Africa Unite, sungsaid the late Bob Marley!
I served in Nigeria for a period of 3 years and during that time, I discovered and appreciated Nigeria the Intellectual. Ben Okri, Chimamanda Adichie, Chinua Achebe, Buchi Emecheta et al, the list of fine Nigerian writers is long. Chimamanda Adichie is a woman and some! I never met her, but I do avidly follow her lectures and speeches in Europe and America. She’s taken my mind.
One deep lesson I learned from Chimamanda is called the danger of a single story. Follow it here
What is the single story? The message is that we should not limit ourselves to one interpretation of events, which normally is presented by the strong, those who determine how history is written. Facts have backgrounds that can be complex. We should not close our minds to alternative explanations. There is the version of the victor and there is the version of the vanquished, of the weak, who does not control the media. You see where I am going…
Single story is what the Western media has tried to box us into. I have learned that we need to appropriate our own story, otherwise, our story will be told by those who exploit and wish to perpetuate the exploitation of our resources. Aggressors have perfected the art of casting themselves as benefactors and victims, according to the audience. And that comes a propos of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali, three countries trying to break from the slavery of the French extended colonial project. I must say that these 3 countries are also confronting other African countries that are comfortable with the French project in Africa such as Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal. That is the situation today.
Did you hear of the suspension of Radio France Internationale in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso? And of the efforts of the African lackeys of France to bring back that vector of story-telling? They are ready to front for France, they are even prepared to wage war on a fellow African country for France, for Europe. In fact, this week they have been visiting Paris for consultations and comfort.
The story I want to discuss uses ex-President Bazoum as a pretext, a convenient Trojan Horse. The reality is, the economy of Niger is in tatters because France, the EU and the US are not happy that access to cheap resources is being severely restricted moving forward. Gold, uranium, etc. I also worked in Niger, and therefore understand the context and the people. And I hope that countries in East and Southern Africa wake up and understand the struggle of our brothers in West Africa. It carries deep lessons for all of us. As Patrick Otieno Lumumba said “ wake up Africa, and force a place for yourself at the table, or you will be the dinner that others will partake.”. Not the exact words, but the exact sense.
The newspaper story goes:
Niger’s economy in tatters after toppling of president Mohamed Bazoum
By AFP, Posted on October 30, 2023 15:09
The military regime announced at the start of the month a 40% cut in the 2023 budget due to ‘heavy sanctions’.Sanctions and suspension of international finance and aid have left the economy of Niger, one of the world’s poorest countries, hanging by a thread three months after a military coup on 26 July.
International financial support suspended. The European Union (EU), a key partner for the Sahel nation, had allocated €503m ($554m) “to improve governance, education and sustainable growth” for Niamey from 2021-2024. But the EU, France and other partners halted their budget support immediately after the overthrow of elected president Mohamed Bazoum. Today Niger is estimated to be receiving financial support of $254m compared to $1.166bn dollars before the coup, according to a study by the World Bank and World Food Programme. Niger has received just $82m 0.55 per of GDP in development aid this year against the expected $625m (3.6% of GDP), the study found. The figures from early October do not take into account the United States suspension of some $500m in aid to Niger.
Budget slashed
Etc.
My message
If you add all the figures of the “aid that Niger is losing”, you come to a staggering budget assistance retention of $1.043 billion. One would say this is too much money. But the story omits the fact that Niger produced in 2022 for France 1,985MT of Uranium[1], at a revenue of $0.8/kg, while in the international market, the same kilogram costs 200$. Meaning, Niger may have received from France a mere $1,516,000 while subsidizing France with uranium valued at a cool $379,000,000. Who is the donor here? One billion dollars is waved at us as if we were the ones who are poor and need the EU largesse and generosity. Outside the gold and other resources.
We need an alternative reading and an alternative way of letting the story be known to the pubic in Europe and America. As you all can see, some of the news outlets reproducing the AFP story are African[2], and they just reproduce it hook, line and sinker, as the English would say. Let us learn to read what is not said.
Cheers
Jose,
November 2023
[1]https://wits.worldbank.org/trade/comtrade/en/country/NER/year/2022/tradeflow/Exports/partner/ALL/product/261210
[2] https://www.africanews.com/2023/10/30/after-the-coup-detat-gloomy-prospects-for-nigers-economy//
Comments