Jonathan Power has an article in the International Herald Tribune, one of the best articles I’ve read today. Its subject is Africa and it focuses on the amount of money from foreign direct investment from China and others that is flowing throughout the continent despite of its so-called poverty. Sugary excerpt:
As Chinese and Indian investors almost pour into Africa one wonders if their European and North American competitors have woken up to the fact that Rip Van Winkle is waking up in Africa.
The fact that a top Chinese banker brackets Africa with Asia is one more sign that the Asians themselves see what is happening in Africa as a repeat of what happened to them 20 and 30 years ago.
They can see the potential while Western commentators, their spurious words tasting of sour grapes, point an accusing finger at China in particular, accusing it of planning to rape Africa as the Europeans did a century ago.
This is not rape, by any stretch of the imagination. This is business opportunity. Africa in many countries is on the way to booming and Africa is looking for marriages of convenience with willing investors in railroads, toll roads, ports, motorbike and cement factories. Already there are over 900 Chinese companies working in Africa.
Power succeeds in demonstrating with his article is that Africa is not a doomed continent that is condemned to poverty and to underdevelopment. The key question remains however whether there will ever be a way to solve the inequality question by enabling more Africans to share the wealth of the continent. The main issue is that very few Africans and too many foreigners are benefiting from the resources of Africa and this fact makes them value stability above everything else instead of addressing more urgent matters through means that may cause instability in the short run, but then lead to more prosperity for all Africans.
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