Embracing the New Order in Africa

1. Background to the Essay

After travelling and living in Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, I am convinced of the need to reconsider the prevailing narrative that shapes academic and intellectual discourse on the topics of the slave trade, colonialism, and development. Many Europeans hold onto beliefs rooted in racial discrimination, arguing that Black individuals are inferior thinkers and suggesting that without European intervention, Africa would still be in darkness. These convictions are often passed down through generations, forming the bedrock of their perspectives.

However, my experiences, particularly observing their infrastructure, governance systems, and practices, have led me to a different conclusion. The disruptions caused by slavery, colonialism, and the subsequent systems put in place have had far-reaching effects. As a result, Africa and other third-world countries face immense challenges in effecting meaningful change and development.

Yet, Africa possesses inherent opportunities that can be harnessed, but only if we challenge and reshape the prevailing narrative. It is crucial to reconstruct the narrative to reflect the realities of the world as it is, rather than perpetuate the manipulations of those who have shaped it to their advantage.

This essay offers a brief exploration of what slavery truly achieved and why it is imperative for Africa to rebuild itself. To achieve this, we must adopt a new way of thinking—recognizing that systems established to control cannot be utilized to drive positive change, they must be changed, thus the need for a new order.

2. The Slave Trade and Its Effect on the Industrial World

There exists a historical reality of slave trading and the development of the industry through human labour. From the Europe I know, and even the America I have not physically visited but have learned about through reading, I can confirm that much of the wealth enjoyed today was amassed within the last 200 years before 1970. The infrastructure was constructed during this era when colonial powers used their might to accumulate wealth and develop Europe and America. This process, though termed as exploration or business, was a form of plundering. Slave trade and colonialism served as soft, yet devastating, forms of warfare that exploited resources—both human and material—at the expense of Africa, Africans, and the countries subjected to these practices.

The subsequent systems established after the conclusion of slavery and colonialism were designed to perpetuate the interests of the colonial masters, essentially extending the plundering spree.

A prevalent narrative, perpetuated by colonial education, centred on the ideas of industry and the production of goods and services, including the notions of market availability and the costs associated with establishing production facilities. During a recent visit to Southeast Asia and the Pacific, I discovered that industries can be developed and sustained anywhere, even on a small scale, to meet the needs of local populations.

This local-level production can exist without adding burdens or costs to the broader national industry. Local markets can be sufficient to support and sustain these smaller industries, fostering flexibility and resilience—qualities that prove invaluable during economic shocks or downturns. For instance, in the recent case of sanctions on Russia, the country was able to reassign its workforce to produce essential goods, enabling it to weather the storm without collapsing. Just as a district or province can withstand economic shocks, entire countries possess this capability as well. Even though America feels that China and Iran have aided Russia, this is part of the gain that when such self-sustained strategies are developed, they can be linked to external blocks that become additional layers to uphold resilience.

The system introduced by colonial powers was intentional. They aimed to control production, relegating third-world nations to mere consumers, thereby earning foreign exchange, increasing employment for their citizens, and using surpluses to develop or maintain their infrastructure.

This deliberate strategy extended to the fields of economics, commerce, politics, and the natural sciences, all of which were intended to give colonial powers an advantage over regions seen as mere producers of raw materials. This is the mere reason why only Western universities are equipped enough as they are. But imagine, if it is about human resources, tools and instruments used in teaching and research, this is movable and can be established anywhere. We saw when American Plants decided to move their production sites to China, the country became an economic boom, and their universities are now welcoming students across the world and any continent or nation can achieve this except when entrenched inequality tactics are into play.

This is why I believe that the notion of "industrialized countries" is somewhat misleading, as industrialization is essentially a system of interconnected plants that any nation can achieve with the appropriate resources deployed.

The primary resources needed to industrialize a nation are talent, machinery, and facilitators to move the produced goods and services. Notably, talent is cultivated through the education system, while machinery results from the application of that talent. The Western world, aware of this advantage, intentionally created a two-tiered system: one for manufacturing machines and another for maintaining them. This explains why Africans were often trained in vocational education to service machines, while Westerners were educated in scientific knowledge and research for production and innovation.

As machines increasingly replaced manual labour, the need for operators of these machines and consumers of surplus products became apparent. Ending slavery meant bringing everyone into consumption, which required work—mostly related to producing raw materials, particularly in Africa. And not all Africa but this was assigned to communities where raw materials exist. This necessity placed Africa in the role of raw material producers, leading to the era of neo-colonialism.

The education system was tailored to uphold this status quo, with a focus on training individuals for specific vocational careers. Since the demand for workers in these fields was limited, the majority were trained in reading and writing in Western languages. This explains why early African intellectuals focused on history, literature, and philosophy, while the skills necessary for producing what they heavily consumed were neglected.

3. The Slave Trade and Industrial Development

Slavery was an industry seen as a necessary evil by the West for its own needs. Since Europe had been exploited, all lands harvested, and were in the hands of a few, and the population was growing with new demands, it was a necessity for ambitious European citizens to seek new lands. This is the very reason why wherever they went, they "discovered" - not that they were unaware of the difference between discovery and plundering, but it was a way to claim ownership. We see this today, where educated people take local knowledge, convert it into scientific knowledge, patent it, and claim it as their own. Nothing is truly new; we often run with a copy-and-paste mentality to gain recognition.

After visiting (though considered as discovering) these lands outside Europe, they also wanted to become farmers like the landowners in Europe. They were interested in producing what Europe was not producing and what could not easily grow in Europe but was in demand, such as cocoa, sugar, or timber. However, at that time, there were no machines, and even if they existed, they needed to be transported and put to use. Thus, the need for labour. The available labour in Europe was occupied working for European farmers, so the only available labour was in Africa, among those living on their lands. Africa became the best option out of necessity. Strong, vibrant, and skilled farming communities were mobilized, wars were waged, and strong men and women were captured and transformed into forced labour.

The wealth accumulated from all these transactions was invested in physical infrastructure and hard currencies such as gold, diamonds, iron ore, and many others. Governments benefited from taxes, while the Church benefited from tithes - hence why both were instrumental in accepting and condoning slavery.

4. Ending the Slave Trade in the Industrial Circle

Like any form of discovery, it was a practice for its time. With machines and new technology, a different kind of labour was needed. The industries had been built, the infrastructure existed, and governments and churches were wealthy - there was only one need remaining: to maintain, manage, improve the wealth, and infrastructure, and advance the cause of humanity into new fields. This required educational skills more than physical labour, and operational skills more than excavation, as machines performed much of the physical work and needed operators or managers.

This is why we saw the development of vocational skills, and many universities in most countries were referred to as Polytechnics. At this juncture, it became necessary to end slavery and replace it with a market system where people received pay for operating machines, driving cars, or translating from one language to another. In this case, people needed a form of freedom and education to perform these tasks. Slavery was then replaced with this new need, leading to the abolition of the slave trade.

5. The Blame Game of Today

We often see people blaming African leadership and systems for not being robust enough. They even blame individuals for staying within the realms of the so-called colonial mentality. What is not often discussed is the system that was carved to replace colonialism, which is enshrined within democratic practices.

First, the banking system. One key issue in today’s Africa is the system we run, which we inherited. The banking system so significantly influences our lives that we often fail to see the harm it creates, blaming bankers when it fails. The truth is, it's not just the people running the banks, but the deliberate design to keep us poor. Let me explain further: Today, we deposit money in the bank, but after a few years, that money depreciates, and nothing remains. I have witnessed this within my lifetime. When a businessperson saves 1,000,000 Liberian Dollars in 2024, say at an exchange rate of 200 Liberian dollars to US $1, this means the businessman is US $5,000 richer. In 2030, if the rate reaches 400 Liberian dollars to a dollar, the businessman is only $2,500 less rich. The government may establish a system to reduce poverty by 50%, but instead, we see poverty increasing by 50%, and this cycle continues with every generation. When asked why the exchange rate fluctuates, they blame market forces. But who controls these market forces? They point to the capitalists, who are the wealthy in Europe and America. Thus, our poverty is not due to mental disability, but rather because someone, somewhere has taken advantage of us through covert means, then blames us for not taking enough steps to protect ourselves. This is absurd, and we must address it through clear and open discussions. Africa continues to solve problems using a system designed against us. It's like building a home in a flood-prone area: The flood comes, displaces you, and you say, "Let me build another layer on top of my house so when the flood comes, I'll be above it." Forgetting that the flood can destroy the foundation and collapse the house. You build the upper layer, the flood comes, destroys the foundation, and the house collapses, leaving you injured. This parallels what's happening to our economic policies.

The second layer is our Currency Management. We print our money abroad because we either cannot afford the machines, or our elites are not trusted enough to resist the temptation of excessive printing. Consequently, we pay almost 20-30% of the cost of the amount produced, and when we introduce the money, it depreciates by another 20%. In essence, we lose about 50% of the money, leading to the continuous need for printing. We should only print what we need, not what we think will alleviate our debt and problems. To solve our issues, we need to focus on production capacity and bring external resources into our economy, not as debt but as earnings.

The Third layer is in the School System. How can a school system operate without producing anything of its own? No innovation, no capacity - yet we boast of having strong, quality education. How many machines, farms, and companies has our school system produced in the last 10 years? If there's no answer, then education lacks quality and must be reformed.

The fourth layer is Trading and Production Mechanisms. Business is an exchange mechanism, not merely buying. This means we produce something and exchange it for what we cannot produce. Before expressing this in monetary terms, think about tangible products, goods, and services. Any country producing less is at a disadvantage and will remain so until it starts producing. This concept may be difficult to grasp initially, but let's start small: List all the goods in your market, check which ones you have raw materials to produce, and begin a reform process. The government should identify citizens with the talent, tools, or knowledge to produce these goods and services and support them. This way, three things are achieved: production increases, prices decrease, and employment is created. I've seen situations where prices rise, the cost of living soars and the government increases salaries - this is madness. Governments depend on taxes, which are a portion of salaries; when salaries rise, so do taxes, and subsequently, the prices of goods and services. In reality, nothing changes except the government deceives the people. Instead of raising salaries, focus on producing these goods domestically, lowering prices to match current earnings. With this approach, new goods are produced, new jobs are created, prices decrease, and people can afford essential items.

6. Africa & the New Order

When people hear of the new order, it becomes unclear what this is all about. However, the old order was nothing less than industry, security arrangements, and world power. This is all regulated and managed through the lens of power, money, and technology. Essentially, it is about the control of world resources and the system that upholds this control system. To be understood, Africa needs to engrain itself into it, define itself and create its position on what role Africa and the African people want to play and how they intend to keep playing this role for centuries. This is where rethinking is essentially important since at present, we are at the bottom of the negotiation table.

Let me give us an example of recent. America is presently reminding other powers not to meddle in their affairs, especially in elections. However, they overlook the precedent they've set. When America sought to influence outcomes to suit their interests, they often meddled and changed governments at will, even in cases where the existing order was stable. The wars in Iraq and Libya serve as prime examples where America disregarded the rule-based order, defied UN advice, and disrupted established international norms.

Today, we witness similar behaviour from countries like Russia and China, disrupting the internationally acclaimed rule-based order that once upheld peace and stability. This disruption has led to a surge in conflicts and tensions between nations, as the superpower entrusted with upholding these rules took advantage of its position.

This pattern is also evident in the historical contexts of slavery, colonialism, and imperialism, where tactics employed by Europe, America, and Russia to advance their interests have sowed seeds of conflict and division. It's no surprise that these very powers are now embroiled in disputes.

It's imperative to call for a new global order, one where superpowers acknowledge emerging regional blocs and powers, respect each other's sovereignty and work towards inclusivity and equality. The current system, dominated by a select few on the Security Council, no longer serves the world's interests and risks the demise of institutions like the UN, akin to the fate of the League of Nations.

I will suggest that Africa needs a strategic rethink. Successful Africans need to reconsider their roles. For instance, when the African Union wanted to build its offices, they went to China for construction. Yet they sit and discuss freedom in those very buildings. What if the AU had invited 1000 African billionaires to contribute to a financing loan? Each could contribute, say, $100,000, raising around $100,000,000. This would place decision-making power squarely in African hands. As shareholders, we would then take all necessary steps to keep the agency independent of foreign influence. Africa needs to understand that quick fixes will not suffice. We must take our responsibility seriously, and we have to lead. We cannot afford to be led and at the same time cry for freedom.

This concept can be replicated in all countries for national development, where citizens contribute to major projects and become shareholders in road networks, motor parks, museums, water, and electricity. This approach can help reduce corruption as people realize these businesses are theirs; if they fail, their investment fails. Ethiopia built its dam using money from citizens - by replicating this model, we move closer to freedom and the Africa we envision.

With the example above, what is more practical in this case is to have a clear understanding that Africa needs to be part of the negotiations and at the forefront of discussions. Africa cannot be represented as it was at the Berlin Conference. There should be no colonial powers or superpowers dominating this approach; it must be mutual, equal, respectful, and anchored on what everyone brings to the table. There is no disadvantage for Africa, and no one should make it feel or think otherwise. The next generation needs resources—both human and intellectual—that exist abundantly in Africa, along with its wealth of natural resources. With a young population and well-established universities, Africa must focus its energy on enrichment, production, and scientific expansion.