Page 51 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 5

ECONOMY
with African economic philos-
ophy and economic practice,
and seeks to liberate Africa from
“economic occupation”.
Pillars of the
Afrikonomics Theory
(a). It believes and maintains
that any harmful action against
another individual is a threat to
the whole society; a restriction
on individual’s economic activity
places severe constraints on the
economic welfare of the whole
society; if the individual pros- purpose is inherent in the basic
pers, so does his/her extended
family and the community; an
individual could prosper so long
as his/her pursuit of prosperity
does not harm or in conflict with
the interests of the community;
the society’s interests have to be
paramount; if an individual’s pur-
suit of prosperity conflicts with
society’s interests, the State
must intervene.
(b). It seeks to move our society
forward to a higher and recon-
ciled form of society, in which
the quintessence of the human
purpose reasserts itself in a
modern, free and democratic
economic context and to create
a new society that is humane,
just and harmonious.
(c). It believes that an action is
good if it preserves the totality,
fullness and the harmonious life
of a human person; an action is
bad if it has a more or less de-
cided tendency to break into and
narrow the totality and fullness of
humanism (Ubuntu). Therefore,
we believe that for Africa to have
universal power, it would have to
have a strong African-oriented
‘substantivist’ economic philoso- et, is endowed with the divine
phy that is culturally rooted and
grounded in an African idiom.
The Basic Economic Law
of Development
www.msingiafrikamagazine.com
Development must be con- is a three-fold principle of Muntu
cerned with the maximum sat- (man).
isfaction of the constantly rising All these elements constitute
material and cultural require- what is called uBuntu, which
ments of the whole of society teaches us that we are one mor-
through the continuous expan- al universe, and our shared mor-
sion and perfection of our Afri- al sense makes us recognize
can humanism. our duty to others.
Therefore, the law of balanced
development of the national The Need for the Recovery of
economy can yield the desired African Identity
result only if there is a purpose According to Mbeki, the problem
for the sake of which economic of “rapacious and venal individ-
development is planned. This ualism”– which the neo-liberal
policies of his government have
economic law of African human- often been accused of exacer-
ism. The law of balanced devel- bating, will only be resolved by a
opment of the national economy rediscovery of “African identity”
can operate to its full scope only and the building of a society that
if its operation rests on the basic is “new not only in its economic
economic law of African human- arrangements, but also in terms
ism. of the values it upholds”, name-
Instead of maximum profits – ly the “Ubuntu value system”
there must be maximum satis- (Mbeki 2007).
faction of the material and cul- Again, speaking at the eighth
tural requirements of society; annual Steve Biko Memorial
Instead of development of pro- Lecture in Cape Town in Sep-
duction with breaks in continuity tember 2007, Mbeki provided a
from boom to crisis and from cri- somber and rather frank assess-
sis to boom – there must be un- ment of disturbing levels of frag-
broken expansion of production. mentation and dysfunction in our
post-apartheid society, and said,
The Philosophy of NTU as a “Our society has been captured
Guiding Force by a rapacious individualism
NTU is the “Causative Force”. It which is corroding our social
is the power that is responsible cohesion, which is repudiating
for all creation, on earth and in the value and practice of human
the universe. solidarity, and which totally re-
Mu+Ntu = Man (Umuntu). jects the fundamental precept of
Mu- represents a human person Ubuntu” (Mbeki 2007: 16).
Ntu- represents an abstract – an
element of godliness in a human
person.
Therefore, umuntu, not a black
person as often interpreted, but
any human person on the plan-
attributes: Intellect, Wisdom,
Justice, Creativity, Compassion,
Love, etc. that make him to be
distinctly different from other
created beings. He/she consists
of the: spirit, soul and body. This
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