Re: I was glued to the TV with admiration and pride at how my countrymen have managed to turn the African begging bowl into an object of international concern...
Your "countrymen"?!? With all due respect, you don't have a clue: that whole Live 8 extravaganza(*) was kicked off by Britain, not by Africans. Tony Blair put sub-Saharan Africa at the top of his PR agenda several months ago: as a priority for Europe (Britain holds the EU presidency from July 1st) and as a PR trick for George Bush to tart up his (disastrous) image.
However, the real, if untold, reason for all that hoopla about "poor Africa" is that China/Asia has been eating away at Europe's interests in Africa... Only yesterday, I watched a TV reportage on French businessmen in West Africa complaining about "unfair" competition by Chinese construction companies.
Of course, European rednecks and Joe Six-Packs are too dumb to figure it out and grouse about their tax monies squandered on African bums... Yet Tony, Chirac and their fellow EU elites know better: if Europe is to keep a foothold in Africa --and the geopolitical influence that goes with it-- it had better find a way to "get involved".... Problem is, Europe is economically exhausted: it lacks the double-digit growth that would allow it to compete with Asia/China in trading with Africa. As for the US, well, Americans are but a bunch of crazy Jesus nuts who are obsessed about capturing Bin Laden and chasing after al-qaeda terrorists... Yanks have nothing valuable to offer to Africa except ever more military bases, military advisors, counter-terrorism experts, sigint stations, etc.
So, you're right: that whole Live 8 hoopla is but a pathetic attempt by Europe to keep a grip on sub-Saharan Africa... before they are completely displaced by the "Chinks".
(*) iol.co.za
From Africa Recovery, Vol.18 #1 (April 2004), page 1
Africa and Asia forge stronger alliances
Expanding cooperation in trade, investment and technical assistance
By Ernest Harsch
In the Senegalese city of Thiès, a new enterprise, "Senbus," is assembling 30-seat buses for the domestic and regional markets. The first units of this first vehicle assembly factory in Senegal rolled out the plant's doors in September 2003, thanks to a partnership between Senegalese investors and Tata International, one of India's largest companies.
The factory is a "proud symbol of South-South cooperation," Indian Foreign Minister Digvijay Singh said at the inauguration ceremony. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade commended the Indian government for "knowing how to convince the Indian private sector to invest in Senegal, a brother country." He noted that such ventures fit the priorities of the continent's New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which stresses collaboration between African and non-African countries. "Forward with the African private sector!" President Wade declared at the close of his speech. "Long live Senegalese-Indian cooperation!"
Senbus is but one example of Senegal's interaction with India. This year, Senegal's largest industrial enterprise, a chemicals manufacturer, is expected to export $155 mn worth of phosphoric acid to that country. Meanwhile, the Indian government is training Senegalese technicians and professionals and is supporting projects in rice, cotton, solar energy and new information technologies. It is exploring the feasibility of building a railway between Senegal's north and south.
The growing ties between Senegal and India reflect a wider trend. Across Africa, more countries are forging new relations with their counterparts in developing Asia. The examples are numerous:
-- Kampala, the capital of Uganda, hosts a Malaysian Business Centre, set up at the initiative of Malaysian businesses to explore mutual trade and investment opportunities.
-- China has 11 such centres throughout Africa, and over the past three years has given scholarships to more than 7,000 African students.
-- Some 2,000 Vietnamese agricultural and food security specialists are providing training in Benin, Madagascar, the Republic of Congo and Senegal.
-- In 2001, South Africa recorded $5.7 bn in trade with developing Asia, 12 per cent of its world total (19 per cent if Japan were included).
-- That same year, Guinea-Bissau earned more than half of all its export revenues from Asia, primarily through cashew sales to India and Thailand.
Asian countries also have been prominent in efforts to resolve Africa's armed conflicts. With developed countries reluctant to assign troops to UN peacekeeping missions, Asian armies have stepped in to help fill much of the gap. At the very beginning of 2004, there were 15,375 Asian troops, military observers and police posted to the UN's six active peacekeeping missions in Africa, accounting for 43 per cent of the total. In Sierra Leone, Asian peacekeepers comprise more than half.
Compared with just a decade ago, Asia now looms larger in Africa's field of vision. "For historical reasons, we used to pay attention only to Western countries," notes Mr. Kheri Iddi Milao, acting chief of the Zanzibar Bureau of Foreign Affairs, in Tanzania. "Now this has changed. We are shifting our eyes to Asia."
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