The Complex Relationship Between Africa and the West

In reality, things are not really as complex as people think they are. Many people think that any partnership between the West and much of Africa is too difficult to understand – they do not understand us, the Africans say; they cannot get anything right, some in the West say. But when you think about it, one needs to start the process of dealing with this complex relationship by looking at what both the Africans and the West want from each other.

In the current dynamic between the two entities, one thing stands out clearly: business. The Africans have demographics on their side. Not only are most of their people below the age of 30, an even bigger number is below the age of 20 – and they are, mostly, urbanizing, hungry and incredibly influenced by the West. What do they want, you may ask. Well, its pretty simple. They want to be rich. They have seen the videos. They have seen the Hollywood movies. They want the big cars, the mobile phones and the glitzy lifestyle. They do not understand why they cannot have all those things that are within reach on the silver screen.

The West – pushed by their businesses – would like to acquire new spheres of influence. Colonialism may be an old concept, but capitalism still has the lay of the land. Does it make sense to try and do business with the Africans? Of course it does. It makes sense for anyone to go to Ivory Coast, purchase lots and lots of raw cocoa, bring it to the Netherlands, produce chocolate and export this to the rest of the world. There is a cocoa shortage right now, and so, who would not want to take advantage of the situation. We could talk about the Democratic Republic of Congo, but movies have made this point over and over again. And just like video games are helping chart the course for warfare of the future, movies can predict – with near certainty – that there are too many hands controlling the strings that keep places like Congo in their current situation.

Invariably, it is really unfair for anyone to blame certain conspiracy theories for keeping Africa behind. Like we have argued before, it really does not make sense for the West to keep Africa in the doldrums. In fact, if we are not mistaken, the Europeans and the Americans would rather deal with a partner that speaks their language, can actually negotiate on the merits and especially deliver when they say they will. This’ how global supply chains and distribution networks operate. It does not make sense for anything to think that there are certain business men sitting in a room trying to keep poor people poor. But like they say, capitalism has to find a way to survive – and if there are weak conditions in any part of the world, they must be taken advantage of.

Which brings us to this point: It does not help us to say this – but the fault has to lie on the African leaders themselves. Of course, there are so many leaders doing things to help their people. However, how do you explain the issues that are going on in Nigeria? That the Nigerian military is responsible for over 8,000 extra-judicial deaths in the northern part of that country is incredulous. That Uganda is not able to conduct a simple execution of a fully functional electoral commission is sacrilegious. That Ethiopia can have one telephone operator is simply unfair to Africa’s second most populous nation. The list goes on and on and on.

The world is ready to do business with Africa. And we may have communication problems and may have what seem like insurmountable issues, but if the continent is currently negotiating the outlines of a continental free trade agreement; if the Tripartite Arrangement of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) is about to become a fully functional free trade area – surely, people ought to find solutions in the African sunset.

To Be Continued.