Comments on: Selling Africa by the pound

By: Corliss White

Corliss White — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:07:37 +0000

I don,t know about Africa but from what i see a lot more can be done for the people there,my heart goes out to each and every family there and they will find peace one day and growth the same as us in the United States and we all have to believe that a change is coming.white.corliss@yahoo.com

By: tm

tm — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:16:54 +0000

I have been reading about 100′s of thousands of hectares being leased in Kenya. Kenya also just signed a deal where a Qatar company is building a massive complex at the Nairobi airport.

I would have to imagine that many of these deals involved a TON of corruption and even more payoffs. Who gave the General of South Sudan the authority to lease land?

By: Nanaama

Nanaama — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 20:01:18 +0000

To be able to engage in commercial farming, Africa does not need to “lease” its lands to foreigners.Commercial farming has been used successfully for the production of cash crops in many African countries, for example cocoa in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Nigeria. In addition to rubber plantations, palm plantations, cotton, etc. in Ghana Nigeria , Liberia and many other African countries.The problem here is that only the cash crops needed for export have been produced this way.Efforts need to be made to produce foodstuffs for home consumption on similar scale.More importantly the preservation of perishable foods and their wider distribution all year round will have to be included in the planning.Such efforts are already being made in Ghana, and no African nation need to give away any of its lands to foreigners for any reason whatsoever.

By: buffalojump

buffalojump — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:17:11 +0000

Blame those African leaders and their supporters who benefit themselves from resources they sell for personal benefit.

Colonial rule has been gone for years. Until some African leaders serve the people and not themselves little will change and until blame for colonial times as a scapegoat is gone little will change.

I am an indiginous person who lives in a country which was also a colony but to relive and create a grievence mentality would only hold us back.

Move ahead if you continue to blame the wrongs of the past. Do what will benefit the people and not some of the corrupt leaders.

Their are many excellent African leaders, identify what they are doing right and implement those ideas and processes that are positive.

By: Nanaama

Nanaama — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:07:14 +0000

We do not need foreigners in order to master commercial farming in Africa. Yes Zimbabwe had foreign settlers seizing African lands to develop highly successful cash crops, with lots of revenue, but what good did it do the indigenous people?They were practically squatters on the “foreigners property”. They remained poor, uneducated,without any rights,disenfranchised and victims of oppression under the rule of a minority white elite. South Africa, Angola, S.W. Africa were further examples.Commercial farming has been successfully carried out in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria etc for cocoa , palm, rubber and a few other products.Unfortunately, this has only been encouraged for cash crops for export by the colonial governments. There is a need to engage such large scale farming for the production of food for home consumption, and more importantly for their preservation and supply all the year round.Hopefully we shall not need to lease or sell our lands to achieve this goal.Land is the most precious human possession, then it is the source of life and the source of all wealth.

By: JD

JD — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 13:33:42 +0000

Buffalojump, think of what you just said. The indigenous people of NA are not the whites at all. First it was the Native American peoples. Then the Protestants and other Christians came in and forcibly took the land as their own, and after that, took more land as ‘manifest destiny’ took hold. So in this case, yes, indigenous people should live and own their own land. And in that light, the American government and people are intruders on somebody else’s land. So I agree, with Nanaama, this feels all too much like colonialism, except instead of imperialism, governments asserting their powers over more property now its investing. Imperialism has become a private endeavor. Instead of minerals, this time, its the agricultural resources the African people are going to suffer for. This does not bode well at all.

By: Kakete John B

Kakete John B — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:55:46 +0000

As if the colonial exploitation was not enough, African leaders continue to be accomplices in the crime.Look at Congo with all its vast minerals.
King Leopald, and the rest of the west did nothing but exploit this country. We have people living next to and working in diamond and gold mines, yet live pauper lives. The proceeds find their way into pockets and accounts of the filthy rich in the west, who even promote wars in the region because they gain out of the instability there.
Can’t African leaders organize their own people to farm their land and reap the profits for their own children instead of selling the future of their countries to people who realy do not care for the future of their children.
I think the dreams of Patrice Lumumba (RIP), Kwameh Nkurumah(RIP), Haile Silasie (RIP) and Julius Nyerere (RIP) for a United Africa need to be revived. It is only when Africa will have one voice, one government, one economy,and one purpose that it will stop to be exploited even by its own corrupted leaders who only think of their own tummies and families.
Africa needs a new generation of leaders, those who think and look beyond today, beyond the food on their plates into the future. Those ready to sacrifice today for the sake of a better Africa tomorrow

By: buffalojump

buffalojump — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:00:46 +0000

Back to square one? It is of course desirable to retain all lands in the hands of the local people and if that means subsistance living out of choice okay. But don’t let the hate of others especially westerners hold back the opportunity for people if they want more opportunities.

Zim is an excellent example of getting rid of commercial farmers who were considered foreigners.

If one thinks only indigineous people should live and own the land then we have a lot of people who own land in NA to leave and return to Africa, Asia, Europe etc. Does this make sense – NO – Is Africa different ??

By: PD

PD — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:43:36 +0000

There is no easy solution to this dilemma but there are mutually beneficial and convenient compromises. China and India offer one of the better set of models whereby capital and technical domain knowledge from non-locals is coupled with labor, local knowledge and privilege from the locals. These two combine in a single entity where ownership reflects contributions. In much of Asia, it was and may still be required to have enterprises in certain sectors be majority owned by locals.

A question to ponder is “is this fair?”; “is the capital resource taking second priority to labor resource?” No, it is compensating for privilege like any other commercial transaction. How will this work for listed companies? China and other countries has public companies with dual-class shares limiting transfer of “local-only” stock.

There are a numerous variations. The end result should be that locals take a large leap on the knowledge ladder while benefiting from their efforts while foreign capital acquires enviable and “ripe opportunit[ies]” after waiting for decades.

By: Nanaama

Nanaama — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:36:23 +0000

Back to square one. Land ownership passing into the hands of foreigners again. We all know what that means.The foreigners, the masters, the Africans once again the underdogs who will benefit from the crumbs that fall from the table.Excellent!! Why don´t we sell the whole continent to the investors, so that they transform Africa into economic paradise, as well as transforming the Africans into second class citizens in their own country.Ending with private armies of the investors guarding their properties (remember Katanga?).Eventually the investors, will become a political force to reckon with,sure they can not allow an emerging populist(socialist) Government to try and spread the wealth around, can they? This is all an old familiar story. A hundred years from now the Africans will still be servants and labourers in this paradise.