Africans Live On A Continent Owned by Europeans

By  Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN For Silicon Africa

The Dream of Europeans is to transform the whole continent into South Africa or Kenya, where a white minority owns and controls the local economy, while Africans are just good like consumers or their servants.

The subject is uncomfortable but we need to talk about it, otherwise we will wake up with more Robert Mugabe who is doing a great job redressing centuries of white minority domination and exploitation of Zimbabwean people.

Let’s take a look at South Africa, a country where the white minority makes less than 10% of the population but owns more than 80% South African lands and economy. They didn’t buy those lands.

In South Africa 64% of top senior management positions are filled by whites. 90% of the board of the Central Bank is made of the white minority. 90% of media is in the hands of Whites, who control content, project whiteness (local South African adverts have a 85% White representation) and marginalize and exploit Africans, with the exception of Africans being 86% represented in alcohol adverts. 97% of mainstream South African films are owned, produced and directed by non-Africans.

Africa without Africans is the dream of the local predatory, supremacist white minority.

A recent report  came to challenge the well spread idea that the West is pouring money into Africa through aid without receiving much in return. All in contrary, the report proved that Africa has lost up to $1.4 trillion in illicit financial flows to the West from 1980 to 2009. This amount is 233 times the 60 billions foreign “aid” Africa  supposedly receives every year from the West.

The illicit financial flows involve the transfer of money earned through corruption, bribes, tax evasion, criminal activities and transactions involving contraband goods. In the end, the report concluded  that those illicit financial flow are fast growing and are far exceeding money coming into the continent, therefore seriously undermining the continent’s development.

Now let’s be clear, those illicit  financial flow are organized by the very same foreign people who claim they come to help build Africa, the same people you and me see and meet everyday in Africa. They might be your employers, your friends or neighbors but that doesn’t change the nature of who they are and what they are doing.

Of course the local rich subalterns helping those folks got their big houses and cars, but Africa as a whole has no sustainable future with that model of development.

This is not different from colonial times! but it’s nicely called “Africa is Rising”.

Multinational Corporations are  the New Colonizers in Africa”

- Lord Aikins Adusei

60 years after the fictitious independence declarations, Africa is still controlled by European expatriates, oil companies, military forces, Banks, etc. Some Africans think that is good for Africa. They are the rich subalterns. Some others think Africans must free themselves from that European colonialism, and fight for more local ownership.

Now, comes a country like Kenya, which was not under any apartheid system like South Africa, but most corporations in Kenya have whole foreign boards. Most the country economical assets are in the hand of a tiny white minority helped but a horde of local subalterns.

A Kenyan friend shared with me the background tale: “One only needs to read about the origins and activities of the London Rhodesia Group (Lonrho) formerly run by Tiny Rowland to really appreciate the gravity of the situation in Africa. Lonrho perfected the art of acquiring valuable productive assets across the continent by targeting corrupt leaders with gifts and naive locals with confusing agreements and subterfuge.

One of the greatest beneficiaries of this approach was former president Moi of Kenya who pretty much gave up much of the country’s agricultural and hospitality sector crown jewels in exchange for accounts in the Caymans and gifts for his entourage of sycophants. Think about the major economic activities in Africa – Mining, Oil, Agriculture, Banking,Telecoms – Then think of the companies carrying out these activities – DeBeers, Anglo Ashanti, Shell, BP, Exxon, Barclays, Stanchart, Vodacom, Del Monte…. Get the picture?

Huge tracts of land in sub-saharan africa are owned by foreign agricultural companies paying low wages and repatriating the profits back to the western world in the form of dividends and management fees. The one country that is doing things a little different is Nigeria. A good number of Nigerian companies are bidding for oil services work in newly discovered oil fields in East and Central Africa and I am sure we all know about Aliko Dangote and his conglomerate of companies anchored by his cement production behemoth.” Concluded my friend.

Another Kenya friend commented “I am not sure why. Part of it might be a little bit of the colonial mentality–thinking foreigners are better than Kenyans. Part of it might be the foreigners represent the interests of multinationals that have invested in these companies (certainly the case with subsidiaries of multinationals like Safaricom, Barclays, Standard Chartered et al).”

A third Kenya came in “Look at modern Kenya today, sons of colonial chiefs and collaborators are now rulers and billionaires maintaining the status quo is genetically coded in them. Their children go to the best schools either in Kenya or abroad all run by the white, how can we redeem ourselves!”

Another friend brought to our attention what is called White Code in Africa. He said

“White people stand with the white code. They only praise Black people or go near Blacks who serve their interest.” The latter are in  their medias, at their conferences, receive their Nobel prize and awards. This is how you know those who are working against the continent interest.

Those who refuse to work for them fall under the rule “You are with us or against us”

Angered by what is going on, another one rushed his anger out: “These white people who employed Blacks to do their filthy jobs are more racist than the kkk. They’re in Africa. They know exactly what they’re doing and how the system of racism operates.”

Every time, this subject get on our table of discussion, people points out to me many white people who are good people and are really working to help Africa. And, that’s true.

During a recent discussion, I’ve to write the following message to an Italian friend who don’t believe all white are “Devil with blue eyes!”

“It’s indeed an uncomfortable subject to talk about for all parties involved. The fact is that after 5 centuries, if Europe really wanted to help Africa, Africa should be in better shape.

As a general statement, Europe is only interested in exploitation of Africa. (again this is a general statement, because there are lot of people who are Europeans but really interested to build sane relation with Africans). The problem is that these people don’t matter, which means they neither have the power or access to resource to make any structural or substantial change. They are only individuals with good faith and goodwill, while the western power elite and apparatus is against any real Africa emancipation.

They prefer Africa laying down. It’s easier for them to suck it.

The same nations you are calling for help are in no way interested in Africa recovery or renaissance. The longer Africa is laying down, they better they can suck the blood out the continent and its people.

Our point is the following: What would you think if all decision levels in Switzerland will be held by the Chinese, and all major assets of the country in the hand of Russians. That’s is the case in majority of African countries. This why I wrote Africans live on a continent owned by Europeans. It’s not dependence, but colonization, because it’s a situations where European use brutal military force to maintain corrupted leaders who only will help them exploit the continent.

Africans are now only guest on their own continent.  In fact, there is more to this debate that an email could carry. In conclusion, Africans like any other people need friends, but trust will be hard to earn back after 5 centuries of European machiavelism.”

You have no friend. Naivete is your curse. Only the Paranoid survive!

Beware, not all people who want to help you are your friends.

A Facebook commentator wrote “All the drums beats are now about Africa rising, Growth, Growth, Growth! Africa is the future. African governments want to attract investors. And they would do anything for that”However a friend replied:

“Growth isn’t that important. After all, the economy of the American South “grew”, but were black slaves better treated as a result?

Viability of African nations wont depend on impressive growth figures (I’m talking to the Harvard MBA crowd), but on fairness and inclusion. The moral case for nationhood is more important than the economic case for nationhood. Don’t be deceived by “Africa Rising” narrative. So the point isn’t about how many articles @HarvardBiz does on “Africa Rising”, but whether Africans will want to LIVE in Africa in future. Our society is in terminal decline, and a new society wont emerge from advocacy, but learning past lessons. By refusing to educate the next generation, we are handing over Nigeria to foreigners & children of the elite – they will pick up AK 47s.” – wrote  Okwu Nwachinaemelu

Another connection continued: “There is nothing wrong in doing business with Europeans or foreigners but I think we need do more partnerships and less monopolyships/oligarchyships.”

Yes the subject is very sensitive and emotional, but emotions are necessary to trigger actions. My goal is to make my fellow Africans understand that currently they are only guests on their own continent. All levels of economical power are held by Europeans.

Wake up: Don’t paint the chains into Gold. Remove them instead. 

Because it’s difficult to take off the chains, you might prefer to paint them in gold. The pain will not go away with the new color.

Steve Bantu Biko, wrote

“Black man, you are on your own.”

“In the old Benin empire, the Portuguese used to trade Boxes of sugar, White wine, and salt for hundreds of slaves, and it continues to the present, where multi-national oil cooperations would come in and dig in their drilling rigs and pay the federal government large sums of money to keep mute and turn a blind eye, while the local communities suffer the environmental pollutions caused by the oil spillage.” pointed a Nigerian contributor.

As Kwame Nkrumah has warned us:

“Capitalism is but the gentlemen’s method of slavery.”