DOI: 10.5176/2251-2853_2.1.60
Authors: Moses Eromedoghene Ukpenumewu Tedheke, Ph.D
Abstract:
We have always been inundated with the goodies of free trade and free market which is the dynamics of the comparative advantage. This we have studied to arrive at the fact that, this so-called theory has made us junior partners in the international division of labour. It resulted in the Africans hooked to chattel slavery and later we became providers of raw materials, a dynamics which created poverty in England when she was a raw material exporter. This shows that the poverty in Africa is because we are just raw material exporters hence we cannot really create wealth and employment. When England discovered this she placed a blanket ban on raw material exports and she revived. The Americans had to fight the war of independence and a very prolonged war against liberal theories of free trade hence she is great today. But the African swallowed these theories hook-line-and sinker hence we are poor. Africans must jettison these theories if she wants to survive and become a continent to reckon with. She has the potentials, as she produces about 60{6e6090cdd558c53a8bc18225ef4499fead9160abd3419ad4f137e902b483c465} of global exported raw materials today and she remains the poorest continent. This is a contradiction which must be overcome for Africa to lead the world. This can only be done if these exports of raw materials can be processed for exports as finished goods to create prosperity in the continent.
Keywords: Neo-colonialism, security, nationalism, imperialism, eclecticism.
Updating...