A rchive Date
[ 17-07-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Africa ]
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[http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mansur_toronto.html
Spotlight on Africa
By SALIM MANSUR -- For the Toronto Sun
July 17, 2003
LONDON, Ont. -- In the present age of instant communications a foreign tour, as the one American President George Bush recently conducted by travelling to Africa, is largely of symbolic value.
In politics, symbols matter. And the refusal of the present White House occupant to visit our nation's capital speaks volumes about what he thinks of the present occupant of 24 Sussex Dr. Some may dismiss this as a big yawn, others may place much importance on it. Either way, it's indicative of the symbolism in such political itineraries.
Africa and its people suffer from double neglect.
At one time, Africans were once sold into slavery. Today, they are abused, raped, robbed and murdered by their own leaders. The record of Africa's strongmen - women bear the burden of Africa's woes - has crept from the worst imaginable to somewhat better. It has been a journey of hope straining against experience.
In addition, Africa has been neglected, its problems given insufficient attention by the rich countries of the West after they abundantly exploited its people and resources.
The African continent, consisting of 51 states of varying sizes, is divided into an Arab and Muslim north, and a sub-Saharan south populated by blacks who follow Christianity or folk traditions. In Sudan and Nigeria, this division collides within state boundaries drawn by former European colonial powers.
The statistical indicators speak about African poverty, even though the continent remains rich in minerals, oil and gas and forest resources. In 1960, when Africans began to acquire independence, their continent's population was estimated at 200 million. By 1990, the population had tripled and, according to World Bank estimates, will reach round 1.2 billion in 2020.
African income continues to shrink as its share of world exports has declined since 1970 from about 3.5% of global trade to under 1.5% today.
A majority of sub-Saharan Africans subsist on less than $2 per day. Sub-Saharan Africa's external debt ballooned from $6 billion in 1970 to $134 billion in 1988, and in 1999 was estimated at $307 billion. Servicing this debt cost $35.7 billion in 1999, money Africans can scarcely afford given a dwindling economy.
The number of Africans infected by HIV/AIDS, distributed over 21 countries, is almost as large as Canada's population.
One in five Africans is affected by ethno-tribal wars in Congo, Sudan, Liberia, Somalia, Angola, Rwanda and elsewhere. Many African youths, deprived of education and work, pillage the country as bandits and mercenaries in the continent's bush wars.
Poverty, disease and deprivations of basic needs have stunted the potential for African development.
In technological terms Africans inhabit another planet. The digital gap is illustrated by the fact more New Yorkers are connected to the Internet than are Africans on their entire continent.
In October, 2001, British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared, "The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world. But if the world as a community focused on it, we could heal it."
The war against Europe's fascist powers, Germany and Italy, brought to Africa the first American president, Franklin Roosevelt, for the Casablanca conference with Winston Churchill, Britain's wartime prime minister, in January 1943. There, they agreed on the policy of unconditional surrender of the Axis powers.
Sixty years later, America's war on international terrorism prompted another American president to return to Africa. The 1998 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania by terrorists linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida organization put Americans on notice regarding Africa.
George Bush now recognizes American security interests in Africa cannot be separated from the ethics and politics of addressing Africa's basic needs. His tour was symbolic, and yet it brought Africa into focus where it matters most - the American home.
America's relationship with Africa is burdened by a past which must be left behind in the mutual interests of both continents. The leadership must now come from Afro-Americans keeping the spotlight on Africa after the glow of Bush's visit fades away, and making American politics responsive to Africa's plight.
Salim Mansur is a professor of political science at the University of Western Ontario. His column appears alternate Thursdays. He can be reached at smansurca@yahoo.ca Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@sunpub.com
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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