George, I don't know the nationality of Anver Versi but it matters. If he/she is a westerner, the chances are that his/her message will be accepted and given credibility. However, if he is African or a Third Worlder, I am afraid that he/she will not be taken seriously. Most Africans in the development field have been saying the same thing for years without much success. I have had several exchanges on a private basis with some members of the L on this topic and I hope that some of us Africans will realise sooner, I hope, rather than later, that the African condition is reversable. Thank you for the posting. Sidi Sanneh >From: 1Cool Dude <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Fwd: Praise Africa, dont bury it >Date: Sat, 29 Jul 2000 01:30:06 GMT > >Africans are justifiably angry over the blanket slandering of their >continent. Over the last few months, Africa has been pilloried by the >western press over events in Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone, and the whole >of Africa has been termed a ‘basket case’, a ‘hopeless continent’. > >This loaded reporting is not simply an unacceptable blow to an >African’s pride and self-esteem, it threatens to wreck African >economies. Who would want to invest in a hopeless continent? Who will spend >holidays in a basket case Africa? > >But even if others are not, let us be rational. Is there any justification >to these claims? Let us examine the facts. > >There are 53 states in Africa which is the second greatest land mass >on earth. Sudan alone is larger than the whole of Western Europe; the >DRC is larger than all the European member states combined. If you >could place all European, North American and Latin American states >into Africa, you would still have room to fit the Gulf states. > >If Europe has problems dealing with its minuscule states, imagine the >challenge that governing countries the size of Nigeria, Egypt, Sudan, >the DRC, South Africa poses. If Europe has still come to terms with >its ethnic diversity - despite two world wars in the last century - >imagine the challenges facing leaders of a continent which has a far >greater ethnic diversity in one country, Nigeria, than all of Europe, >North America, South America, the Middle East and some Asian countries >put together. > >If Europe still has economic and employment problems after three >centuries of the colonial era,industrialisation, and trade monopolies, >image the task facing Africa which at independence had practically no >industries, few schools, the worst of possible terms in overseas >trade, and a population that had no opportunity to accumulate >meaningful capital. > >Add to this a burden of debt for loans which many countries were >forced to takeout, the structural adjustment programmes which the IMF >now admits led to increased poverty, and the destructive impact of the >Cold War whose legacy is still being felt in the on-going conflicts in >Angola, Sudan and the DRC. > >Then look at the all the problems that confronted African states at >independence in the 1960s and compare them to the problems Western and >even East European states faced at the same time, you would be >forgiven for thinking that Africa had no chance. It would be like >asking the driver of a beaten-up taxi to enter a Grand Prix contest >against a million pound state-of-the-art Ferrari. No contest > >Yet, incredibly, a surprising number of African states have and are >succeeding against the odds. They may not be in a position to >challenge for the Grand Prix, but the cars they have concocted with >their own means are still on the circuit and registering ever faster >times. > >Botswana and Tunisia have recorded the fastest growth rates in the >world this year. Africa, according to the African Development Bank, >will grow by between 4% and 5% this year. This figure is greater than >for any other region of the world. > >The vast majority of African countries now have democratically elected >governments. African stock markets, despite their modest size, were >the most profitable last year. The return on investment is higher >in Africa than anywhere else in the world. > >Is this the profile of a basket case continent? > >But there is more. Even taking into account African countries in the >slow lane, never has so much formal education been spread so fast to >so many people as in Africa., despite structural adjustment programmes >that have slashed spending on education. Can this really be the >hopeless continent that the critics would have us believe? > >If the Afro-pessimists in the media and elsewhere were to tour Africa >and look at what has been realised instead of what is yet to be >achieved, they might have to eat their words. Since independence, >millions of new class-rooms, housing units, offices and clinics have >been built. Air and seaports have been developed and hundreds of >thousands of kilometres of new roads have been laid. > >Starting from point zero, several African countries, Mauritius and >Tunisia to name just two, have become among the most competitive >industrial centres in the world. > >Are we still talking about ‘basket case’ Africa? > >But the most surprising statistic is still to come. We are told that a >tiny country like Belgium has a greater GDP than scores of African >countries. True, but this is a false comparison. It would be like >comparising the per capita income in Belgium with the per capita >income of Brunei. Using this yardstick, the Belgians would come out as >poor as church-mice! > >Belgium, like many other Western countries has a long history of >industrialisation. In fact, Belgium’s current wealth was founded on >rubber from the Congo. The majority of the working population in >Belgium, over 90%, is engaged in industry or services. This forms the >country’s GDP. > >There is one irreducible economic fact of life. You do not become >wealthy by simply producing primary raw materials. You become wealthy >by working on primary commodities and producing a wide range of products, >i.e. industrialisation. > >So, for Belgium to have a high GDP is nothing unusual. To find our how >well it is doing, you have to compare it to other indusrialised >countries, not to countries in which there is little or no >industrialisation. > >In Africa, the vast majority, some 80%, live a rural life. Most are >subsistence farmers. Their income does not come into the calculations >of national GDP. On average only one percent of Africa’s population >in engaged in industry, compared to 90% of Belgium’s. Thus, Belgium’s >GDP should be 90% higher than Africa’s - but it isn’t. So either >Belgium is performing well below par or Africa is performing exceptionally >well. > >Those Africans who do pay taxes live in the urban areas but on >average, they do not form more than 11% of the population. The >national income derives mainly from commodities whose prices continue >to decline. The only jobs to be found are in the few industries and in >government. It is estimated that fewer than 5% of Africans pay taxes. >The cost of collecting taxes from the further 6% or 7% probably eligible to >pay tax would certainly exceed the amount of tax collected. > >Tiny tax base : > >From this tiny tax base, the government has to finance its budget. A >quarter to a third of national income goes to paying interest on debt. >No wonder African professionals and civil servants are so poorly paid. >Yet they expect and aspire to better lifestyles. No wonder parallel, >corrupt systems develope. > >Africa has few industries because there is no capital base for >industrial growth. Prior to independence Africans were not allowed, by >law in many countries, to accumulate capital. Even today, in countries >like Zimbabwe, the majority are locked out of the mainstream economy >because they cannot obtain title-deeds to the only form of collateral >they have - land. > >Without capital, or the means to accumulate capital, because most >businesses and property were and still are held by expatriate settlers >or commercial communities, the only route out of poverty is through >employment in government. This was the closest most Africans could get >to the commercial flow of their own country. It is hardly surprising >that some used their positions to accumulate capital corruptly. > >Since the government is the main employer, getting yourself or your >party into government becomes a matter of survival. This is why >elections in Africa are such passionate affairs. In other parts of the >world, countries have gone to war over matters of economic survival. >The Gulf war is a case in point. > >But this does not change the basic fact that for most African >countries, income from commodities is declining while their >expenditure, particularly in view of high population growth rates, is >increasing. > >Africa’s problem is making the transition from a suppressed peasant >economy into a modern industrial based one. This involves massive >social, cultural and psychological changes. No continent, not even >Asia, has had to make such sweeping changes, with so little resources >and in such a short time, as Africa. > >To expect this to happen without social and political turmoil is to >expect more than a miracle. Yet, considering the furies that were >unleashed when similar massive changes were made following the Russian >and French revolutions or the World Wars, Africa has come off lightly >by comparison. > >Under such circumstances, it should not have been be possible for >Africa to register any growth at all. To produce more tea, coffee or >cocoa would only drive the price down and make income even worse. >Yet incredibly, African countries have been growing. Of course, growth >is not even but on average, there is real growth. This growth has been >achieved despite Africa having one of the narrowest industrial bases >in the world. It has been also been achieved despite the fact that the >bulk of Africa’s population is still shut out from the world’s >economic mainstream. > >If Africa has been able to achieve so much despite the terrible start >it got at independence, imagine what it will be able to do when the >majority of its citizens are able to join the economic mainstream. > >But the farmer will not abandon his fields to go and look for >non-existent jobs in the city. Jobs will only be created with greater >industrialisation. Industries will only be set up if markets can be >accessed. And markets can only be accessed if the trade barriers on >Africa’s industrial goods are lifted. > >South Africa and other African countries are fighting tooth and nail >to get a bigger share of the global market. They are being fiercely >opposed by some industrialised countries but have the support of >others. > >We believe that sooner rather than later, Africa will win and get the >markets. In the meanwhile, it needs investments to add value to its >products and gear itself up to enter the industrial mainstream. > >Despite its problems, including endemic diseases, wars and famine in >some parts, outright looting of national resources in others, Africa’s >performance from less than a standing start 40 years ago has been >exemplary. Many nations, including the US, are now prepared to invest >substantially in Africa. Some voices, such as those of Jesse Jackson >and even President Clinton, are calling for a Marshal Plan for Africa. >They want to see an end to the sticking-plaster approach to Africa’s >problems. They want to see Africa given a fair opportunity to stand as >an equal in the community of nations. > >Other voices, unfortunately equally powerful, can see nothing good >emerging from Africa. It is therefore our duty, and that of others >with a voice that can be heard, to make sure that Africa’s many >achievements are trumpeted at least as loudly as its shortcomings. > > By Anver Versi > >________________________________________________________________________ >Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- > >To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L >Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------