RACA Journal I June 2024 1
RACA Journal : ISSN 1812-772X
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RACA Journal Publication www . refrigerationandaircon . co . za eamonn @ interactmedia . co . za
AFRICANS WANT TO TAKE CARE OF THEIR OWN PROBLEMS – HOW ’ S THAT GOING ?
One always wants to be positive . When I take my dog for a walk , I occasionally meet a certain homeless man . He could be standing either in his ‘ toilet ’ or ‘ patio ’ – it ’ s all the same . When I ask him “ How ’ s things going ?” he charmingly responds , “ Great ! I ’ ve got it all !” So , you see , the line between optimism and delusion is a fine one . For instance , Africa is increasingly turning to the East – China and Russia – for help . There is very little analysis of what this ‘ help ’ is doing for the continent .
Africa really needs the West ’ s help , but constantly claims to not want it and denounces any Western interference as being akin to modern day colonialism . They thought the grass was greener by getting into bed with the Chinese and Russians , and they ’ re already finding out the hard way that it isn ’ t .
Russia is now the leading arms supplier to sub-Saharan Africa , accounting for 25 % of all sales between 2018 and 2022 . Its mercenary Wagner Group spent the last several years killing its people and commandeering local resources . Since the death of its leader , Yevgeny Prigozhin , it has been ominously re-named ‘ Africa Corps ’ – and is now fully under Kremlin control . Meanwhile , China is Africa ’ s second largest arms supplier ; its drones have been used in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC ), among other places . It is also an increasingly influential friend and investor : between 2000 – 2022 , Beijing ’ s state financiers have lent USD170-billion to African nations . Conversely , between 2008 – 2022 , US trade with Africa decreased by 48 %.
In southern Africa , DRC to the north and Mozambique to the east are seeing carnage . So far , the war in eastern DRC has seen 5.8 million people displaced in a population of seven million ; 72 % of people now live on less than USD1.90 a day . In northern Mozambique , nearly one million people have been displaced by the Islamist conflict since 2017 , 80 % of whom are women and children .
While the world has rightly focused on Vladimir Putin ’ s murderous invasion of Ukraine and the war in Gaza following October 7 , Africa has descended almost unnoticed into mass violence and , in some places , near anarchy – not to mention decay of democracy . There were 104 conflicts across the continent in 2022 , the deadliest year in Africa for more than three decades . And since the Sudan civil war broke out one year ago , 8.6 million people have been forcibly displaced , and more than 15 000 confirmed killed ( though the actual figure is likely to be far higher ).
In the relatively stable South Africa , we tend to think of the Southern African Development Community ( SADC ) in terms of economics and building the regional GDP through the African
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Continental Free Trade Agreement – but the reality is that such African organisations are far more preoccupied at the moment with peacekeeping than wealth making .
In March , Zambia as current chair of SADC convened a summit to discuss SADC ’ s peacekeeping deployments in the DRC known as SAMIDRC and Mozambique known as SAMIM . SADC should primarily deal with economic and political co-operation but has increasingly been forced to focus on security concerns . In recent years , violence has concentrated the minds of SADC and African leaders generally : never have peacekeeping forces been more necessary , more problematic — or more inadequate .
Last December , SADC deployed a joint force to eastern DRC to fight the M23 rebel army , but it ran into difficulties . M23 is allegedly backed by Rwanda , which denies any involvement , though the UN accuses it of “ direct interventions ” to support the rebels .
Wars aren ’ t the only problem Africans have to face alone . The Islamist threat continues to strafe Africa , as close to home as Mozambique . Al-Qaeda offshoot Jama ’ at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin ( JNIM ) is rampaging around Mali and Burkina Faso as well as Benin . Meanwhile , al-Shaabab and the Islamic State West Africa province ( Iswap ) are busy murdering as usual . Last year saw 23 322 deaths from Islamist violence – a rise of 20 % from 2022 .
To make matters worse , there have now been seven successful coups in three years in the Sahel region , which is experiencing a comprehensive disintegration of democracy . With that , of course , comes yet more violence : in 2023 , fatalities in the region rose by 38 % and civilian deaths by 18 % from the previous year .
The media ( including this magazine ) regularly hype prospects of Africa , but economic growth on the continent is extremely patchy . Only those countries that have made sustained efforts to promote political and macroeconomic stability , along with essential structural reforms , are attracting long-term investment flows . Sound fiscal and monetary policies rather than wars and military takeovers is what investors want to see .
Surveys indicate that investors express interest in investing in sub- Saharan Africa and intend to do so . However , actual levels of long-term investment have remained modest compared to the region ’ s potential . Perhaps the time has come to turn back to the West , with its interest in democracy and building wealth rather than self-serving leaders whose only thought is self-interest and personal power . RACA
Eamonn
RACA Journal I June 2024 1