Soon after
arriving in Oslo, my taxi zigzagged through the city’s well-organized streets
and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Large billboards advertised the world’s
leading brands in fashion, cars, and perfumes. Amid all the expressions of
wealth and plenty, an electronic sign by a bus stop flashed the images of
poor-looking African children needing help.
اضافة اعلان
Over the years,
Norway has served as a relatively good model of meaningful humanitarian and medical
aid. This is especially true if compared to self-serving Western countries
where aid is often linked to direct political and military interests. Still,
the public humiliation of poor, hungry, and diseased Africa is still
disquieting.
The same images and
TV ads are omnipresent in the West. The actual tangible value of such charity
aside, campaigns to help poor Africa do more than perpetuate a stereotype; they
also mask the actual responsibility of why natural resource-rich Africa remains
poor, and why the supposed generosity of the West over the decades has done
little to achieve a paradigm shift in terms of the continent’s economic health
and prosperity.
News from Africa is
almost always grim. A recent Save the Children report sums up Africa’s woes in
alarming numbers: 150 million children in East and southern Africa are facing
the double threat of grinding poverty and disastrous impact of climate change.
Worst off are children in South Sudan, at 87 percent, followed by Mozambique
(80 percent), and Madagascar (73 percent).
The bad news from
Africa, illustrated in the Save the Children report, was released soon after
another report, that time by the World Bank, indicated that the international
community’s hope to end extreme poverty by 2030 will not be met.
Consequently, by
2030, around 574 million people, estimated at 7 percent of the world’s total
population, will continue to live in extreme poverty, relying on about two
dollars a day.
Sub-Saharan Africa
currently is the epicenter of extreme poverty globally. The rate of extreme
poverty in that region is about 35 percent, representing 60 percent of extreme
poverty anywhere in the world.
The World Bank
suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war are the main
catalysts behind the grim estimates.
Growing global
inflation and the slow growth of large economies in Asia are also culprits.
Consequently, by 2030, around 574 million people, estimated at 7 percent of the world's total population, will continue to live in extreme poverty, relying on about two dollars a day.
But what these reports do not tell us, and what
images of starving African children do not convey is that much of Africa’s
poverty is linked to the ongoing exploitation of the continent by its former —
or current — colonial masters. This is not to suggest that African nations have
no agency of their own, in contributing to their worsening situation or in
challenging intervention and exploitation.
Without a united
front and major change in geopolitical global balances, pushing back against
neocolonialism will not be an easy feat.
The Russia-Ukraine
war and the global rivalry between Russia and China, on the one hand, and
Western countries, on the other, have encouraged some African leaders to speak
out against the exploitation of Africa, and the use of Africa as a political
fodder in global conflicts. The food crisis has been at the center of this
fight.
In the Dakar
International Forum on Peace and Security, in late October, some African
leaders resisted pressure from Western diplomats to toe the West’s line on the
war in Ukraine.
Ironically,
Minister of State for Development, Francophonie and International Partnerships
Chrysoula Zacharopoulou sought “solidarity from Africa”, alleging that Russia
poses an “existential threat” to Europe.
Though France
continues to effectively control the currencies, thus economies, of 14
different African countries — mostly in West Africa — Zacharopoulou declared
that “Russia is solely responsible for this economic, energy and food crisis”.
President of
Senegal Macky Sall was one of several African leaders and top diplomats who
challenged the duplicitous and polarizing language.
“This is 2022, this
is no longer the colonial period... so countries, even if they are poor, have
equal dignity. Their problems have to be handled with respect,” he said.
It is this coveted
respect by the West that Africa lacks. The US and Europe simply expect African
nations to abandon their neutral approach to global conflicts and join the
West’s continued campaign for global dominance.
But why should
Africa, one of the richest and most exploited continents, obey the West’s
diktats?
The West’s
insincerity is glaring. Its double standard did not escape African leaders,
including Nigeria’s former president Mahamadou Issoufou.
“It’s shocking for
Africans to see the billions that have rained down on Ukraine while attention
has been diverted from the situation in the Sahel (region),” he said in Dakar.
The elevated
political discourse emanating from African leaders and intellectuals gives one
hope that the allegedly poor continent is plotting an escape from the grip of
Western domination, though many variables would have to work in their favor to
make this happen.
Africa’s existent
wealth alone can fuel global growth for many years to come. But the
beneficiaries of this wealth should be Africa’s sons and daughters, not the
deep pockets of the West’s wealthy classes. Indeed, the time has come when
Africa’s children are not paraded as charity cases in Europe, a notion that
only feeds into the long-distorted power relations between Africa and the West.
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author of six books, and the
Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. His latest book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé,
is ‘Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals
Speak out’. His other books include ‘My Father was a Freedom Fighter’ and ‘The
Last Earth’. He is a non-resident senior research fellow at the Center for
Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).
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