Was The EU African Summit Just A Waste Of Time?

The recent EU and African Summit in Lisbon Portugal is in a precarious position. There are a lot of unanswered questions. How can anything be solved in just two days? Shouldn’t the Summit be longer? Is anything going to be done about the crisis in Darfur? Does anyone care? Can a bridge in the miscommunication between Europe and Africa really take place? And will anyone acknowledge and actually become proactive about the corruption on both sides?

At the EU African Summit the Europeans have stated they want to end colonial style trade agreements and enter into free trade deals. Many African leaders are opposed to this because they view this as against their self interests. The issue of democracy is an important one in some African countries there are bogus elections where corrupt men are being elected. Its depressing that some of the African leaders are clearly dictators that are only interested in lining their pockets with money.

The German chancellor Angela Merkel has stated that the EU are united against Robert Mugabe the dictator of Zimbabwe. Well its about damn time! Merkel’s statement is a powerful one because one of the reasons Mugabe has remained in power is due to the influence and power of African leaders. Merkel’s public admonishment of the African leaders for keeping Mugabe in power is a stern statement. However, one wonders if Merkel and the EU have a real genuine concern for the people of Zimbabwe or just politics as usual? Why wait until now? Why wait for a crisis to occur? Its obvious Zimbabwe is not in the sphere of influence of the EU and the crisis in Darfur is not in their self interests either.

However, the African leaders cannot just complain about “slavery” when they are active participants in corruption. The legacy of slavery and imperialism are indeed factors for some of the problems on the African continent but this cannot be the scapegoat.

It is time the African leaders not only acknowledge that Mugabe is a hindrance in Zimbabwe but push for democratic elections. It is clear Mugabe does not care about the people of Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was once known as the “bread basket” of Southern Africa the economy was improving over a decade ago but now Zimbabwe is in a state of crisis. What will happen in Zimbabwe when Mugabe dies?

There is still a belief that is fostered by the western media that all the problems on the African continent relates to the inadequacy of the African governments. Africa is not one country the continent consists of fifty three independent countries that all have their own separate identities. The African countries need to work together and move past their differences to make Africa more stronger, economically power, and assert their influence. The Europeans created the European Union because they were cognizant of the growing power of the United States, China, and Russia. Contrary to popular belief the African continent does have billions of dollars worth of natural resources such as oil, gold, diamonds, eco tourism, and money from foreign investments and aid. The money is available the difficulties stem from the lack of distribution of the revenue to the masses.

It is such a racist and simplistic ideology but it does indeed exist that the African countries “want” to “impede” their own progress. The quandaries on the Africa continent are complex and relate to economic, geographical, political, and social issues.

When famine occurs in Africa the western world suddenly notices the African continent and has the racist paternalistic approach that the African people just want “hand outs”. However, its not the African people’s fault that during the rain season crops are not receiving enough water and people go hungry and die. Humans cannot control the weather or climate but African politicians clearly need to do more. Where are the irrigation systems? Why is clean water still an issue in the twenty first century? When will the Occidental world hold African dictators accountable? Sanctions are only a smoke screen to make it “appear” as though the west is taking “action”. Sanctions actually affect the poor people more they feel the immediate impact of sanctions. The Occidental world has imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe doesn’t care its not affecting his life but the people of Zimbabwe are suffering.

Eco tourism is another complicated and political issue on the African continent. The rich western tourists travel to numerous African countries because they want to see the wild animals such as lions, tigers, cheetahs, rhinos, elephants, zebras, and many more in their natural habitats. The soundbites the western media utilize are from white conservationists such as Jane Goodall. Since when is Jane Goodall an expert on African issues? Jane Goodall just cares about the animals she doesn’t give a damn about African people dying due to starvation. When Jane Goodall and other white activists are complaining on CNN or BBC or whatever network about some animal species dying I am apathetic. Do these white conservation activists care more about wild animals or about human beings?

I can honestly say I don’t care if people feel the need to kill animals if they need space to grow crops for food, feed their livestock, and for agriculture. Once again, African governments are not serving the best interests of the people only thinking about profit. People need land to survive and to thrive. Human beings are above animals for a reason and if people need land then the wild animals need to perish this is their fate. The western world ignores the plight of the African people and actually places more importance on creatures such as rhinos or elephants. The most important issue to me is that the African people have food, free education, access to free health care, clean water, and a decent amount of land for agriculture. People kill the animals because they need the land not all animals are killed just for profit. There seems to be a great imbalance yes eco tourism is a business but what about the concerns of the African people? Human life is more important then pathetic creatures such as lions, rhinos, elephants, and zebras.

Next, the Occidental environmentalists complain about animals being killed by poachers for profit. Notice the so called white animal activists only care about the elephants, lions, zebras, but not the African people. The news media hardly ever discuss the underlining issues. Doesn’t anyone wonder why some African people feel compelled to kill the animals? The message the western media are presenting is that Africans are backwards, uncivilized and just care about “making a profit” by killing animals. The Occidental world isn’t thinking about the suffering, the poverty, and the desperate measures people are taking to survive.

The world is apathetic to the concerns of the African people. Does anyone actually care about the African people? Some people see eco tourism as a waste of natural resources that land that should be for humans is being set aside for western interests. Of course, eco tourism is a business and yes it is profitable. However, how much of the money in Kenya’s tourism industry goes to the Kenyan people? Some people see eco tourism as a waste of land that can be used for agriculture and Africans are once again being being displaced for western interests.

The dilemma for Africans is the Europeans still hold all the cards. The attitudes of both the African and European leaders needs to change. Slavery is over but the slave mentality still exists. Europe acts as the slave master and the African leaders are the House Negroes willing to make any concessions to just acquire more revenue. The European Union have maintained African debt for decades and they don’t want to relinquish control. The tense relationship between Europe and Africa is a long one there is mistrust on both sides. On the one hand the Europeans are stating Africa needs to be “independent”. For example, France still manipulates and is involved the political affairs of its former African colonies.

How can African countries develop self sufficiency when their hands are tied by the Europeans and North Americans? The International Monetary Fund is another cancer that needs to be scrapped and changed. There are so many strings to foreign aid that is not even being discussed. The Europeans aren’t simply going to provide free money to African countries they also want a return in their investments. Its a vicious cycle of the Europeans profiting off of Africa, the African dictators are avaricious and don’t utilize the revenue to help the African people. Next, African people suffer and are dying in the process.

There continues to be a paternalistic attitude that Africa’s problems are just due to internal politics. When is Europe’s role in Africa issues going to change? The Europeans are a part of the problem not the solution. African immigrants wouldn’t feel the need to immigrate illegally to Europe if there were push and pull factors available within their own countries. If the economies in African countries were stronger and more resourceful people wouldn’t feel the need to immigrate to Europe. North America, Australia, New Zealand, should be more vocal about the hypocrisy of both European and African leaders.

One major European leader absent from the EU African Summit was the the new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Mr. Brown has stated he is boycotting the EU and African Summit because Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe is present. Why doesn’t Mr. Brown just be honest? Does anyone honestly believe Mugabe was the only reason Brown wasn’t present at the Summit? Give me a break. The United Kingdom is not interested in the affairs of the African continent or about African people.

After all, the UK is known for treating black people as though we are the “other” and “inferior” to whites. Brown doesn’t give a damn about Mugabe he is simply using Mugabe’s presence as an excuse and scapegoat. Cooperation between African and European nations are not a concern to Mr. Brown or the United Kingdom.

Europe has a significant role in the corruption in several African countries for centuries. For instance, countries such as Nigeria has natural resources such as oil. The Europeans are also involved in siphoning billions of dollars out of Nigeria. Nigeria for example is one of the world’s largest exporters and resources of oil. However, very little of the billions of revenue is distributed to the Nigerian people. Why isn’t more money being spent to educate young Nigerian boys and girls for free? Where is the free clean water? There needs to be more emphasis placed on education opportunities for all African people. What about health care? Why isn’t more being done?

People become desperate there have been recent news stories about foreign workers being kidnapped in Nigeria by vigilantes. The vigilantes are not all just “crooks” or “criminals”. The occidental media have attempted to brand all the kidnappers as bad people this is simply not true.

Some of the African vigilantes are simply people fed up with the system. I believe these feelings of understandable due to the resentment and anger against the Occident. How would you feel if your family was starving, dying , and hungry while foreign workers are living comfortably in luxury?Would you like it if you knew your own government has no concern for the people and are allowing foreign companies to steal the wealth? What would you do? Wouldn’t you feel powerless and want to do something? Violence is not the answer but what are people supposed to do just sit, wait, and die?

When will the United Nations speak out about the corruption on both the African and European continents? A two day summit is just a waste of time. If Africa and Europe really want change to occur more time needs to be set aside for these conferences. The United Nations also has a critical role yet continues to be reticent.