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<\/p>\nColonialism Reimagined: The Neo-Colonial Scramble for Africa and the DRC<\/b><\/p>\n
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From Curtis Research found here: <\/span>Curtis<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Africa and its people are often<\/span> stereotyped <\/span><\/a>as poor, constantly in need of help, and as \u201cunderdeveloped\u201d. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Africa is a complex and large area endowed with various natural\u00a0 resources from cacao, to cattle, to metals and minerals like copper, gold, cobalt, tin, diamonds and more. Besides this, the continent has a rich history, cultures, and peoples. Why then do so many nations in Africa struggle with poverty, war and health issues? This is due to both past and present day systemic forms of colonialism and neocolonialism. This is what this February\u2019s blog explores.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Colonialism:<\/b><\/p>\n The scramble for <\/span>Africa<\/span><\/a> took place from the mid 1800\u2019s until the early 1900\u2019s. It involved various great European powers, particularly Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. The scramble happened for a variety of reasons including land grabbing, human capital, natural resources, the spread of religion, and imperial prestige. <\/span>Kwame Nkrumah<\/span><\/a> noted that the aim of colonialism was about the struggle for raw materials and the colonies becoming dumping grounds of\u00a0 western rejects that are sold at exorbitant prices. As nations colonized, resources were stolen and populations were devastated. The DRC at this time (which was known as King Leopold\u2019s Free State and later became the Belgian Congo) was heavily exploitative, violating people\u2019s rights; many were killed to a genocidal magnitude. This exploitation continued relatively undisturbed until the end of WWI when Germany’s colonies were given to other European powers; once this transition settled the exploitation continued. The Congo, like many states, gained political independence but the need for natural resources, especially metals and minerals, remains high, exacerbated by technological advancement including the demand for renewable energy products.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n From Britannia kids: found <\/span>here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n Neo-colonialism and exploitation:<\/b><\/p>\n If African nations gained independence, how is it then that so many of them are still exploited and assumed poor? Its nations continue to suffer because of a phenomenon called <\/span>neo-colonialism<\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Kwame Nkrumah\u00a0 <\/span><\/a>notes that the essence of neo colonialism\u00a0 is that \u201cthe state which is subject to it is, in theory, independent and has all the outward trappings of international sovereignty. In reality its economic system and thus its political policy is directed from outside.\u201d Africa\u2019s exploitation\u00a0 is exasperated by the global demand for Africa\u2019s resources. From the invention of the pneumatic tires during the initial stages of the industrial era to the current demand for renewable energy products, all technological advancement have been achieved with Africa\u2019s natural resources (e.g. minerals, metals).\u00a0 In the process, Africans have been sacrificed as natural resources are valued and not the lives of the African people. Neo-colonialism uses state\/overt violence, as well as companies to exploit\u00a0 resources. In 20<\/span>14, <\/span>Curtis<\/span><\/a> research<\/span><\/a> reported: that African countries received around $19 billion in aid and\u00a0 $68 billion were taken out of the continent mainly by multinational companies that deliberately misreport the value of their imports or exports to reduce tax; this results in great losses for the people. In addition, while Africans receive $31 billion in personal remittances <\/span>from<\/span><\/a> overseas, multinational companies operating on the continent repatriate\u00a0 $32 billion in profits to their home countries each year.<\/span> For example, of Western African nations still pay taxes to\u00a0 France and\u00a0 pay huge interests on loans. In the past, this exploitation was mostly done by European or North American companies. Currently, Africa is on a dining table with companies, mercenaries and armies\u00a0 exploiting the African continent. These companies claim that they source their resources sustainably but this is not the case. These resources are often plundered and smuggled through neighboring nations. This neo-colonialism results in billions of dollars worth of resources being stolen and then used for the profit of the rich. Financial resources moving into Africa are incomparable to the outflows. The natural resources outflow from Africa have turned the rest of the world into economic giants while Africa is ranked as the poorest continent. As financial and natural resources are taken out, weapons are brought into Africa. War has been the means for accessing. Both the inflows and outflows are very difficult to trace given that there is a lot of opacity around both.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Impacts:<\/b><\/p>\n While entities such as the national Indigenous political elites, warlords, regional governments and their militaries; militias, superpowers and corporations and businessmen and politicians often become billionaires from exploiting the minerals, the Congolese who these resources belong to, are beset by poverty and violence. Oftentimes the people in these nations see little if none of this wealth, resulting in further <\/span>poverty<\/span><\/a>. For example an estimated $29 <\/span>billion<\/span><\/a> a year is being stolen from Africa in illegal logging, fishing and the trade in wildlife\/plants, resulting in poverty and exploitation. They are often paid less than a livable wage, or are paid based on ever changing market prices. This includes women, disabled people and children, all of whom work in dangerous conditions with no health and safety regulations. In addition, these companies also<\/a> cause <\/span>conflict<\/span><\/a>, environmental damage, and health problems in the area that they operate in. Conflict is caused by a fight <\/a>for resources, land and power, health problems are caused by dangerous working conditions and mineral leaching, and environmental damage results from dangerous mining, farming and resource extraction practices. These impacts can result in long term damage to the people and their environment, ultimately resulting in cross-generational suffering and trauma.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The DRC as an example:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n A prime example of this current neo-colonialism is occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC is a resource rich nation since its inception; it is particularly rich in minerals and metals such as diamonds, copper, cobalt and lithium to name a few. As mentioned above the resources of the <\/span>DRC<\/span><\/a> have been stolen by Belgium in the past, but in the current day they continue to be stolen by western and Chinese nationals and their corporations, mercenaries and criminal rackets. This exploitation has directly led to one of the worst humanitarian crises in Africa if not the world. <\/span>Murder<\/span><\/a>, displacement, poverty, sexual assault and conflict run rampant due to outside interference. Since the start of 2024 over 358,000 people have been displaced due to both mining practices and the conflict caused by the M23 in the DRC. This has <\/span>resulted <\/span><\/a>in a total of over 7.1 million internally displaced people in the nation. This displacement is heavy in the eastern part of the region near Rwanda due to the M23.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n From the UNOCHA <\/span>Here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n What Africa must do<\/b><\/p>\n *Unite and resist\u00a0 colonial and neo-colonial exploitation. Unite and defeat the colonial strategy of divide and conquer.\u00a0 The borders that separate Africa are colonial constructs. Unity must be the goal towards which Africa must bring its mental, physical, economic and political energies. The continent has abundant natural resources and human capital to produce raw material and to consume all the finished products.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n *Use the abundant natural resources to develop the continent and to provide people with basic services instead of colonizing civilians internally and sometimes seeking to balkanize neighboring nations.<\/span><\/p>\n *Invest in the <\/span>talents of many African<\/span><\/a> people who have contributed to turning Western nations into superpowers. From the slaves who were brought to America and Europe to those working in silicon valley, African brains are backbones to technological advancement and other discoveries. Maxwell <\/span>Chikumbutso of Zimbabwe<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 has invented microsonic energy which is superior to other renewable energy sources.\u00a0 In the 1700, it was the African slave <\/span>Onesmus <\/span><\/a>who shared his knowledge of preventing smallpox and paved the way to the vaccines we use today. NASA prospered on the brains of Black women portrayed by the movie Hidden Figures.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n * Provide quality and decolonizing education to the youth of today and tomorrow.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n *Walk the talk of peace and security. No one benefits from the deaths of the millions of Africans, except that it paves way to the continued exploitation of Africa\u2019s resources and profit for weapon industries.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Action points for the rest of the world:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n * Demand accountability for the sources of the minerals in your electronic devices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n * Join the Congolese to demand for peace and just resource extraction to benefit the owners of the minerals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t need something, don\u2019t buy it! Not only do new items, especially technology, often use exploited African labour, but they often use exploited global labour in general.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n * Boycott companies that illegally or unlawfully operate in and use resources from African nations.<\/span><\/p>\n * Call on the School to stop partnering with companies that exploit African nations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n * Keep up to date on news, lawsuits, and conflicts that are happening across Africa, particularly in mineral rich nations such as the DRC.<\/span><\/p>\n * Educate others about what you have learned and share education links.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Colonialism Reimagined: The Neo-Colonial Scramble for Africa and the DRC From Curtis Research found here: Curtis Africa and its people are often stereotyped as poor, constantly in need of help, and as \u201cunderdeveloped\u201d. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Africa is a complex and large area endowed with various natural\u00a0 resources from cacao, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22,27,35],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/219829-050-16B4562D-240x257.webp\")
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