During her visit to South Africa on August 28th, in an extremely condescending attitude, the British prime minister, while supposedly advocating for a new win-win partnership with Africans, couldn't help but revert to her imperialistically stereotyped colonial mindset.
In an unapologetic speech, Theresa May thought that Africans would be more than receptive to her vision of assistance as she endeavored to sing what she perceived as the benefits of the charitable works of the UK.
A country she interestingly referred to as a global one. Presumably in an effort to shroud the term superpower which unfortunately does not exactly fit the embattled state of the economy of the European super island.
Of course, it's no secret that Britain is no more a superpower to anyone and her late ejection from the EU puts the island in a rather fragile situation at any negotiating table. Thus, the strange attitude of the British prime minister not only shows that the intentions of Britain for some strategic partnership with Africa might not be the most genuine ones, it clearly reveals a persistent disdain towards Africans and their current strategic position in the world economy. With essential precious resources that can't be overlooked, Africa does not need charity.
And Africans are well aware, as Solange Guo Chatelard of the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology brilliantly puts it, that indeed it's game over for Europe in Africa. With the new Chinese kid on the block, a paradigm shift is already taking place which simply sends away the Europeans and their Western kind.
So far, these Western countries have imposed on mineral rich African countries the idea that their resources were somehow valueless as they had to add value to it after extraction. In so doing, they could successfully secure humongous shares in ostensibly unfair deals. As they were ignoring the only truly tangible asset in the deal, they would hide behind an investment in equipment. When it was actually debt they would bring as contribution, at the expense of the formed joint venture with the African State. A debt they would even go so far as to overcharge the company while systematically declaring losses. So much so that the preyed African State would never benefit from either dividends or taxes. Therefore, decades after decades, abused African countries have been maintained in abject poverty as Western banks and multinationals disgracefully thrived. While their governments were providing the bewitched cool milk of aid in order to consolidate their imperialistic and occultic hold. To make sure there would still be enough blood to spill.
With a diversified group of players, Africans are now in the position of imposing their own rule on how to value their valuable precious resources and other possessions such as land. Africans must take the necessary steps to take advantage of this game-changing situation for their benefit and not just lend themselves to another level of abuse.
Any miner, be it Western, Russian, Chinese or other, who would venture in extracting these resources should now agree with the fact that the truly tangible asset in the deal is the mineral ressource itself. As such, such a resource should be valued independently of the use one plans to make of it later in the process. And this applies to any form of venture where State-owned properties such as the undersoil and the topsoil are involved. And in a normal world, soil belongs not only to the State but to the people. In case the State is an inadequately designed, or a corruptly compromised or somehow hijacked entity, Like Canada, for instance.
A win-win approach will require at least a fifty-fifty deal for the benefit of the resource rich country upon the formation of the joint venture. And the incumbent debt for the exploitation equipment and other operational tools and facilities will be on the partner who so chooses to contribute to the JV.
The logic behind this paradigm shift is simple.
There is gold in Africa, this gold must now be worth its weight. From that perspective, Africa is more than willing to share with the rest of humanity. Again...
A country rich in bauxite such as Guinea should also be financially rich to afford infrastructure for instance. By demanding to transform the resource on the spot, the African country can further leverage its economical advantage by creating jobs and insuring technology transfer. By either releasing some shareholding power or increasing it by sharing the encumbance of the debt attached to the necessary acquisitions for such a transformation undertaking. While taking advantage of the land through permits granting at the negotiating table.
Furthermore, a miner without a mining equipment, who would then charge the JV with the liability on the acquisition of an equipment deemed as an asset, does not make a lot of sense. This nonsensical situation that has prevailed for so many years must come to an end. The unscrupulous idea of socializing the costs while privatizing the profits is a repugnant practice that should not only be condemned, but banned and seriously dealt with by any humourless legislation.
Conversely, mineral rich African states involved in equitable joint ventures should refrain from applying any tax policy whatsoever. It doesn't make a lot of sense either to tax partners behind a shareholding company.
Having said that, unfortunately for Britain and other Western countries, time and time again, History has demonstrated that these «powers» cannot operate in an equitable way.
Predation, occupation, oppression, deception, destruction seem to have been the only modus operandi these folks knew. Venturing in a fair partnership with beings who seem to have absolutely no sense of equity in their mental structure, is certainly a mistake that Africans will not reiterate after a proven record of recurrent unspeakable abuses.
It is crystal clear that these western countries are certainly not likely to agree with the idea that the privilege of conjuring money out of thin air as their only contribution to the deal, is no longer acceptable. They are more likely to cling on their old stereotypes and other evil practices to try to disrupt their way into abusive situations. So, dear Mrs May, thanks, but no thanks...
We are not interested in embarking on a sinking European business venture.
And most importantly, it's now about sharity. No more charity. No more tricks. No more «trick or treat». We are sorry. This bloody thriller has been going on for way too long. We just can't allow it anymore. It's over.
Bukoko Ikoki, Citoyen ordinaire.
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As of Christ, we do not accuse. Neither do we judge, nor condemn. We do not stone. We do not curse. We bless our enemies and persecutors. While we let the dead bury their own dead, as we pick up our Cross, we revive our loved ones from lethal errors.