Page 147 - A People Called Afrika

Afrika’s Indigenous Knowledge Systems

whereby the person who takes the loan is first working for the
bank in order to pay off the loan, and that by the time they fin-
ish paying off the loan over a period of 5 - 20 years, whatever
they had purchased, such as farming equipment or a house, is
no longer producing for them. This requires that the person
go back to the bank for another loan and in effect traps people
in an endless cycle. He suggests that, in order for Afrika to be
able to transform the banking sector and its economies, that
the continent needs to look into setting up a system whose fun-
damentals are based on enablement and not Capitalism. This
means that the banking sector needs to move to a place where
they collect transaction fees that allow them to run their banks
and act as bridges that enable transactions between people in the
value chain, and rather than charging excessively high interest
rates, make these more affordable such that all players benefit.

He points out that while the cooperative movement started
out with this in mind (enablement and low cost loans), they,
unfortunately, have since been corrupted and are now pro-
viding loans at commercial rates. The banker we spoke to
emphasized that the system that Afrika needs is one that is
collaborative and cohesive between nations. The requirement
would be for Afrika to looks at what God has bestowed each
country resource-wise and in terms of geography and to al-
low these to be run not for profiteering and exploitation but
to facilitate cooperation and across borders such that what is
needed from one country can easily be procured and moved
to another without many players or interference in the value
chain, including from governments. This will ensure that costs
remain low and the consumer benefits at the end, thereby
boosting trade and economic growth for Afrika. Furthermore,
he proposes a reality for Afrika where we no longer look at

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