Editorial
Exporting Culture & Economic Wars from America
Although a direct correlation may never be established, one might not be too far off if they blamed the Bush II administration for the increase in HIV/AIDS rates in parts of Sub Saharan Africa. Between 1983 and 2000, countries like Uganda promoted the ABC strategy. People were encouraged to Abstain from sex until they were responsible or in monogamous relationships; others were ‘encouraged’ to Be Faithful or ‘zero graze’ and lastly, Condoms were heavily promoted and equally available. And then George W. Bush won the 2000 election – bringing with him a Conservative ideology that looked at condoms as the essence of debauchery.
Suddenly, African countries had to grapple with a change of strategy. Shortly after 2001, because most of the funding for HIV/AIDS campaigns came from abroad [and especially from America], Condoms were considered not as important as Abstinence. Young people were compelled to abstain from sex – and alongside that, came certain Christian philosophy around purity and virginity. To get more in depth detail, just look at this report from my friend and former colleague Rev. Kapya Kaoma.
The point to this beginning is that the U.S. and other foreign donors sometimes intentionally or unintentionally export some of their own politics to the rest of the world just like the British and other European countries did when they sought spheres of influence.
But that is not the most galling aspect to this whole America thing: The shenanigans that are rife in the U.S. Congress would make anyone with a modicum of common sense blow a gasket! Why would Congress not renew the Third Country Fabric Provision of the Africa Growth Opportunities Act [AGOA], the most portentous U.S. – Africa legislation? On August 2, 2012 – a few days before this provision was meant to expire – both the House and the Senate passed HR.5986 and S.3326 respectively [Both the Upper and Lower chambers have to pass the same bill under different names]. Why this was left unresolved until the very last possible opportunity is not necessarily surprising to those knowledgeable of congressional politics.
For starters, the African agenda is not necessarily a priority to many of the American legislators. Or to put it another way, there are just many more powerful lobbies like the Israeli or the Chinese ones. The Africans have not gotten round to being proactive and assertive enough to get what they want from the Americans. On the other hand, these are precarious times for the Africans. The Obama Administration cannot be seen to be doing too much for Africa or else it will be used as political fodder for the Conservatives [and even those who say that the U.S. President was not born here].
And just like that – because of these small things [like a change in ideology or because of the way U.S. politics works] – the lives of more than 300,000 Africans were on the line. Of course, the women and men who work in Africa’s textile industry and on AGOA related factories could have found another life for themselves if they’d lost their jobs because of non renewal of the Third Country Fabric Provision. Of course, again, the U.S. Congressmen and Senators did not necessarily think of how their actions were going to influence the lives of the Africans. After all, did George Bush II not increase funding for health activities with his President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)?
All this notwithstanding, it just might be necessary for African countries to do two things about how they can prevent their people from bearing the brunt of America’s cultural and political pendulum. The first of them is developing their own powerful lobby groups. And this does not mean hiring one of those boutique lobby firms on K Street in Downtown Washington D.C. No. What African countries need to do is use their numbers – like happens in the U.N. General Assembly – to come together and have some kind of unified spokesperson or face. If one firm or one group spoke for all Africans, it might help in the channelling of important facets from the continent. If this happened, things like the non timely renewal of the Third Country Fabric might never happen or cultural wars will be staved from the source – here in America.
The second and even more important thing African countries have to do is to start the process of individually or collectively preparing their countries for the onslaught of foreign direct investment [FDI] from the U.S. in the medium term. Various American businesses and investors can see what the Chinese are doing on the continent and will gladly jump in bed with the next big thing. Uganda has oil. Kenya has oil. South Sudan has oil. The Democratic Republic of Congo has everything. Rwanda has gorillas and a proactive government, and Angola is second to Nigeria in oil production. And it is only a matter of time before the tipping point is reached and one of these countries provides businessmen with the perfect blend of an investment environment and an endless stream of risk mitigation facets.
If each country is ready or starts the process of preparing infrastructure, setting up facilities to train potential workers and presents even a facade of political reform and stability, there might be hope for Africa, after all. Not only will the continent export its own culture to the U.S. and other countries; we will benefit from the economic attributes once and for all.
Dennis Matanda,
Editor – editor@thehabarinetwork.com