Globalisation

On le présente comme un des héritiers de feu Cheikh Anta Diop, chercheur et homme politique sénégalais, défenseur de l’antériorité de la civilisation nègre et militant panafricaniste. Théophile Obenga parle toujours du panafricanisme avec la conviction qu’il s’agit d’une exigence qui deviendra réalité. «Nous arriverons à l’Etat fédéral panafricain. C’est ça le destin africain», clame-t-il. [Pambazuka]

Wole Soyinka was addressing a conference on the issue of the ‘brain drain’ from African countries. He remarked on how many of the speakers before him had lamented the flight of millions of Africans to the West and how apparently desperate were these speakers, who included African heads of state, to reverse the trend so that the bright young minds and their skills could be retained on the continent. [Pambazuka]

In Hokkaido, Japan, we have not only in Bush, Sarkozy, Brown, and Fukuda a group of discredited leaders with very low ratings at the polls in their own countries, writes Walden Bello. We have as well a G8 that is, more than ever, lacking in legitimacy. [Pambazuka]

A proper analysis of the food crisis is a matter that cannot be left with trade negotiators, investment experts, or agricultural engineers, writes Yash Tandon. It is essentially a matter of political economy. A crisis for some is an opportunity for others. Any analysis of the present food crisis carries with it its own prescription, and these prescriptions have the potential to bring benefits for some and losses for others. [Pambazuka]

In even the most exploitative African sites of repression, sometimes corporations take a hit, and victims sometimes unite on continental lines instead of being divided-and-conquered. Turns in the class struggle might have surprised Walter Rodney, whose 1972 classic “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” provided detailed critiques of corporate looting. Patrick Bond and Richard Kamidza on resistance to the excesses of Western capitalism. [Pambazuka]

A cover story on John McCain and the International Republican Institute. While keeping an eye on Bush’s War on terror and Africom, we should not forget the International Republican Institute, which had a hand in the Venezuela coup and the toppling of Aristide. The IRI operates in about 40 African countries. By Mukoma wa Ngugi. [The Progressive Magazine]

Si l’Afrique est incapable d’assurer sa souveraineté alimentaire, ce n’est point qu’elle manque de ressources pour relever ce défi. Les terres agricoles sont encore peu exploitées, l’eau est disponible à profusion et les bras valides pour remuer les sols sont là. La dépendance alimentaire dans laquelle se trouve le continent est tout simplement due aux chaînes des politiques néolibérales qui l’entravent. [Pambazuka]

In the March 27th, 2008 Pambazuka issue, Firoze Manji argued that in comparison to Europe and the US, China in Africa is still a small player and that while keeping an eye out on China, Africans should not be distracted from paying attention to the West’s continued exploitation of the continent. In this essay, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta adds yet another layer by looking at India’s growing role in Africa. [Pambazuka]

Firoze Manji argues that in comparison to Europe and the US, China in Africa is still a small player. While keeping an eye out on China, Africans should not be distracted from paying attention to the West’s continued exploitation of the continent including the use of military might to protect its economic interests. [Pambazuka]

La glorification du libéralisme pur et dur domine le débat au sujet du meilleur avenir civilisationnel pour l’humanité. Pour Nsame Mbongo, les idéologies ultralibérales ont fait faillite comme modèle de développement en Afrique. Ce qui rend nécessaire la construction d’un discours développementaliste de libération, aux antipodes de l’asservissement post-moderne. [Full Text Article, pdf]

Article by Dr. Neville Alexander on behalf of the Project for the Study of Alternative Education in South Africa (PRAESA). Keynote address for the 14th English Language Education Trust (ELET) Annual Conference for Teachers of English, Durban, 1999. [Full Text Article, pdf]

Jacques Depelchin reflects on the growing economic, political and cultural relationship between Brazil and the Africa and urges for a solidarity from below that is cognizant of black revolutionary history. [Pambazuka]

Le 6 février 2007, le président Bush annonçait que les Etats-Unis allaient créer un nouveau commandement militaire pour l’Afrique, sous le nom de “Africa Command” ou “Africom”. Pour Daniel Volman, l’administration Bush cherche ainsi à élargir de façon significative son programme d’assistance aux régimes africains désireux d’agir comme des marionnettes, indique. [Pambazuka]

À la mémoire de Ben Barka organisateur de la Tricontinentale enlevé et assassiné en France. L’Amérique Latine est, par endroits, de nouveau devenue, en ce début de siècle, un laboratoire d’expériences sociales qui nous inspirent et nous permettent en Afrique de garder espoir en l’avenir. Par Aziz Salmone Fall. [Pambazuka]

By Daniel Volman. On 6 February 2007, President Bush announced that the United States would create a new military command for Africa, to be known as Africa Command or Africom. The Bush administration wants to significantly expand its security assistance program for regimes in Africa that are willing to act as surrogates. [Pambazuka]

Ngugi wa Thiong’o: “Globalization and African Leadership: Readings from the Wizard of the Crow”, delivered at the University of Witwatersrand, 15 March 2007 hosted by the Platform of Public Deliberation. (more…)

Edited by Firoze Manji & Stephen Marks. China’s involvement in Africa has provoked much debate and discussion. Is China simply the latest imperial power out to exploit Africa’s natural resources, putting its own economic interests above environmental and human rights concerns? Or is China’s engagement an extension of ‘South–South solidarity’, enabling African countries to free themselves from the multiple tyrannies of Western debt, aid conditionality, unfair trading rules and political interference? Much existing commentary on China focuses on the vested interests of the West. Lost in the cacophony have been the voices of independent African analysts and activists. Here, they present social, cross-continental perspectives on Chinese involvement in Africa in a unique collection of essays. The articles demonstrate that although there is no single ‘African view’ about China in Africa at a continental level, the authors are united in the belief that Africans must organise their side of the story, together, in their own interests, and in the interest of social justice for all. [Full E-Book, pdf, 1 MB]

Edited by Patrick Burnett and Firoze Manji. Can trade in the era of globalisation be ‘fair’ or ‘just’? Drawing on lessons from the slave trade and studies of the international finance institutions, these essays provide insights into how free trade policies have a profoundly negative impact on the rights of communities, environmental sustainability and the development of democracy in Africa. [Full E-Book, pdf, 2,1 MB]

Economic, political and security cooperation between China and Africa has grown exponentially in the last decade, presenting new opportunities and challenges for Africa. The need for Africans to understand China, and its motives for the enhanced engagement with Africa over the last decade, is now greater than ever before, writes Ndubisi Obiorah. [Full Text Article, html]

Article by Francis B. Nyamnjoh. The idea of writing a paper on Barbie democracy came to me from reflections on the idea of ‘The Market’ and the sort of socio-political institutions this model has tended to inspire. [Zeleza.com]