Page 116 - A People Called Afrika

A PEOPLE CALLED AFRIKA

ly related to its role as a primary commodity exporter, which
are a direct outcome of this historical process. Alemayehu’s
words ring disturbingly true, the state of Afrika’s economies in
2020 have not deviated from what is described in this paper,
part of which we have captured above. This quote is from an
article published on brookings.edu on 9th April 2020, called
“Africa needs debt relief to fight Covid-19”, which was orig-
inally published in Project Syndicate. The joint authors say
that “Africa needs an initial USD 100 billion in financial sup-
port, because sharp declines in commodity prices, trade, and
tourism - a direct result of the pandemic - are causing govern-
ment revenues to dry up fast. Meanwhile, investor pullback
from risky assets has pushed up the cost of borrowing in fi-
nancial markets, limiting viable options for resource mobiliza-
tion.” The authors, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Brahima Sangafowa
Coulibaly, Tidjane Thiam, Donald Kaberuka, Vera Songwe,
Strive Masiyiwa, Louise Mushikiwabo, and Cristina Duarte
are Afrika’s top voices on matters of the continent’s economy.

They also say that, “Because time is of the essence, we call
for a two-year standstill on all external debt repayments,
both interest and principal. During this standstill, the G-20
should task the IMF and World Bank with undertaking a
comprehensive debt sustainability assessment and consider-
ing further debt restructuring, where appropriate, to preserve
or restore debt sustainability.” In other words, the song has
not changed. What Afrika is depending on for economic
growth has remained the same for decades, as has the fact
that Afrika has been unable to pay off long-standing debt
and to find alternate ways in which to develop its economies.

In short, the influence of the Europeans on the shift in Afri-

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