CAN AFRICA EVER REGAIN ITS INDEPENDENCE? PT. 2

We also have to pay 20% annually for financial liabilities. As a result, the CFA usually has a consistent value because France does not allow it to increase or decrease like the Pound or the Euro.

Guinean President Sékou understood this problem all too well. As the leader of the Democratic Party of Guinea and a pan-African activist in favour of liberating Africa from the chains of its colonial past, he played a key role in Guinea voting ‘No’ to membership of the French union in 1958. As expected, France retracted all financial aid from Guinea and called all of their administrative officers to return to France. It seems that Sekou Touré had the correct vision when he said “We prefer freedom in poverty than opulence in slavery”: Guinea was one of the only countries to reject this deal as the others preferred to receive their aid from France. Some would say that Guinea is still suffering for their freedom as it is reported that 69% of the country lives below the poverty line. Thus, one must ask, is the only way Africa can find their freedom through independence by forsaking financial success?

Africa has never been a continent of submissive ignorance. Tales of revolution and liberation have been embedded its history. Hence, it would be foolish to assume that each of its countries would not strive to seek independence from the grasp of the thieving hands of the West. In terms of a ‘Wakandan’ level of power, time only teaches us that our past colonisers are not yet ready to respect our leaders, our people or our natural resources. Thus, it is impossible for us to find such international power if we rely on those who only hope to exploit our resources to be our partners. This leads me to my conclusion and my response to all of this: the only way Africa can sustain independence, global power and financial success all at once is through unity. The capitalist tendencies of the West will negate any possible relations which means that we can only look between ourselves to manage our resources properly and help our economies to thrive: perhaps then, a long-standing African utopia will come to existence.

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