By: Salisu Suleiman
Hungry, destitute and homeless, hundreds of people recently froze to death on the streets of Europe. The Euro Zone economic crisis is throwing tens of millions of Europeans out of jobs and into the claws of poverty. Shocking stories of hunger and destitution that were more likely to be reported from African countries now come out of Europe on a daily basis with seemingly no end in sight. While poverty and helplessness everywhere are indicative of flawed political and economic processes that need to be redressed, the view from Africa – for so long on the receiving end of European political and economic policies – may not be particularly sympathetic.
Africa’s experience with Europe has been devastating. The first Europeans on our shores came as slave raiders and in the course of 400 years, shipped millions of Africans into slavery – and gave us guns and gin which fueled wars and dislocated whole communities. When the slave trade became uneconomical because of technological advances which replaced slave labor with machines, Europe suddenly found a ‘humanitarian’ spirit and stopped stealing Africans; they stole their continent instead. Which African was represented at the Berlin Conference of 1884 – 1885 which partitioned the continent among European powers?
In many ways, colonialism which replaced the slave trade was worse than slavery because while slave merchants owned just the slaves, colonial powers owned Africa – including the land and resources in addition to the people. So a tiny (and today heavily indebted) country like Belgium owned the Congo which is the size of Western Europe. The Belgian king could, and treated the colony like a personal possession from where gold, diamonds and other minerals were mined and shipped to Europe. (In an ironic twist of fate, Belgians are today more likely to find employment in their former colony than at home).
After the upheavals that followed World War II made colonialism untenable, it was with reluctance that Europe granted African countries independence. For decades, Europe refused to accept African veterans who fought on the side of the Allies as equals and paid them only a fraction of what European veterans were paid. Europe hung on to their African colonies for as long as they could, with Portugal granting independence to its territories only in the mid 70s. In countries that were particularly attractive to Europe like Kenya and Algeria, it took very bloody wars to win their freedoms. Many European nations supported Apartheid South Africa until the system could no longer be sustained and only hesitantly supported black majority rule.
Independence for many African countries did not bring about the much anticipated freedom and prosperity. African leaders in many of the newly independent countries that attempted to break away from neo-colonial influence found themselves overthrown or assassinated – often with Western backing. Patrice Lumumba was a prime example of how forward thinking African leaders were killed and replaced – again with Western support – by despots like Mobutu and Bokassa. African leaders that wanted to remain in power – or alive – had to accept trade and economic policies that were skewed in favor of Europe which only viewed Africa as a source of raw minerals and dumping ground for unsold goods.
To keep Africa in check, European countries fed Africa with dubious debts that further impoverished the continent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is today synonymous with economic suicide in many African countries like Nigeria where IMF imposed Structural Adjustment Program in the 1980s helped to trap 67 percent of Nigerians in acute poverty. Across the continent, leaders that governed according to the rules set by Europe were seen as modern and reform-minded. Those that insisted on fair trade and equality soon found themselves facing political and economic sanctions. At a time, the only manufactured products to be found in Nigeria had to be ‘Made in England’. Similarly, former French colonies could only buy products of France; anything not made in Europe was ‘fake’ or branded ‘Taiwan’.
Today, Botswana is often held up as an example of democracy and development in Africa. But would that view remain the same if the country decides to stop sharing its diamond wealth with De Beers on a 50-50 basis and demand more for its citizens? What would happen if Nigeria decides to transfer management of its oil assets from European companies to Chinese and Malaysian concerns – an arrangement that would enable it earn an extra five billion dollars annually more than it currently receives? Would the British and French have bombed Libya if Ghadafi had given them unfettered access to his country’s oil wells? (Indeed, a significant quantity of the arms dropped by the French, in direct violation of a United Nations resolution, is suspected to have ended up in the hands of militias, rebels and terrorist groups now destabilizing Libya itself, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger and Nigeria).
Back to the Euro Zone financial crises: With this kind of history between Europe and Africa, it is difficult for many Africans to empathize with Europeans. As someone put it, “when the Europeans came to Africa, they came without visas and stayed for as long as they wanted. Today, when Africans want to go to Europe to pick apples and sweep streets, they are denied visas. Let Europeans experience what poverty feels like”. Rightly or wrongly, the conclusion is that as long as Europe dealt with Africans unfairly – from slavery and colonialism to uneven trade practices, Europe remained buoyant. But faced with real competition in a fast evolving global landscape, Europe is crumbling.
The tables have truly changed; there are no more new territories left for Europeans to conquer and plunder. Increasingly, African raw materials are finding their ways to China and India. The IMF is now thoroughly discredited and is probably more needed in Europe than Africa. Many Africans are now buying choice real estate in London and Paris – property currently beyond the reach of many Europeans who are being pushed to the margins. A young Portuguese today is better off emigrating to Angola or Mozambique. Whatever little that Europe produces hardly reaches Africa – where cheaper Chinese imports are everywhere. African students are now to be found in top universities across Britain – at a time when many in Britain cannot afford university education, nor find work when they graduate.
Unfortunately for Europeans, things may not improve soon; the level of public debts are simply too great. Much attention has been focused on Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy, but the contagion is likely to spread. Today, public debt in Britain is about $2 trillion and still growing despite huge cuts in spending. Europe’s economy is shrinking and no jobs are being created. The French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who orchestrated the Libyan intervention partly to project assumed French power, is becoming something of a clown, clinging desperately to the handbag of an averse Angela Merkel to stay afloat. An apt title for the stage show would be ‘The Clown and the Chancellor’s Handbag’.
European economic and political power may be in terminal decline because European prosperity was hinged principally on agriculture, manufacturing and services. Today, those areas of comparative advantage are largely gone; without state subsidies, European agriculture is not competitive. Similarly, a significant percentage of finished goods at present – including those on the shelves of Europe – are made in China. The services sector like international finance – on which Britain banked its hopes and lost, is increasingly moving from London to Dubai and Shanghai. India produces more software engineers than Europe. British icons like Jaguar and MG are now owned by Indian and Chinese investors. Twenty years ago, African roads were dominated by French Peugeots. Today, Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans are everywhere, while Chinese automobiles are making inroads. European presence is waning daily.
So are Africans gloating? Not necessarily; Africans know the ravages of poverty too well to revel at Europe’s misfortunes. For now though, we watch with amusement as the European Circus moves from a Greek tragedy to an Italian comedy. Incidentally, while Europe harps on, and has harried Africa on democracy, neither the prime minister of Greece nor Italy are the products of elections.
Hungry, destitute and homeless, hundreds of people recently froze to death on the streets of Europe. The Euro Zone economic crisis is throwing tens of millions of Europeans out of jobs and into the claws of poverty. Shocking stories of hunger and destitution that were more likely to be reported from African countries now come out of Europe on a daily basis with seemingly no end in sight. While poverty and helplessness everywhere are indicative of flawed political and economic processes that need to be redressed, the view from Africa – for so long on the receiving end of European political and economic policies – may not be particularly sympathetic.
Africa’s experience with Europe has been devastating. The first Europeans on our shores came as slave raiders and in the course of 400 years, shipped millions of Africans into slavery – and gave us guns and gin which fueled wars and dislocated whole communities. When the slave trade became uneconomical because of technological advances which replaced slave labor with machines, Europe suddenly found a ‘humanitarian’ spirit and stopped stealing Africans; they stole their continent instead. Which African was represented at the Berlin Conference of 1884 – 1885 which partitioned the continent among European powers?
In many ways, colonialism which replaced the slave trade was worse than slavery because while slave merchants owned just the slaves, colonial powers owned Africa – including the land and resources in addition to the people. So a tiny (and today heavily indebted) country like Belgium owned the Congo which is the size of Western Europe. The Belgian king could, and treated the colony like a personal possession from where gold, diamonds and other minerals were mined and shipped to Europe. (In an ironic twist of fate, Belgians are today more likely to find employment in their former colony than at home).
After the upheavals that followed World War II made colonialism untenable, it was with reluctance that Europe granted African countries independence. For decades, Europe refused to accept African veterans who fought on the side of the Allies as equals and paid them only a fraction of what European veterans were paid. Europe hung on to their African colonies for as long as they could, with Portugal granting independence to its territories only in the mid 70s. In countries that were particularly attractive to Europe like Kenya and Algeria, it took very bloody wars to win their freedoms. Many European nations supported Apartheid South Africa until the system could no longer be sustained and only hesitantly supported black majority rule.
Independence for many African countries did not bring about the much anticipated freedom and prosperity. African leaders in many of the newly independent countries that attempted to break away from neo-colonial influence found themselves overthrown or assassinated – often with Western backing. Patrice Lumumba was a prime example of how forward thinking African leaders were killed and replaced – again with Western support – by despots like Mobutu and Bokassa. African leaders that wanted to remain in power – or alive – had to accept trade and economic policies that were skewed in favor of Europe which only viewed Africa as a source of raw minerals and dumping ground for unsold goods.
To keep Africa in check, European countries fed Africa with dubious debts that further impoverished the continent. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is today synonymous with economic suicide in many African countries like Nigeria where IMF imposed Structural Adjustment Program in the 1980s helped to trap 67 percent of Nigerians in acute poverty. Across the continent, leaders that governed according to the rules set by Europe were seen as modern and reform-minded. Those that insisted on fair trade and equality soon found themselves facing political and economic sanctions. At a time, the only manufactured products to be found in Nigeria had to be ‘Made in England’. Similarly, former French colonies could only buy products of France; anything not made in Europe was ‘fake’ or branded ‘Taiwan’.
Today, Botswana is often held up as an example of democracy and development in Africa. But would that view remain the same if the country decides to stop sharing its diamond wealth with De Beers on a 50-50 basis and demand more for its citizens? What would happen if Nigeria decides to transfer management of its oil assets from European companies to Chinese and Malaysian concerns – an arrangement that would enable it earn an extra five billion dollars annually more than it currently receives? Would the British and French have bombed Libya if Ghadafi had given them unfettered access to his country’s oil wells? (Indeed, a significant quantity of the arms dropped by the French, in direct violation of a United Nations resolution, is suspected to have ended up in the hands of militias, rebels and terrorist groups now destabilizing Libya itself, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Senegal, Niger and Nigeria).
Back to the Euro Zone financial crises: With this kind of history between Europe and Africa, it is difficult for many Africans to empathize with Europeans. As someone put it, “when the Europeans came to Africa, they came without visas and stayed for as long as they wanted. Today, when Africans want to go to Europe to pick apples and sweep streets, they are denied visas. Let Europeans experience what poverty feels like”. Rightly or wrongly, the conclusion is that as long as Europe dealt with Africans unfairly – from slavery and colonialism to uneven trade practices, Europe remained buoyant. But faced with real competition in a fast evolving global landscape, Europe is crumbling.
The tables have truly changed; there are no more new territories left for Europeans to conquer and plunder. Increasingly, African raw materials are finding their ways to China and India. The IMF is now thoroughly discredited and is probably more needed in Europe than Africa. Many Africans are now buying choice real estate in London and Paris – property currently beyond the reach of many Europeans who are being pushed to the margins. A young Portuguese today is better off emigrating to Angola or Mozambique. Whatever little that Europe produces hardly reaches Africa – where cheaper Chinese imports are everywhere. African students are now to be found in top universities across Britain – at a time when many in Britain cannot afford university education, nor find work when they graduate.
Unfortunately for Europeans, things may not improve soon; the level of public debts are simply too great. Much attention has been focused on Greece, Portugal, Ireland, Spain and Italy, but the contagion is likely to spread. Today, public debt in Britain is about $2 trillion and still growing despite huge cuts in spending. Europe’s economy is shrinking and no jobs are being created. The French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who orchestrated the Libyan intervention partly to project assumed French power, is becoming something of a clown, clinging desperately to the handbag of an averse Angela Merkel to stay afloat. An apt title for the stage show would be ‘The Clown and the Chancellor’s Handbag’.
European economic and political power may be in terminal decline because European prosperity was hinged principally on agriculture, manufacturing and services. Today, those areas of comparative advantage are largely gone; without state subsidies, European agriculture is not competitive. Similarly, a significant percentage of finished goods at present – including those on the shelves of Europe – are made in China. The services sector like international finance – on which Britain banked its hopes and lost, is increasingly moving from London to Dubai and Shanghai. India produces more software engineers than Europe. British icons like Jaguar and MG are now owned by Indian and Chinese investors. Twenty years ago, African roads were dominated by French Peugeots. Today, Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans are everywhere, while Chinese automobiles are making inroads. European presence is waning daily.
So are Africans gloating? Not necessarily; Africans know the ravages of poverty too well to revel at Europe’s misfortunes. For now though, we watch with amusement as the European Circus moves from a Greek tragedy to an Italian comedy. Incidentally, while Europe harps on, and has harried Africa on democracy, neither the prime minister of Greece nor Italy are the products of elections.
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