I said I won’t do that anymore, but I’m reading all sorts of things about Africa these days. African literature, books about Africa that were not written by Africans and doctoral dissertations. It will be interesting to see what I think of all these books when I meet Africa face to face.
Right now, my focus is on the so-called “concern” of the white people, the descendants of the colonialists who brought Africa to the level it is at and are directly responsible for the hunger and diseases that are rampant there. Also, directly, or indirectly, for the conflicts that are happening right now in more than thirty locations in Africa.
At the same time, I follow the news related to the joke called environment and the protection of endangered species. There is not much difference in behavior of those who come from the East and offer help to the local population. Although the latter are much more honest. If nothing else, they are not trying to hide that their own interest comes first, and the benefit for African people comes as a collateral.
Did you know that the West has invested over 2.5 billion dollars in the last five decades in aid for Africa. And yet, they have not managed to provide cheap medicines which would cut in halve the mortality of children under five years of age?
For every ten billion dollars that come to Africa from the West, eleven come out of Africa. Westerners mostly justify that fact with the corruption mentality of Africans who are in charge of distribution, the only thing they are forgetting is that corruption has two ends. At one end are those receiving bribes, but at the start are those giving bribes.
Over a hundred organizations for the environment and endangered species protection are currently active in Africa. Mostly white people from Western countries who, of course, know how to do it. Black people have been living there for thousands of years and they haven’t screwed up the environment or exterminated any species, but heck, one can never tell.
Now let’s not get into aid for agriculture and industrialization, which are conditioned by changes that must be made in political systems, human rights, gender equality… And let’s skip “apolitical” NGOs, I’m sick of them.
The Chinese are at least building some roads and railways for Africans, building factories and opening mines. Of course, it is for its their own sake and their own earnings, but the Africans also have a real benefit. The infrastructure remains, if nothing else (although, that infrastructure needs to be maintained) and jobs are created. And they are not making any terms. They do exploit the labor force, people often work in impossible conditions, but the same applies to the Chinese workers they bring with them. Damn it, that’s how they built an empire and a force on the same level Americans are at (who also built an empire on the backs of others and their own unfortunates).
Sounds familiar?
Trust me, I’m going to paint myself with shoe polish when I go down there.
(I don’t have my photos yet, I have to borrow them. This one is from https://www.quora.com/)
