Africa’s connection and relationship with the West is an asymmetrical one which has cost the continent positive and sustainable developments in the political, economic and social areas.
Development aid has become counterproductive on the continent. Contrary to the intended purpose of development aid, such efforts from the West continue to cause more harm than good when only one side gains which contributes to the downfall of people.
Africa is a ‘world’ economy on its own, capable of producing raw materials, minerals (it has done so since the beginning of time, even today), products and services. The continent has approximately 1, 5 Billion people. The impact of colonialism, and the subsequent relationship and exchange between Africa and the West has seen the continent moved from post independent political and economic hope for prosperity to despair and dependence on the West. This dependence in political processes and economic development and sustainability has continued to preserve the continent as a poor and devastated region of the globe. Even foreign aid with conditions for Africa which, according to the west, should help steer Africa off poverty and underdevelopment has produced the opposite effect.
There is no need for Europe to just listen and show a lot of flexibility towards African states political, economic, social and technological interests in trade development and cooperation agreements, bilateral agreements and in EPAs, especially towards the economic powerhouses of Africa. Europe views Africa as one great exploitation opportunity in terms of raw materials, minerals, labours, semi-finished products. Africa is the second most populous continent on the earth which economically means that it is a huge market of people and repeat sales potential.
Economic gains from Africa can be viewed in entirety in financial terms of gains for its investors or global capitalists (G8) who subsequently and dynamically share in asymmetrical and complex methods and in real time through complex political and economic relationships based on multilateral relations and engagements.
An essential requirement for African growth and real development by African states needs consistent and concerted effort in terms of conditioning all returns from trade and commerce to remain within African economies to counter set the transactional loss on resource sale. This time lag will enable positive economic gains to be realised which over time can constitute sufficient capital to fund African states real growth and development. In the same vein, certain concessions are not being ceded to by Europeans.
African economies generate more money through economy side valves (mining companies, multinationals, international retail chains, tourism, travel and the black market) which governments can control directly for structured use. African states industrialisation lies in their ability to trade between each other (within Africa) in a stronger and meaningful manner than with the international economy (mainly Europe) and use these gains to chart forward in gaining new world markets which would give Africa and its states considerable economic power to tip the skewed international trade system. Internal trade in Africa is an indigenous factor that can be manipulated to any extent (within reason, of course). Alemazung (2010:62) identified that International factors affecting governments, states and politics in Africa are exogenous components which can be regarded as playing a significant role (positively and negatively) in the unfolding of socio-economic and political developments on the continent. These factors are presented in the form of a post-colonial colonialism: that is, the political and economic relationship between post-colonial Africa and the West have the same underpinnings and meet the same objective like the relationship of the colonial period: which was based on absolute control over Africa and its human and material resources and the nourishment Western industries and economic with Africa’s produce and markets. The exploitative and asymmetric character of this relationship has far reaching effects which weighs down the development on the continent negatively. It is time that Africa and its states carved its place in the sun, in this modern age by standing their ground and advancing forward.
