pardon, excuse me!

I will therefore close by thank God Almighty that China does not accept or listen to any of their rubbish.