Hannes Wessels,
The only country is sub-Saharan Africa not to have been the recipient of USAID is Eritrea. For all the rest, the ‘Trump Effect’ and the end of unconditional American kindness, is probably going to have more impact on Africa than any other continent. This is because African countries are the most dependent on outside assistance. On the face of it, this dramatic shift in US policy could not have come at a worse time.
Most indicators show that, apart from very few possible exceptions like Namibia, Rwanda and Botswana, Africans are poorer now than ever before and home-grown solutions seem elusive as always. The same chronic problems persist; poor governance, bloated bureaucracies, corruption, civil strife and in the words of Donald Kaberuka, former president of the African Development Bank, ‘demography is galloping everywhere,’ making African urbanisation ‘the fastest in human history.’ Added to all this is the increasing balkanisation of the sub-continent, as central governments find their capacity to project power and therefore control, within their polities, increasingly constrained. Sectarian violence is escalating.
Against this background, the stark truth is that there is little to show for the massive injection of foreign, mainly Western financial largesse, over the last 70 years so one, possibly positive conclusion can be drawn from this disaster, and that is that money alone, is not what African needs to reform and prosper.
A novel approach is urgently required. And much as they would like to think they can ignore this unfolding humanitarian disaster, the Europeans, and to a lesser extent, the Americans, cannot, because millions of desperate people are looking for new homes and it is to Europe and America where most of them are heading.
Probably no country better exemplifies Africa’s plight than the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo). Arguably the richest on earth, it is also the poorest, and all the above-mentioned ailments apply.
The ‘government’ of President Felix Tshisekedi seems to have lost control of the country beyond the city limits of Kinshasha. This failure has created a power vacuum throughout most of the rest of this huge estate which has been filled by various militias led by warlords backed by Uganda, Rwanda and various shadowy financiers who thrive on exploiting the opportunities presented in failed states such as this. God alone knows how much aid money has disappeared into this particular black hole, but it is a big number, and the end result is something resembling Joseph Conrad’s original descriptions in his classic, ‘The Heart of Darkness.’
But with little or no prospect of any further financial support from America, and Western European countries facing their own budgetary constraints, the Congolese president has obviously been forced into a corner and decided on a new approach, which, if followed elsewhere, might prove a watershed moment in the history of post-colonial Africa.
As I write, it is reported, a high-level team from Kinshasha is in Washington meeting officials from the State Department and the Pentagon to discuss a possible solution which pivots on inviting an American intervention in return for preferential access to minerals and mines, which, it is hoped, will bring some semblance of peace and prosperity to this beleaguered country.
The tough nut to crack is the militant lawlessness that presently blights the land, which the United Nations forces have failed so miserably to contain. Hard to see President Trump, aiming at being a ‘peace president’, committing US troops to the fight but reports indicate this issue might be addressed by the involvement of Erik Prince, former CEO of the Blackwater group that played a prominent role in Afghanistan and other Middle-East conflict zones.
There is some irony in this development. At the same time, in South Africa, ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula rails against the Trump administration, accusing it of pursuing a ‘neo-colonialist … imperialist’ agenda, adding fuel to the diplomatic fire already burning. But Mbalula clearly ignores the fact that South African troops are effectively held hostage in the eastern Congo, forsaken by the powers that be in Pretoria, and their best hope of returning home safely might be in the hands of the American ‘imperialists,’ Mbalula castigates.
Only time will tell how the Tshisekedi initiative will play out, but regardless, the Congolese president might be setting an encouraging precedent.
The way forward for Africa might be to marginalise meddlesome bureaucracies that stifle free enterprise, and free up their resources to the private sector from the developed world to be used as a bargaining tool in return for assistance on the ground in the form of qualified people who can improve the quality of governance, and provision of more security in areas plagued by violence.
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In my humble opinion the solution to the problems in central and southern Africa come down to dictatorial leadership. Africa needs a somewhat principled benevolent dictator who is manifestly pro west; a free market capalilist with strong beliefs in property rights. He/her must be incorruptible and strong enough to truck no BS. They will manipulate and use the law to govern and to bankrupt the opposition. Lee Kuan Yew was famous for saying that it was better to bankcrupt the opposition, the alternative was to put them in jail and turn them into political martyrs. It requires having the Singapore Supreme Court judges firmly in his pocket. The judges ruled fast and hard in favour of the leader. In other words a leader like the late Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. I was tempted to say Donald J. Trump but I realise that a small proportion of this readership demographic are too far TDS to save. Lee Kuan Yew was my hero, now DJT has superceded to the role.
Dream on Hannes, what or which capable group of enlightened people will take on setting up a workable government or basic system to enlighten the present corrupt regimes that are currently running things? The DRC in particular is too difficult to imagine, l don’t think there are enough roads to get around the country. The main access through the Forrest is the river. No use flying over the place you need to be on the ground and work with the population face to face!
I hear you Mike. And fear you are correct.
A good report Hannes…thought provoking !
Not a bad idea Kinshasa. Like implementing the voluntary receivership of a country. Certainly, this idea cannot do worse than the current African status quo.
By 1965, 36 African countries had gained independence from the apparently arduous, terrible and completely unacceptable colonial rule. Little did Africans know that the cabal was setting Africa up for total failure so that its resources could be plucked off at their leisure, for cents in the dollar. The last thing the globalists wanted was a stable, successful African state. Africa complied as if following their script, but then it was likely that the “leaders” were paid to, as is the case in SA today.
The wave of decolonization began in earnest after World War II, with many nations achieving independence in the late 1950s and early 1960s. For example, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to gain independence in 1957, and 17 countries achieved independence in the pivotal year of 1960 alone.
By 1965 NOT ONE of these countries was operating as a democracy – coups and autocratic undemocratic capture was the order of the African day, and the demise of Africa from workable, profitable nations to the current dog’s breakfast of failed states and demolished economies began.
It was for this reason Ian Smith in 1965 was adamant that Rhodesia should remain unaffected by this seemingly ubiquitous inability to run a country properly in Africa. Interestingly enough Smith had a shadow cabinet made up of black Rhodesians who were being trained to effectively run that now totally destroyed state, the erstwhile bread basket of central Africa. UDI was declared against the treacherous British government, completely manipulated by the aforementioned sociopathic WEF acolytes.
The experimental “training” that was in progress in Rhodesia before the RF was forced by John Vorster’s treachery to agree and accede to the destructive demands of the perfidious albion, was never given a realistic chance to prove its possible worth. We will never know if the idea of Rhodesians at that time, would have worked to produce the only country in Africa where the people were ruled according to the laws and constitutions of the land, BY THE PEOPLE, and not some sleazy, self-serving, self-aggrandising lying cheating arsehole. As is the case in all but a very few countries on this continent today.
I believe it might actually have done the trick, and maybe this receivership plan has merit?
John we will never know now what might have worked but we sure know what didn’t.
Thanks Hannes – you posts are always on point.
As for the American involvement in Congo – this is definitely being considered by the Trump administration. As other parts of Africa and S America start to deflect the Trump effect, by stopping critical supplies of minerals, Congo is being overrun with power hungry hoards, and this can only get worse for the regime there. With American help, this would hopefully offer peace in the region, with a threat of American war machine. Would this start another Vietnam, or Afghanistan? Perhaps, except, this is not a humanitarian issue, but a business deal.
The ideal outcome would be peace and prosperity – for as long as the minerals last. When they are all finished, there will be nothing left to fight over.
Yes Steve how they address the lawlessness is the big problem. Trump won’t want boots on the ground and Americans in body-bags but maybe they can bring in the ‘Privateers’? But a tougher country to police is hard to imagine.
Thank you for your careful description of the condition of Africa and a possible early phase of progress, at least in the DRC. While your comments regarding Trump and end of the USAID “Free Lunch” , if their representatives are successful with Trump, this may provide a useful model affording the Dark Continent a road to progress. We will see.
A very well written article Hannes. My head aches for what was done to Rhodesia and how correct Mr. Smith’s predictions were of what would be to come – not just for Rhodesia but also for the continent of Africa.
Donald Trump has spoken of accelerated immigration extended to White farmers in SA interested in making the USA their new home. I do hope they will take advantage of this offer.