Japan’s $32 Billion Aid: An Indictment to Africa

Published on 17th June 2013

TICAD V summit delegates
If the events that transpired in Japan during the TICAD V  summit  are anything to go by,  African leaders have been wasting our precious time. I feel so ashamed that instead of weeping for the 50 years of failure, African leaders  chose to celebrate 50 years of “success” in Addis Ababa.

What is wrong with Africa? When are we going to have visionary leaders like those in Japan, India, Brazil, China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and others?

Barely two years ago, was Japan hit hard by the Fukushima disaster. The world watched with great pity and sorrow as Japan was almost wiped out of the surface of the earth. According to many economic forecasters and political analysts, the Japanese economy became too hopeless to the extent that any short term policies designed  to transform the country within a decade would have been a day-dreaming exercise.

Yet, it is very surprising that in less than two  years after Fukushima, coupled with its financial tsunami, the country managed to survive. Obviously, this couldn’t have been without visionary leadership, selflessness, hard work and commitment.

The Japanese economy is booming to the extent that the government is now in a position to donate huge sums of money to the tune of $32billion to African leaders, who are shamelessly queuing up to collect the said aid behind closed doors.

It should not be forgotten that African leaders collectively declared at the just-ended AU summit on the need to be bold and shun aid dependency once and for all. African leaders declared that it is time Africa became bold, weaned itself off all forms of foreign aid and demanded fair trade. they indicated that the continent was ready for an  economic revolution devoid of foreign aid.

President John Mahama (Ghana) said that “…the time is right for the AU to develop a funding mechanism with the goal of weaning itself from the heavy donor support.”

Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma. the AU Commission’s Chairperson said that “… It can’t be business as usual. We can’t continue to depend on foreign aid. Yes, outside help is crucial and greatly appreciated, but we must also look at ways of making ourselves independent.”

Unfortunately, two  days after making these powerful and impressive speeches, the president of Ghana flew to France to lobby for French aid. From there, he flew to Japan where he again lobbied for Japanese aid. As if that was not enough, the Japanese government then pledged to give the entire African leaders, a total of $32billion dollars in aid for the next 5 years- a development which clearly indicates that these same African leaders have no intention to stand by what they preach.

Can the African people truly have any confidence in the words of our leaders? Can the world ever take African leaders seriously when they issue statements?

For this reason, Granfadaa' Ayitomeka, a Pan-Africanist who spoke on Radio Ghana’s Current Affairs Programme, stated that the entire AU Summit was a wasteful exercise. He called on leaders of the AU to conduct referenda in their countries as to how the ordinary citizen wants to handle the problem of neo-colonialism which has reared its ugly head everywhere in Africa, making impossible for the African child to benefit from Africa’s abundant resources.

When President Mahama travelled to Japan, the people of Ghana expected that he would  hold serious discussions with the Japanese side, asking more questions about how the Asian country managed to emerge out of the Fukushima crisis with a much stronger economy in less than two years.

Ideally, Africans expected the president of Ghana and his African colleagues to study Japan's economic policies and the measures that Japan took to rise from the fatal disaster, generate money within a short time and be in position to give financial aid to Africa.

If Japan could do it in the midst of such crises, why can't our leaders do it here in Africa? Why do we get mesmerized and awed by the strength of people who support us while we do not strive to build our own strength?

I have strong doubts about the ability of the continent to achieve economic independence as long as the thick colonial borders, tough visa restrictions on freedom of movement and the lack of confidence in the African products are concerned. Currently, there are simply too many trade agreements which have been signed by African leaders which are not working due to foreign influences based on colonial legacies.

Africa must consider the issue of industrialization, intra-African trade and the free movement of goods and services seriously. African leaders should listen to their people about the issue of importation of foreign goods which are killing the local industry.

A country like Japan could not have survived without a strong commitment to industrialization and export of commercial products. They couldn’t have developed by merely holding begging bowls, looking at some other nations to come and “save” them just as we in Africa have been doing for the past 50 years of our so-called independence.

How long should Africa continue to be the supplier of raw materials and the dumping ground of imported goods? Action is needed from African leaders to industrialize the continent. We have had enough of the speeches and the lectures.

H.E Yoweri Museveni, the president of Uganda recently stated that we should build our own strength now instead of admiring the strength of other countries such as the USA, China, Japan and Brazil.

By Honourable Saka

The writer is a Pan-African analyst, anti-corruption campaigner and founder of the Project Pan-Africa (PPA), an organization established to unlock the minds of the African youth to take Africa’s destiny into their hands.


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