[Dissent-bristol-info] Briefing paper - Africa (DRAFT)

[auto_gnome at riseup.net]

Hi - here's a draft of Africa debt/poverty. In the end I decided to leave
out loads of stats etc as I don't think we need to 'prove' the problem
exists. Have concentrated instead on history of exploitation, aid/charity,
and what capital wants from Africa. Note this draft has already been cut
down and is running at about 1300 words (about same as PFI one).

As we need the briefing papers laid out ready for printing, say by Friday
latest, can you get back to me with any comments etc asap - by Tuesday?
cheers......ag

Bristol G8 Dissent Briefing Paper

Africa – Debt & Poverty

Blair & NewLabour are promoting African debt & poverty as a main issue for
this year’s G8 Summit in Scotland. In preparation, Blair’s Commission for
Africa produced its recommendations. Additionally, we have had the
re-recording of Band Aid, another annual Comic Relief, and a stream of
reports, media articles and programmes on the subject. So will poverty
become history in 2005?

A plundered continent
African history makes uneasy reading for anyone with the slightest
conscience or sense of human solidarity. Plundered by West European
empires and traders for centuries – colonialisation, theft of natural
resources, repression, and enslavement & deportation of its people. The
wealth accumulated by Bristol’s merchants & traders was replicated across
Europe and the Americas, as early, generally white, capitalists got very
rich indeed.

The slow eradication of slavery did not end Africa’s misery. Colonial
regimes and puppet governments & dictators continued the thieving. Post
WW2 Africa was another cold war playground for the West & the USSR,
ensuring ongoing civil wars, chaos, death and plunder. Tragically,
national liberation movements, despite their sometimes socialist rhetoric,
and their heroic struggles against all odds, led often to the replacement
of one set of foreign rulers with equally barbaric and dictatorial
home-grown ones - usually reliant on an external power for their
domination. As capitalism has modernised, the theft and exploitation of
Africa’s resources has continued, now less obviously by foreign nations
and more blatantly by multinational corporations.

As imperialist powers withdrew, they took the expertise & governing
structures they’d imposed on Africa, leaving behind the false nation
states they had created across the continent. They also took, and continue
to take, those Africans who we may term ‘middle-class’ – educated, with
specialist skills. The old ways of the tribes had been largely repressed
or destroyed, now they found themselves expected to follow the ways of the
West’s industrialised, ‘democratic’ states, but without the skills to do
so, with a continuing ‘brain drain’. They have continued to be ripped-off
by western financial institutions & corporations, who have greased the
palms of any dictators or ruling elites. Wealth has flowed out of Africa
into the pockets of western business & banks, and the overseas accounts of
the ruling elite. The result – more chaos, debt, poverty, disease, and
civil war.

Gaping wounds & band-aids
Largely white do-gooders have been travelling to Africa for centuries.
Despite the best intentions of some of them, they have been part of the
colonialisation, exploitation, and creation of dependency. The Church sent
missionaries to help ‘civilise’ the ‘savages’, and teach them about ‘our’
god – that very wealthy one that forms part of the system that rules us.
Many NGO’s (non-governmental organisations, charities) arose from such
beginnings ie Oxfam & Christian Aid. The TV era brought heart-wrenching
pictures of starving & sick kids and their mums, and the inherent humanity
& solidarity of many westerners ensured gave vast donations towards aid
for these tragic people. The aid industry acknowledges that in the west
those with the least to give, give proportionally the most. It is no irony
that in the west, those with the least income pay proportionally more in
taxes; whilst Africa pays proportionally the highest amounts of GDP back
to the western banks/institutions in debt repayments. Think on that a
moment.

The Ethiopian famine on our TV sets in 1984 led to BandAid, LiveAid, Comic
Relief, and an upsurge in donations to old and new charities. Yet Geldof
has admitted recently that Africa is worse off now than in 1984. In fact,
Africans are proportionately poorer now than 40 years ago! In Ethiopia
alone, 6 to 8 million people are reliant on food aid to survive each year.

The Commission for Africa
Aid and charity has not worked, in the majority of cases at least. It is a
multi-million pound business, offering very well paid careers, especially
at the top-end of its bureaucratic structures. Some would say it has
re-launched a thousand showbiz careers! But continued poverty in Africa
has become an embarrassment. There is a growing awareness, fuelled by the
aggressive campaigning of some – such as the Drop the Debt campaign, that
our political & big business elites are taking the piss over Africa. We
keep giving, they keep getting poorer, and the corporations keep getting
richer.

The terms & conditions of ‘loans’ to Africa; the requirements that they
privatise everything in the name of ‘structural adjustment programmes’;
the restrictions on their trade out whilst taking our goods (and weapons)
in; and the ongoing corruption of corporations and ruling elites; does not
give Africa a chance. This has led Blair and his NewLabour cohorts to act
out of a confused, and hypocritical, christian-socialist form of morality;
along with Blair’s selfish desire to be remembered in history for
something good. That has led to the cancellation of bi-lateral debts
(where one country owes one other country) to the UK.

His Commission correctly identifies some problems – corruption and
exploitation; lack of internal infrastructures & resources for education,
health, training & administration; massive failure to alleviate disease.
It does call for - 100% cancellation of both bi-lateral and multi-lateral
debt (being debt owed to more than one country, usually an institution
such as the IMF or World Bank) for at least the 42 HIPC (42 poorest
African nations); for massive increases in aid (not loans!) to fund
education, health, housing, water provision, training & other basic
programmes; for the removal of restrictive trade barriers and tariffs to
stimulate the economy.

But these proposals are underpinned by the expectation that all western
nations, institutions & banks will comply, of which there is zero
guarantee – the US has already ruled out 100% debt cancellation due to
corporate pressure; and by an idea named the International Finance
Facility (IFF), a brainchild of Gordon Browns. The IFF intends to raise
money on private finance markets, guaranteed by government bonds
(essentially our, taxpayers, money). Which is a bit like saying ‘you give
them 50 quid, and if they don’t pay it back with interest our taxpayers
will bale you out.’ Which sounds to us like another con-trick to help
corporations make money, that may not help Africa.

What the west really wants
Never mind such illusions as fair-trade, or trade justice, such concepts
are alien to capitalism, and will only be embraced in any way if profit
can be made out of them – hence Starbucks & Tescos getting fair-trade
certification! What the G8 & corporations really want is this: a market to
expand into. They want a relatively (!) healthy, educated, skilled,
un-unionised workforce to produce goods cheaply; and they want a
relatively peaceful, stable, healthy continent to consume those products.
A continent they control. They look at Africa and they think of China,
with it’s fast growing economy & consumption, where 60% of all exports
come from businesses wholly or partly western controlled, and no human
rights! When they talk of freedom & democracy, the only human rights they
have in mind are those that allow you to exist on their terms – enslaved
under capitalism, the consumer society, and personal debt, with only the
false illusion of choice. Just like in the West.

What can we do?
We know aid & charity doesn’t work, particularly when tied up with
imposing western values & structures. Some NGO’s work to encourage
self-help & self-management in Africa, to facilitate the desires of
African people, not impose on them. Look into it and help where you can.
Although we very rarely hear of them, there are massive social movements
in some African nations, continuing their tradition of struggle, but
directed towards land rights, workers rights, resisting privatisation &
oppression & corruption, demanding access to resources. Look into it.

The most useful things we can do are to oppose the corporations & ruling
elites in our countries. Yes, buy ethically if we can, but more
importantly confront & harass the institutions, corporations and
politicians at home - give them no peace until we have changed our own
society.

More Info
www.jubilee2000uk.org/
www.african-initiatives.org.uk/
www.wdm.org.uk/
www.ifiwatchnet.org/
www.commissionforafrica.org/
www.makepovertyhistory.org/

Bristol G8 Dissent
contact details etc.

Images:
I have jpgs of
1. Black/white outline of African continent (maybe text could be laid on
top of this on 1 page?)
2. Graffiti on wall – No 2 G8 2 End Poverty
3. B/white pic of shanty town
And somewhere a subvert of BandAid logo