Africa's Path To Economic Independence

Africa's Path to Economic Independence

After half a century of decolonization, Africa remains mostly dependent on its former colonial powers for economic sustenance and assistance. Political independence has yet to materialize into economic independence. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah famously once declared "Africa must unite or perish." History has shown what he said many decades ago to be true. He believed that if the continent were to survive, Africa must become a united force under the sentiment of national progress. Some have argued the time has never been this ripe, since Africa's post-independence leaders dreamed of continental unity. Between 1965-1985 there were sixty successful military coups in Africa, that is an average of two every year. Today, democracy, however currently flawed and imperfect in some regions of the continent is increasingly the norm. The integration project which generation after generation of people on the continent have long cherished should no longer remain an elusive goal. There are two main obstacles preventing Africa from entering the phase of self-reliant development: Irrational fragmentation from a casual dividing of the continent into incoherent real estates of the Africans and dependence on foreign donors to finance development. People on the continent today understand better than ever before that their small economies can only improve and compete if they permit free movements of people, goods, services and knowledge through their borders. The fact is that none of the countries in post-colonial Africa is economically, socially, and politically standing steady and making the sort of progress one could describe seriously as developmental, so reason behooves continental and economic integration. The only way Africa can become a force to be reckoned with is to bring together its vast resources and dismantle its artificial boundaries. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah referenced this issue in his address to his fellow comrades that just as they understood the shaping of their national destinies required each of them their political independence, so they must recognize that their economic independence resides in their African union and requires the same concentration upon the political achievement. In other words, political independence is not enough to rid the continent of the consequences of colonial rule. The existing boundaries of 54 nation states in Africa today, are by and large a direct product of the machinations of the Berlin Conference of 1884, which partitioned the continent among the European powers. It is a great folly for people to continue to cherish and embrace such artificial boundaries drawn to serve the political and economic interests of others. Africa is still a sleeping economic giant despite its many decades of being exploited by other forces. Africa is the future because it has its natural resources almost virgin unlike other parts of the world. The detractors who take the continent's gold and diamonds in exchange for guns are busy exploiting to the extent of foolishly committing atrocities in some regions of the continent. If Africa remains divided or balkanized, the exploitation will continue. The hoi polloi on the continent can see hope in fighting abject poverty, corruption and mismanagement by bringing their vast resources together. Leaders on the continent who feel too important to relinquish political power to give way to unity have outlived their usefulness. The masses must speak for unity and push aside such decadent leaders.

Source: Africa's Path to Economic Independence