By Mboneko Munyaga
Eighty years after the end of World War II, Africa remains the most exploited continent in the world. For all its mineral wealth, land and people, Africa accounts for only about 3.0 per cent of global GDP. As of the recently published 2022 Atlas of Africa, which uses dollar-based GDP values globally to compare, Africa’s total contribution to current per capita GDP of dollars is 2.0 per cent. The picture becomes even darker when seen under the lens of per capita GDP, as Africans live under one dollar per day.
Young Ibrahim Traore, the President of Burkina Faso, has awakened the fire and raised the voice of Pan-Africanism. In his address to the UN, Traore criticised continued exploitation of African resources and challenged the West’s blindfolded liberalism by saying: “Stop this exploitation and let Africa breathe.”
Traore’s rise and the rallying of the Burkinabe people to end foreign control of their gold and land comes amidst increasing awareness across the continent about the mass killing of members of a different race or ethnicity. Even killing one person who is hated and vilified or seen as worthless is an act of genocide. Killing African leaders is the real genocide at work, and it is the genocide Africa lives with—since Patrice Lumumba was killed, who was the very voice of UN peacekeepers in 1960 Republic of Congo.
“Traore symbolises a wave of hope, optimism and new beginning for Africa. It is a tide that can never be rolled back.”
Eighty years after the end of World War II, Africa remains the most exploited continent in the world. Its immense wealth in natural resources continues to enrich the global north, while Africans live in poverty.
All that Africa begs now is not compensation but freedom from exploitative hands. It is not about charity, it is about justice. When you take into account that Africa has 30 per cent of the world’s mineral wealth and 60 per cent of global diamond production, Burkina Faso, one of the many gold producers, finds itself under military protection of foreign and self-imposed rulers. That must stop.
Africa must not continue to be treated as a dumping ground for expired goods, ideas, policies, and exploitation masked as development. It is high time that African countries said no to the dominance of foreign economic policies that serve others more than they serve Africans. Whether it’s the French or British or Americans, the common thread has been control, manipulation, and marginalisation.
The exploitation of Africa must end. It is not about blaming colonisers from the past but addressing the continued inaction to decolonise from economic policies that benefit foreign powers. Africa must redefine its place in the global order and claim its right to true prosperity and higher dignity.
Traore’s courage and ideological clarity have ignited the conversation, but it is upon all Africans to demand respect, fairness and control of our own resources, our own futures, and our own people.
Contact: munyagas@gmail.com
Mboneko Munyaga is a political and economic affairs columnist.
