Africa is definitely not a shithole!
By Farai Tinashe Munoriarwa
Africa a shithole!, a lot to be desired from that statement and whether the person who blatantly said it has knowledge of his whereabouts and world at large. In many ways, history can prove that Africa is very far from being the profanity uttered by President Donald Trump as history informs us of that the first and oldest university is indeed in Africa, (Timbuktu to be specific), while the Americas which comprises of both North and South America have thrived and are thriving due to the people of Africa.
The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade which saw the transportation of the African people mainly from West and Central Africa as form of cheap labour to work on their sugar, tobacco, cotton, coffee and cocoa plantations. The means of production were evidently in their favour but the mode of production was from Africa. This evidently shows that the importance of Africans to the heritage of the Americas because they were used to assure the very means of subsistence in order to survive and enhance social being.
The enrichment of the West has always been at the expense of the African continent, from striping Africa of its human resource and now its raw materials. Economically, it is renowned that the raw materials acquired from Africa fuel economies of the West. Is it still safe Africa is shithole?
Transnational companies such as Shell, British Petroleum (BP), Total, Chevron and ExxonMobil speak highly of the African continent due to the oil fields in countries like Angola, Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria and Libya. The companies mentioned Shell, Chevron and ExxonMobil are American, they too would not agree with the profaned statement articulated by President Trump.
There is a serious need for Africa in the operations and structures of the global economy, even as much as it may not seem so. Looking closely with an analytic scope one can safely see the West meddling in the politics of African countries in order to secure regime change and protect their self-interests. The scramble for Africa was never done and it still exists with other players fast emerging and taking over the prior scramblers. Africa a shithole, I beg to differ!
The potential that is held by the African continent cannot be achieved with a negative mindset being pursued and leaders such as President Trump purporting about Africa. The security dilemma which shows the absence of Africa on the United Nations Security Council speaks volumes of how Africa is far from being a shithole! The permanent members of the Security Council specifically the Western countries have adamantly blocked the request presented by the African Union for Africa to be part of the Security Council. Why block the reforms if Africa is a shithole?
Food for thought, the fact that the second largest continent in the world which is the home to over 1.2 billion people does not have a say in the matters of its own security yet it is home to the richest mining nation, South Africa which has more than US$2.5 trillion in mineral reserves, deserving the title of world’s richest nation by commodity wealth (https://www.911metallurgist.com/blog/the-5-richest-mining-nations-in-the-world).
The advent of globalization has allowed for no country and individual to be an island hence the rise in migration patterns across the globe. As individuals migrate in seek of the American Dream, transnational companies migrate in pursuit of the rich wealth bestowed in the mother Africa. Africa is definitely not a shithole!!
