Avelorn
Sven Jonsson
@Jim: I\'m happy to inform you that you\'re not an ass either way!! 
And I can tell you that because I know a great deal about asses and.. hmm.. somehow that didn\'t come out right either.
okay now for my long awaited ahem.. say in the matter (this better be good... :redface: )
The atrocities commited in Africa by western countries is actually far worse then I expected when I started reading about the subject. How large impact it has had on the development of the countries is different from country to country I think. Africa is a large place and while some have flourishing natural resources that has been exploited by several countries to this day, others haven\'t. As Frenchkid brought up many African nations export raw materials which they have competition elsewhere from, the prices has dropped as well. And while for example coffey beans from Kenya warrants no customs to EU for example, coffey does. That is one of the reasons there is a pattern of exporting the raw material and importing the finished product.
But in the end it\'s hard to know for sure \"why?\" actually. To have good theories you need to base them on a credible statistical material which is definately lacking. Many \"grand\" theories of the underdevelopment of Africa is based on comparing institutions or lack of with western countries and more recently comparing with the development in South Asia. While there might be a truth to some of the more economical speculations of course it is far from sure that Africa can take the same path to development that countries in for example South Asia has taken. More and more research say that there are several ways to prosperity and I feel that some economic studies on the subject has a tendency to cherry pick certain things that suit the framework of their theories. Measures taken by international institutions like IMF to a liberalisation of certain economies in Africa not only haven\'t worked but even been harmful. There is a desperate need for new ideas imo and as some people have mentioned I think that solution might have to come from an internal incentive instead of forced by external powers. Another problem today is of course the brain-drain, people that get educated leave their countries if possible to search for better luck somewhere else. It is of course possible that they will come back and contribute to the development of their countries but it is far from a sure thing.
But things aren\'t hopeless, far from. It will take some time but as we took ourselves from a poverty that we had just over a century ago, others will as well. I mean the same things could have been said about Europe some time ago especially when it comes to conflicts.. I mean this recent period of relative peace and prosperity we have had is a rather short one historically.
I think there will be needed initiatives both at the micro and macro level. I have read about micro-credit and the Grameen bank with interest for example. While of course corruption and the ongoing conflicts needs to be dealt with preferably through the AU. There are so many other things that can be done as well. Like global companies being in Africa having ethical and environmental guidelines to prevent the dropping of those issues to become ways of competition or limiting the effect of ruthless competition against new and fragile industries. For the average people it\'s needed that the questions are raised about what we can do to, both as customers and as fellow world citizens, to aid in all this. For example giving away clothes to africa is not a good thing as the internal manufacturers of cloth can\'t compete with that and the market is crushed. While sponsoring a child everybody that can afford it should. The problem here is of course that there are so many things you \"should\" do.. We should care for environment, peace, against sexism etc. But we can\'t all care for all problems and be the perfect humans so I think the government, and contributing through the taxes, will have to have a large part in this.
Finally the way we look upon Africa as a problem area rather then a resource for the world needs to be changed. Trade is a game where everybody can win and when Africa becomes richer and more developed we will all get the benefit from that.
And I want to personally thank anyone who has had the patience to read all the way down here... lol
And I can tell you that because I know a great deal about asses and.. hmm.. somehow that didn\'t come out right either. okay now for my long awaited ahem.. say in the matter (this better be good... :redface: )
The atrocities commited in Africa by western countries is actually far worse then I expected when I started reading about the subject. How large impact it has had on the development of the countries is different from country to country I think. Africa is a large place and while some have flourishing natural resources that has been exploited by several countries to this day, others haven\'t. As Frenchkid brought up many African nations export raw materials which they have competition elsewhere from, the prices has dropped as well. And while for example coffey beans from Kenya warrants no customs to EU for example, coffey does. That is one of the reasons there is a pattern of exporting the raw material and importing the finished product.
But in the end it\'s hard to know for sure \"why?\" actually. To have good theories you need to base them on a credible statistical material which is definately lacking. Many \"grand\" theories of the underdevelopment of Africa is based on comparing institutions or lack of with western countries and more recently comparing with the development in South Asia. While there might be a truth to some of the more economical speculations of course it is far from sure that Africa can take the same path to development that countries in for example South Asia has taken. More and more research say that there are several ways to prosperity and I feel that some economic studies on the subject has a tendency to cherry pick certain things that suit the framework of their theories. Measures taken by international institutions like IMF to a liberalisation of certain economies in Africa not only haven\'t worked but even been harmful. There is a desperate need for new ideas imo and as some people have mentioned I think that solution might have to come from an internal incentive instead of forced by external powers. Another problem today is of course the brain-drain, people that get educated leave their countries if possible to search for better luck somewhere else. It is of course possible that they will come back and contribute to the development of their countries but it is far from a sure thing.
But things aren\'t hopeless, far from. It will take some time but as we took ourselves from a poverty that we had just over a century ago, others will as well. I mean the same things could have been said about Europe some time ago especially when it comes to conflicts.. I mean this recent period of relative peace and prosperity we have had is a rather short one historically.
I think there will be needed initiatives both at the micro and macro level. I have read about micro-credit and the Grameen bank with interest for example. While of course corruption and the ongoing conflicts needs to be dealt with preferably through the AU. There are so many other things that can be done as well. Like global companies being in Africa having ethical and environmental guidelines to prevent the dropping of those issues to become ways of competition or limiting the effect of ruthless competition against new and fragile industries. For the average people it\'s needed that the questions are raised about what we can do to, both as customers and as fellow world citizens, to aid in all this. For example giving away clothes to africa is not a good thing as the internal manufacturers of cloth can\'t compete with that and the market is crushed. While sponsoring a child everybody that can afford it should. The problem here is of course that there are so many things you \"should\" do.. We should care for environment, peace, against sexism etc. But we can\'t all care for all problems and be the perfect humans so I think the government, and contributing through the taxes, will have to have a large part in this.
Finally the way we look upon Africa as a problem area rather then a resource for the world needs to be changed. Trade is a game where everybody can win and when Africa becomes richer and more developed we will all get the benefit from that.
And I want to personally thank anyone who has had the patience to read all the way down here... lol
