COLONIALISM ALL OVER AGAIN - Alicia Jones

Colonialism was supposed to have officially ended decades ago on the African continent but a more subtle form of colonialism is taking place. Previously, African countries were colonised using force and coercion but the modern day coercion is done using debts. Many African countries are heavily indebted to Western countries who are willing to offer more 'aid' which is often conditional increasing their debt burden.

Political unrest is a recurrent phenomenon in many African countries, the genesis of which oftentimes can be traced to external influences from the West. Civil wars have been prolonged because of undue interference from several countries whose special interests would be advanced by the war being prolonged. Guerrilla activities are often sponsored for this reason leading to considerable carnage, poverty and hunger.

In recent times, there has been much talk about 'fair trade' with developing countries. The question is who determines what is fair trade and what is not? The EU pursues its Common Agricultural Policy which heavily subsidises its farmers’ produce thus making these products cheaper and pushing farmers from developing countries out of the world market. Developing countries’ access to western markets is restricted, yet at every turn, the West tries to negotiate access to African markets. Where is the 'fair trade' in this?

The G-8 has earmarked $25 billion aid to be given to Africa but of what benefit is this to the poor child on streets of Africa. Rather than give out aid which bring about more indebtedness, or is conditional on Western countries gaining access to African markets; aid should be given in form of making anti-retroviral and malaria drugs available at subsidised costs to these countries. This would help reduce the scourge of these diseases on the continent.

Programmes to help eradicate/reduce illiteracy in African counties will go a long way in helping to make its people self-reliant and will reduce their dependency on aid. When Africa is no longer dependent on the West for financial aid, only then can its people say that they are truly independent; but only then we remain slaves of the West.