Page 96 - A People Called Afrika

A PEOPLE CALLED AFRIKA

and fix his roof in exchange for iron ore, which can actual-
ly be used to make a hammer, and his sons are schooled
in the art of forging iron, it can be a little bit puzzling.
Afrika is the second largest continent in the world. This conti-
nent houses the most beautiful and diverse people groups, vast
amounts of natural resources (plants, animals, minerals, pre-
cious metals) has most of the world’s arable land, has varied cli-
mate and topography useful for generation of clean energy from
sun, sea, river and wind, vast oil and coal reserves also useful
for generation of energy - and with over 160 million Afrikans in
the Diaspora, trained in various fields and exposed to cultures
from North America to South America, Europe and Asia - Af-
rika has wisdom and insights that can and should make her a
mighty powerhouse when it comes to navigating the global space.

The socio-economic and political retardation of Afri-
ka makes no sense in light of its hundreds of thousands
of university graduates - up to PhD and Masters’ lev-
els - millions of diploma holders and hundreds of mil-
lions of high school and primary school graduates.

Despite Afrika’s obvious abundance, however, countries in
Afrika are counted amongst the poorest and are so high on
foreign aid, debt and foreign ‘investments’ that continually pil-
lage the continent through extractive industries, repatriation of
funds and tax evasion that they appear blinded to the reality
of their continued imprisonment. Regardless of all of Afri-
ka’s power and potential, the continent perennially lives with
a worn out begging bowl outstretched to former colonialists
and other countries, to organizations such as the World Bank,
IFC, UN, FAO, WHO, who – in turn – find ways in which
to gain from their ‘generosity’ by pinning Afrikan countries

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