Europe And Her Allies Causes Poverty In Africa – Not Population Explosion
October 06, 2020 1338
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The
idea or theory that poverty in Africa is as a result of population explosion is
partly false. This ideology has been spread and promoted by European and
American governments, and organizations through their media, and the whole
world, especially African states have bought the lie.
Africa's
population is not the reason for poverty in Africa. Africa has the resources
(human, land, and natural) to feed and provide for her population for thousands
of years to come. If the population was a disadvantage and the cause for poverty,
then countries like China would not have been so economically strong that they
now challenge America for the throne of “Best Economy”.
Africa's
poverty is as a result of centuries of European and American adventure in the
continent. Foreign powers and companies for more than 1000 years have set up
shop in Africa, milking her of her human and natural resources.
There
are numerous ways which the adventure of the white man has affected Africa, and
is continuously making her poor. Below we will outline the direct and indirect
causes of poverty in Africa:
SLAVERY
Many
people in the world, especially Caucasians, have downplayed the effects
of slavery in Africa. They expect Africans to simply forget and move on.
But how does Africa move on when the after-effects of almost 1000years of
invasions and slavery is still evident in many African nations.
To
solidify the fact that slave trade is partly responsible for Africa's underdevelopment,
a quick look at the different parts of Africa where slaves were taken from is
important. Any unbiased and keen eye will observe that the poorest regions of
Africa today, are the areas from which the largest
number of slaves were collected
over the last 1000years.
Slavery
reduced the population of Africa by half. Those who were taken in their
millions were vital to the economy of Africa, through their various skills in
trade. And after hundreds of years, this created a vacuum - one that is still
yet unfilled. Women and younger men took on the jobs of those sold into slavery
- this led to less productivity, and in turn dealt a huge blow to the economy
of many regions in Africa.
A
study carried out by Nuun (2010), fully gave the quantitative results of the
effect of slavery on Africa's economic development. The calculations of the
study initially noted that the mean level of average per capita income of
African nations is $1,834 (measured in 2000), while that of the rest of the
world is $8,809. The figures for Africa are even lower than that of many
developing countries, whose average per capita income is $4,868.
According
to this study, if slavery had not happened, 72% of the average income gap
between Africa and the rest of the world would be none existent today. Also,
there is a humongous 99% gap in income between Africa and the rest of the
continents of the world. This 99% income gap would not have existed if there
was no slavery. So, it is safe to say that Africa's underdevelopment is as a
direct influence of slavery; and if not for slavery and European and Arab
invasions, Africa would have been a first world continent, with some of the
best economies.
Also,
one of the major negative effects of slavery, which leads to poverty in Africa, is the
disintegration of political structures and entities. This destruction of
political structures, in turn, led to weaker ethnic groups, who became subject
to the struggle for survival by various ethnic groups. The ethnic
fragmentation also led to prejudice and nepotism, which in turn promotes
incompetency in governance.
KILLING OF MILLIONS OF AFRICANS
The
mass murder of
millions of Africans, till today, remains a heavy blow to the economy of
Africa. When we consider that wealth and economies are built over time, by
descendancy, we would fully understand the gap that was created when Europeans
and Arabs pillaged and murdered Africans. Those who were killed were the middle
and upper class – fathers, mothers, uncles, aunties, chiefs, soldiers, members
of local law courts, and everyone whose vocation and skill contributed to the economy
of his community.
Their
deaths meant that their skills and knowledge were not transferred to the
younger generation. The younger ones were left to fend for themselves with
others in the community. Although the average African child belonged to the community,
you still can’t remove the importance of a father and mother figure, and the
grooming that comes with it.
Over
human history, civilizations have risen to great heights because of the
individual and collective efforts of the people. Inventions that were
discovered by one man has lifted various ethnic nationalities in Africa. So,
imagine the number of inventions and breakthroughs which were snuffed out by
killing inventors, scientists, and scholars among many others in Africa.
Till
today, Africa has not recovered from the millions of its people killed due to
European and Arab adventures on the black continent.
LOOTING OF RESOURCES THROUGH CONQUEST
African
kingdoms and empires lost (and continue to lose) lands, gold, mineral, and
natural resources, treasures, and ancient artifacts to Europe, Arabia, America,
and recently Asia. When one calculates the value of the looted treasures and resources of
Africa, it would be clear that no continent of the world
would have been as rich as Africa if Europe and Arabia didn’t invade Africa.
Even
in the next 500 years, Europe, America, Asia, and Arabia cannot completely pay back what was/is stolen from Africa.
Till
today, Africa’s gold, silver, and diamonds, running into hundreds of trillions
of dollars are sitting in the treasury of foreign empires and governments. If
that gold alone, is giving back to Africa, it will back a unified African
currency, and make Africa the strongest continent on the face of the earth.
Africa
should be the one sending relief materials and aid to other nations of the
world, not the other way around. But after over 500 years of looting, European
and Arabian nations now boast of a better economy, and in turn, now blames
Africa’s re-emerging population as the reason for her poverty. They should hide
their heads in shame, when they discuss Africa because the backwardness Africa
faces now, is a direct result of foreign greed and looting.
CONTINOUS MINING OF NATURAL AND MINERAL RESOURCES WITH HELP OF CORRUPT POLITICIANS
All
over Africa today, there is
aggressive mining and extraction of mineral and natural resources by foreign
corporations, governments, and entities.
And this is aided by corrupt African politicians. Over time, the good
politicians who have Africa’s interest at heart have been ousted or killed by
foreign initiative and this leaves only the corrupt ones who will do the
bidding of their save masters in Europe, America, Arabia, and Asia.
Today,
there are various mining companies extracted crude oil, cobalt, gold, Platinum,
Silver, Iron ore, Copper, Cobalt, diamond, Bauxite, Lithium, and over 100
minerals from various African countries. And the worst part is that the
indigenous communities who own those resources have nothing to show for it.
Their resources are forcefully taken and when they protest, the foreign companies
and governments use the politicians and army to kill and suppress their call for
equity.
So
how won't Africa be poor when her resources are stolen as we speak? These things
are not rocket science, and foreign press ad governments shouldn’t make use feel
we are stupid. This has nothing to do with population, and so Africans should
be allowed to give birth and nurture a new and robust generation. What the
foreigners should do is try their best to leg got of African resources.
COLONIAL TASK BY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
As
at the time this article was written, France still
controls the central banks and 85% of the national reserves of 14 African
countries since 1961. France also collects what it called "colonial
tax" from the countries, and still holds them by the leash, thereby
milking them of the resources that would better their economies.
These African countries are Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
It
is heartbreaking to know that these nations are compelled and forced to pay
"colonial tax" to France. They are also obliged to deposit 50% of
their foreign exchange reserves at the Bank of France. What is more worrisome
and heartbreaking is that they can only use 15% of their foreign exchange yearly,
or are forced to pay extra to use their own money.
Now
what kind of twisted and sadistic relationship is that? How won't these African
nations be poor?
These
are the reasons why such African nations are poor, not population outbreaks. You
cannot maliciously control the entire finances of a country and expect them to be
economically buoyant. No!!!
CONCLUSION
As a matter of fact, Africa’s population is a threat to Europe, and they have always found ways to try to reduce the number of black Africans. Africa should be allowed to grow at its own rate, and Europe and America should stop dictating the policies that are meant to drive the African economies. Africans have a right to have a large population and also use her resources to better the lives of that population.