Africa

Panel of Experts Discuss Significance of Ethiopia’s Historic 4th Filling of the GERD for Africa

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Ethiopia completes fourth filling of Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (Courtesy of ethiopianmonitor.com)

To hear a panel of experts on the GERD:

Play link twitter.com

After pressing play, the discussion begins in eight minutes with opening remarks of Lawrence Freeman.

Over the course of the last three weeks, two major developments have occurred that potentially will transform the quality of life for Ethiopia, and all the nations we now refer to as, The Global South. I’m referring to two singular events. One, the 4th filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the eve of the Ethiopian New Year. Two, the 15th BRICKS Summit (August 22-24) in Johannesburg South Africa, that added six new nations, which included Egypt and Ethiopia. These two developments occurring over a span of approximately three weeks have now changed Ethiopia, have changed Africa, and have actually changed the world.

As of January 2024, the BRICS will expand from its current five members; Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, to eleven nations by adding; Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Argentina. The world, the physical universe we live in, has changed; and our planet will never go back to the way it was before. The newly expanded BRICS, with its own Development Bank, is in its embryonic stage of becoming an alternative political-economic institution to the so called, rules-based international order. Ethiopia’s GERD is now irreversibly poised within the next two years, to inject 5,150 megawatts of power to the African continent.

On Sunday, September 10th, an extensive detailed examination of the significance of the 4th filling of the  GERD was discussed on Twitter (see link above) by a panel of experts, which included myself.

Briefly. The GERD reservoir now contains 42 billion cubic meters (bcm) of water, just 7 bcm short of the requirement to fill the dam. During the course of the rainy season the water level will increase another 25 bcm to obtain its full capacity of 74 bcm once the walls are raised another 25 meters to reach the height of 645 meters above sea level.

With the addition of eleven more turbines operating at 400 megawatts (MW) each, to the current two turbines operating at 375 MW each, the GERD is projected to generate approximately 16,000 megawatt hours of electricity. This will enable Ethiopia to provide electricity to its population, expand its manufacturing sector, industrialize its economy, and export electricity to neighboring nations in the Horn of Africa. Resulting in a complete transformation of the Ethiopian economy and its society. This dam will have no negative effect on the downstream nations. The GERD is a dam for development of Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa, and the entire Nile Basin. The African continent will benefit, and now has a model for other nations to follow.

By listening to  our conversation, you will learn a great deal about the current stage of development of the GERD and its potential for Ethiopia.

Read my earlier posts:

GERD: Utilizing the Blue Nile to Create Energy for Development in Ethiopia & The Horn of Africa

New Book on Ethiopia’s GERD: Historical Battle of the Nile-Colonialism vs Development

Freeman Speaks On The GERD: An Engineering Marvel-A Necessity For The Nile River Basin

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is also the creator of the blog:  lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com.

Everything You Are Not Being Told About Africa & Why It Matters

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Watch my discussion with Mel K

September 5, 2023

Please watch this excellent interview with Lawrence Freeman conducted last month. You will enjoy it. Topics discussed:

  • What does the coup in Niger reveal about the failure of Western policy for Africa?
  • Why economic development is a human right?
  • Is the Western political and financial oligarchical elite brain dead or can they change in accordance with reality?
  • Why is the West scared of the newly expanded BRICS?
  • Why is China’s policy towards Africa superior to that of the West?
  • Is Africa on the verge of an economic-political breakout?
  • Are Western leaders smart enough to modify their failed policies.
  • Will Africa have too many people? Can there be too much human creativity?

All of this issues and more are discussed in a conversation with Mel K that you wont see anywhere else.

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is also the creator of the blog:  lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com.

BRICS Offers New Potential for Africa & The World: The Human Race Will Benefit

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August 26, 2023

The just concluded BRICS Summit in South Africa, has changed our planet and implicitly the universe. This change cannot be reversed. It is the consequence of adding Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Argentina to the BRICS, beginning in January 2024. This expansion of the BRICS to eleven nations, which already comprised 40% of the world population, and is expected to reach 32.1% of the global GDP this year, larger than that of the G-7 nations, cannot be disregarded. It is a new reality for our civilization. Obviously, as a result of its doubling of participating nations, the BRICS will experience significant growth beginning next year.

The new expanded BRICS definitely ends the control by the West’s “rules-based order.”  There is now an alternative global institution not under the thumb of the so called advanced sector nations and their IMF-World Bank financial system. A new global potential has emerged, one rooted in the commitment by “South -South” nations to fully develop their economies. The BRICS, unlike the geopolitical ideologues of the West, will bring forth a new paradigm of development in political-economic relations among nations.

A new dynamic now exists on our planet which is the culmination of the progression of the BRICS from its initial embryonic form to a universal institution. The BRICS came into existence in 2009 , and its own New Development Bank, five years later. Despite all the naysayers, critics, and those who called this recent BRICS Summit “much ado about nothing.” The BRICS is here to stay and is expanding.

We should all take a moment to celebrate this accomplishment, but not for too long. We have to get back to work, and make sure we realize the full potential of this new factor of change that has altered our universe. To my friends and collaborators, who have labored with me to improve the living conditions of the people of Africa, I anticipate a special joy, knowing that in a few months, three of the eleven BRICS nations will be from the African continent.

“BRICS expansion game changer for Africa” Lawrence Freeman

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD, ADDIS ABABA, August 26, 2023

The invitation of Ethiopia and Egypt to BRICS membership gives Africa a very powerful representation in the new bloc and could be a game changer for the continent, says American political economy analyst.

“This is very good news for Ethiopia, for Africa, and for World Development”, added Lawrence Freeman, a political analyst of African affairs.

He further explained that he is optimistic and excited over Ethiopia’s membership of the new bloc as this kind of new economic relations with the BRICS would help it obtain more resources to realize more of its desire and potential of economy.

“This is what I’ve been advocating for over 10 years” Freeman noted.

According to him, the BRICS expansion is a new paradigm or dynamics in the world while the changes that are going on in West Africa are also part of the same process, Freeman stressed.

Out of the 11 nations in the BRICS, a bloc that represents larger portions of the world economy and the world’s population, almost 30% are African nations; this represents a new reality or a new dynamic.

The rules based order is no longer, hegemonic and the world is not unipolar, he noted adding “that gives us potential for transformational change in Africa”

The African nations and the whole global south no longer have to bow to the rules based order, according to Freeman.

The BRICS is now accelerating its institution as an alternative to the western view of the world and the Western political economic system that gives a new, rules-based international order.

“And we’re already approaching the post unipolar Western dominated world. And BRICS is going to be one of the most central institutions in making those kinds of dynamic changes for world economic development” Freeman indicated.

Concerning the way African countries can benefit from the expansion of BRICS membership, he said that it is up to leaders of these African nations, and leaders of the BRICS, and leaders of other global south nations, to make these new potentials come about to realize that and to organize themselves around a new paradigm of economic order for development.

And the BRICS now has made it clear that they’re going to launch an expansion of their New Development Bank, the NDB, which is going to be increasing its lending. And 30% of its new lending will be in local currencies. Freeman further noted that African countries are now going to be capable of having access to loans from the do not contain the conditionality that the IMF and World Bank loans do.

“And that is something very exciting. Something I’ve been fighting for 30 years, and I’m very happy to see the progress we’re making. And reality has now changed as of today” Regarding the future ties of BRICS, developing countries with other blocs, Freeman stressed that the changes in the BRICS configuration is a new factor in reality and cannot be changed back.

Therefore he noted, the West now has to become aware of that and reflect on their policies and change their policies to pro development policies for these emerging markets, he reiterated.

 BY ZEKARIAS WOLDEMARIAM

Read my full interview below

How the BRICS alliance challenges the old order- Lawrence Freeman
Watch my discussion on the significance of the BRICS Summit


Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Mr. Freeman strongly believes that economic development is an essential human right. He is also the creator of the blog:  lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com.

The African Integrated High Speed Rail Network-(AIHSRN) Will Revolutionize Africa’s Economies

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AIHSRN-RowlandDownload

Click On Download to read the above ten page proposal prepared by Rowland Ataguba, July 2020

August 21, 2023

The African Union’s “Agenda 2063” includes plans for the African Integrated High Speed Rail Network (AIHSRN), a high speed rail line across Africa. However, their plan for completion is 40 years from now. Rowland Ataguba, a Nigerian expert in rail management, has proposed a different timetable, which includes two “Master Plans.” He proposes the completion of 35,828 kilometers (kms) of high-speed rail lines by 2033, and an additional  14,547 kms by 2043. (See above)

Why is Mr. Ataguba’s fast track schedule for this transformative rail project important for the African continent?

Why is Rail Infrastructure Crucial?  

As a physical economist I understand, as all policy experts and leaders should, the critical importance of hard infrastructure. Along with energy, rail transportation is essential for the growth of every economy. If properly implemented, this physical input into the economy will be transformative. African nations are suffering, and Africans are dying everyday due to the abysmal level of energy throughput in their economies. The paucity of kilometers of railroad track per square area of territory measured, is equally appalling. I can state with authority, that without a full scale, military type mobilization, to rapidly expand these two vital categories of infrastructure, African nations will not achieve industrialization. Without this infrastructure, unacceptable levels of extreme poverty, hardship, and unnecessary deaths will continue on the African continent, especially in sub-Sahara Africa.

Infrastructure, particularly high speed rail, increases the profitability of the entire economy. It advances the productive powers of society, yielding higher rates of production of physical wealth. In other words, all aspects of labor activity and farming involved in the production of tangible products will be upgraded as a result of the introduction of high speed rail. The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement will not succeed, and inter-African trade will remain absurdly low, unless all major African cities, ports, farming agricultural hubs and industrial centers, are connected by AIHSRN.

Rail transportation, like electricity and other forms of hard infrastructure, adds physical value to the economy. (Soft infrastructure contributes to economic growth differently). Thus, even if in the initial stages, railroads don’t yield a profit for that particular business venture, they will have a positive impact on the economy. Connecting production and agricultural markets with consumers through time saving more efficient means of transportation will lead to expansion of economic growth. Otherwise known as progress, which Africa, despite its abundant potential, has been denied.

Take note: China has lifted over 700 million of its people out of poverty on the back of the most expansive high speed rail network in the world,-over 40,000 kms. A similar feat can be accomplished in the African continent, which now has the largest number of people living in poverty.

Read my earlier posts:

Africa Continental Free Trade Area Must Have An Integrated High Speed Rail Network

The Africa Integrated High-Speed Rail Network is Feasible and Will Create A Prosperous Future for All African Nations

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. Mr. Freeman strongly beleives that economic development is an essential human right. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com.

To Prevent More Coups Like Niger: Eliminate Poverty in Africa

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(Curtesy of voanews.com)

August 7, 2023

While the Western World, in particular, was shocked by the July 26, 2023, coup in Niger, I was not. This is now the fifth or sixth coup, (depending how you count) in the Sahel and Western Africa, following Guinea, Mali, Burkina Faso, Sudan, and Chad. Sadly, more coups may follow, unless we face the truth, and change Western policy. The primary underlying cause for these coups, is poverty, resulting in despair and desperation in the population. We should be clear that Russia may benefit, but they are not the cause of Africa’s coups. It is obsessive reliance on kinetic counter terrorism programs in the Sahel, all of which have failed, that drives policy makers to repeatedly fail to see the error of their ways. Niger’s coup should make it obvious to the architects of U.S.-European policy for Africa, unless they are brain-dead, that a radically new course of strategic thinking is required. Promoting economic development is the most vital element of a new strategic policy for Africa, and the Sahel in particular.

Remember Mali

For those of us who have been involved in Africa for decades, remember the Malian coup in the Spring of 2012. Prior to the removal of Malian President, Amadou Toure, by the military, Mali was touted by the West, as the show case of democracy and stability. It was viewed as a strong ally of the United States, with their armed forces trained by the U.S. The immediate trigger for the collapse of Mali, was the disastrous  decision to overthrow the government of Libya and assassinate President Omar Gaddafi by President Obama, and his assemblage of war-hawks (witches); Susan Rice, Hilary Clinton, and Samantha Power. Obama’s October 2011 regime-change of a stable Libyan nation, unleashed hell across north Africa and the Sahel with thousands of armed Tuaregs and violent extremists set loose to occupy weak state regions and ungoverned territories. Similar to U.S. support of Mali, Secreatry of State, Antony Blinken, made a special visit to Niger in March 2023, to strenthen U.S. backing for another nation in the Sahel.

Why Niger?

With the end of French-Afrique well on its way, particularly with the French being kicked out of Mali, and the failure of the French anti-terrorist military deployment in the Sahel, known as Operation Barkhane, the U.S. designated Niger as the center of its counter-terrorist operation in North Africa.

At the time of the July 26 coup of Nigerian resident, Mohamed Bazoum, by his presidential guards, there were 1,500 French troops and 1,200 U.S. troops based in Niger. Additionally, the U.S built its largest drone base in Africa, Air Base 201, at the cost of over $110 million dollars, to provide intelligence and surveillance in the U.S. campaign against violent extremism. Estimates are that the U.S. spent almost half a billion dollars training the Nigerien armed forces.

Chris Olaoluwa Ògúnmọ́dẹdé insightfully reports in worldpoliticsreview/niger-coup:

Last week’s coup in Niger caught much of the outside world by surprise, given the country’s image as a relatively stable outlier in a region beset by frequent upheaval. Many outside observers found it hard to understand how President Mohamed Bazoum, a seemingly well-regarded leader believed to enjoy popular legitimacy, was overthrown by the armed forces. But if foreign observers were stunned by Bazoum’s toppling, it did not come as a shock to many Nigeriens, and not solely because of their country’s history of military coups.

To begin with, tensions between Bazoum and the army’s top brass and senior Defense Ministry officials were well-known to Nigeriens. Bazoum was also ushered into power in 2021 by a controversial election in which a popular opposition candidate was barred from running and that featured allegations of electoral malpractice. The protests that followed were marred by at least two deaths, many more injuries and mass arrests. And harsh crackdowns on recent public protests against the rising cost of living and Niger’s security partnership with France likely did little to assuage Nigeriens’ concerns.

Claims of an improved security landscape in Niger amid the fight against Islamist jihadists are also open to debate. But beyond the vagaries of statistical analysis, many Nigeriens simply do not believe that their lives have become safer and more prosperous, and seemingly favorable comparisons with their neighbors are no consolation. Niger remains one of the world’s most impoverished nations…

Security, economic progress, and social development are necessary to sustain public support for any system of government, including democracy. (Emphasis added)

Development Not Understood

During the years of the Obama Presidency, members of his administration would repeatedly and publicly lecture me that “we don’t do infrastructure.” Now, in the two and a half years of Joe Biden’s Presidency, both he and Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, openly espouse  that the overarching intent of U.S. policy towards Africa (and the rest of the world) is to export “democracy” and “ good governance.” They believe, that only when nations embrace and commit to implement their constructs, will they be allowed to join the “rules-based international order.” 

A July 17, 2023, opinion by the Editorial Board of the Washington Post reveals, unintentionally, the tragic flaws of the Biden-Blinken policy towards Africa.

As we have argued in this space before, the Biden administration should compete with Russia’s aggressive maneuvering, as well as China’s, for influence in Africa by focusing on what the United States does best: building the infrastructure of democracy. That takes time. But in the long term, it is the key to ending chronic instability and crippling poverty (sic), reining in corruption, and jump-starting economic development.

There is only one thing wrong with this policy; it is no damn good! Stability, peace, and democracy are dependent on a population that is prosperous, educated, and secure. Without economic development, these goals will not be achieved. If the tens of billions of dollars that was spent on kinetic counter-terrorism programs to diminish violent extremism, had been deployed for building infrastructure, the Sahel would be in far better shape than it is today. Electricity, roads, railroads, water management, farming, and manufacturing are essential for the wellbeing of a nation.

Without a continuously rising stanard of living for its people, Niger, like many other African nations, will not achieve peace, and stability. The physical economic improvement in the material existence of the lives of the population is not optional, not secondary, but a primary-essential requirement for a nation state’s continued existence.

The failure to comprehend these fundamental concepts is at the crux of the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of the Western political-financial elites and their inability to design a successful strategy towards Africa.

Listen to my 20 minute PressTV interview on Niger.

Read my earlier post:

My Thoughts: Poverty & Ethnicity Kill Democracy in Africa

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freeman’s stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton

Lift Grain & Fertilizer Sanctions vs Russia-Grow Food to End Starvation in Africa & the World

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Black Sea Grain Initiative Exposed

July 31, 2023

Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination Center
During the period of the Initiative, 75% of Ukraine’s grain exports went to Europe, China, and Türkiye, while very poor countries got between 2.5% and 3%.

In this article: Black Sea Grain Initiative Exposed, excerpted below, EIR magazine usefully exposes the false narrative attacking Russia for the food global shortage.

The following concepts should be clear to all those truly concerned about eradicating hunger in Africa and other parts of the world.   
 
First of all, Russia is not causing the world food shortage by ending the Black Sea Grain Initiaive. As indicated by EIR, only a tiny fraction of Ukraine’s wheat has been exported to poor nations whose populations are suffering from severe food insecurity. Second of all, Russia is the leading exporter of wheat and fertilizer components in the world. Sanctions against Russia has harmed all food importing nations. Lifting sanctions against Russia would help to alleviate food shortages immediately. The West never honored their part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative agreement that stipulated that there would be an easing of Russia’s export of wheat and fertilizers.  
 
Most important of all, there is no objective reason for food insecurity among any people of any nation on this planet! This brings us to the heart of the issue regarding food insecurity. Does the West really care about global food deficiencies, or has it become another weapon in the U.S. led proxy war against Russia?
 
Hunger on our planet could have been eliminated decades ago. For over 12,000 years, humankind has known how to grow food. When advances in technology, irrigation, mechanization, and fertilizers have been applied to farming, yields per hectare have massively increased.  I have personally witnessed this in my travels through the agricultural regions  of the United States.
 
For 30 years I have traveled throughout many sub-Saharan African nations, which are endowed with fertile soil, and large amounts of arable, but uncultivated land, creating a huge potential for the expansion of food production. If African nations in particular had been assisted in developing a modern agricultural sector coupled with an expanding manufacturing sector, hunger would cease to exist, and  the African continent would be a net food exporter.
 
The failure by Western nations and financial institutions, over the last six decades, to collaborate in creating vibrant agro-manufacturing economies in Africa, is the cause of food insecurity on the continent today.
 
A new paradigm of global relations, encompassing  a new financial architecture, dedicated to promoting economic development, would create the potential for leading food and fertilizer producing nations to begin the process of doubling world agricultural output. Progress would be visible immediately, and in the near future, no human being would have to suffer from want of food, anywhere on our planet.  

EIR excerpts:

Narrative #1: The outrageous lie that Ukraine was a major provider of grain to poor countries, and Russia was starving people by its special military operation. Fact check: Ukraine has been, since the 1990s, a major source of grain on the commercial market for developed countries, e.g. Spain, Japan, The Netherlands, China and others—for livestock feed and food needs.

These importers account for over 90% of Ukraine’s exports, and this kind of “world sourcing,” was imposed on Ukraine beginning in the 1990s, by the multi-national cartels which came to dominate land use, processing, shipping and export destinations. It was these cartels which Ambassador Polyansky named as having profited from the year-long Black Sea Grain Initiative.

In brief, the breakdown of Ukraine’s exports of 32–33 million metric tons of grain during the period of the Initiative: 32.9 million tons total, of which 40% went to European countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, others), 25% to China; 10% to Türkiye. The very poorest countries got between 2.5% and 3% of the Ukraine grain exports over the period of the Initiative. This is illustrated by an infographic from the Black Sea Grain Initiative Joint Coordination Center. (Emphasis added)

Narrative #2: Promoted in Fall 2022 to replace the discredited “Ukraine supplies poor countries” version. It states that preventing Ukraine Black Sea food exports raises the prices on the world grain markets, and that is what harms poor, grain-import dependent nations. There is a grain of truth to this, but with a big exception. The West is doing less than nothing to increase grain production where possible, to supply emergency relief, and to put an end to the underlying causes of hunger to begin with.
The relevant figures of global underproduction of food can be seen in the volume of annual output of total grains, listed in order of volume: corn/maize, wheat, rice, barley, sorghum, oats, rye, etc. With over 8 billion people in the world, at the rough metric of half a ton of grain production per person, we should be producing some 4 billion tons a year (for direct consumption, and indirect consumption through the animal protein chain). But the annual global harvest is actually running at below 3 billion tons. Total grains output for the current and past two years is hovering in the same range: 2.799 billion metric tons in 2021/22, 2.745 bmt in 2022/23, and 2.831 bmt projected for 2023/24).

Read my earlier post:
Africa Threatened With Starvation: No Objective Reason

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freeman’s stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton

South African Minister Pandor Articulates Principles of Development for Africa

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South African Minister Naledi Pandor speaking in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

July 18, 2023

Below are excerpts from remarks by South African Minister, Dr. Naledi Pandor, in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on July 4, 2023.*

Minister Pandor’s words speak eloquently for themselves. However, permit me to put a fine point of her focus on the importance of African nations fostering manufacturing and industrialization.

As a physical economist, I understand better than most people, the substance of her reasoning. The only true measure of a successful economic policy is: does the material standard of living improve from one production cycle to the next? And does the implementation of this  policy produce an expansion of real physical wealth from the present generation to that of their children? Throughout modern history, it has been proven repeatedly that real sovereignty requires a robust manufacturing sector, physical infrastructure, and increased industrialization of one’s economy.

It is a touch of poetic justice, that Minister Pandor delivered her remarks on July 4, the day the United States declared Independence from the imperialist grip of Great Britain. British suppression of manufacturing by the colonies was overturned and reversed by the adoption of the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton. Contrary to the myth that slavery was the underlying cause for the growth of the U.S as an economic power, it was the genius of Treasury Secretary Hamilton’s four economic reports that outlined the course of economic development for the newly formed nation.** If not for the decisive support of Hamilton’s policies by President George Washington, against the objection of those, who advocated, slavery, states’ rights, and agriculture as the only source of wealth, the American republican experiment would have failed.

Hamilton’s argument in his Report on the Subject of Manufactures, written in 1791, remains relevant today. A nation that cannot manufacture the essential commodities for the continuous progress of its people is endangering its national security.

 The essence of successful foreign, domestic, and economic policy by a wise government is founded on the same elementary principle: creating the economic conditions for the advancement of the physical wellbeing of its population.

*Ministerial meeting of the Bi-National Commission of South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

**Hamilton Versus Wall Street: The Core Principles of the American System of Economics, by Nancy Spannaus, 2019.

Excerpts from, Minister Naledi Pandor

We spend too much time trusting others outside our continent and not enough time trusting ourselves. We need to change that history. I’m hopeful that our business leaders will leverage opportunities provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area.

I believe that the AfCFTA will be a catalyst toward the pursuit of beneficial economic integration in the continent. Through the Free Trade Area agreement, we have promised ourselves as Africans that we will increase intra African trade. That doesn’t mean we buy goods from country B and pretend they were made in the DRC. It means we must manufacture in the DRC and sell within Africa. It means we must manufacture in South Africa and sell within Africa. It means we must manufacture in Ghana, in Togo, wherever we find ourselves as Africans we become productive, and we change our conditions.

Another matter that we must address if the African Continental Free Trade Area is to be a success, is the value addition to our natural resources within the confines of our continent. Everybody is running after the rare mineral resources of the DRC but they’re not establishing factories in the DRC. Don’t sign any agreement if production is not to happen here. We must refuse. We must ensure that value addition beneficiation happens within Africa. And we must ensure that as Africans we derive full benefit from the value chain and that our people realize these much needed opportunities. The time has come for South Africa and the DRC to work at changing our condition. To work at changing our history. But to do these things it’s not easy, there’ll be much opposition. So, the challenge is can we work together honestly and faithfully. If we can do that, we will change our conditions. But if we allow others to divide us, to direct us as to what should suit us, we will never achieve these ambitions.

So honorable minister I close by saying the future is in our hands. It is only by working together that will bring the change that we all want to see. I look forward to our fruitful deliberations… Our people have placed on us the responsibility of ensuring that they enjoy peace and prosperity. Our relations have always been inspired by our commitment to Pan African ideals and solidarity…Our Pan African ideals impose a commitment on us to ensure the development of our countries, but the development of the entire continent of Africa. Our Pan African ideals and our solidarity ask us to pose difficult questions to ourselves as to what good we are making out of the wealth of the nations of Africa. How do we industrialize? How should we manufacture?…

Our main goal and vision is to see real changes in our people’s livelihoods. After all they don’t elect us because we are pretty or because we wear nice outfits. They elect us to change their lives. Our people want their children to be educated. They want their children to become responsible future leaders of our nations. Our people want girls and women to be empowered so that they can fully participate in our economies and in our political lives. Our people want us to create sustainable jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities for them so that our people become independent, self-sustained, enabled, and empowered to take charge of their own future and identity. Allowing our people to remain poor is to keep them in a prison of lack of advancement. So, we must change the condition of our people so that they are free to realize their full abilities. (Emphasis added)

Read my earlier posts:

South Africa and China Articulate Principles for Global Development at United Nations

China & Freeman Agree With The African Charter: “Economic Development is a Human Right”

Celebrate July 4th Time to Adopt Hamilton’s Industrialization Polices for Africa

Alexander Hamilton’s Credit System Is Necessary for Africa’s Development

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freeman’s stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton

China & Freeman Agree With The African Charter: “Economic Development is a Human Right”

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June 24, 2023

The concept that economic development is a fundamental human right has been rejected by the United States, the United Nations, Europe, and all Western institutions, including  Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). This failure to understand the essential, vital importance of promoting real-physical economic growth in developing nations has prevented the West from achieving its goals for  human rights, good governance, and democracy, if they are even truly sincere about these objectives.

I concur with Zhang Weiwei when he writes: China has politically recognized poverty reduction as not only a human right, but also a core one…, in his column, China’s poverty eradication and implications for global human rights governance.

Zhang Weiwei is right: The United States has never considered poverty eradication as a human rights issue. I might add that the United Nations has officially refused China’s request to list economic development as a core human right.

However, contrary to the UN and U.S., the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, correctly states in Article 22:

All peoples shall have the right to their economic, social, and cultural development…States shall have the duty…to ensure the exercise of the right to development.

China has succeeded in lifting three quarters of a billion of its people out of poverty; a feat that the Western financial institutions could not accomplish with their monetarist policies. This has been achieved through a dedicated effort by the Chinese government over several decades. Should not concerned nations in the West, collaborate with China to eliminate poverty worldwide, as a shared common mission?

U.S. Has lost Its Vision for Development

As the U.S. vision for the world has shrunk and its culture corrupted, we have produced no statesman, much less a visionary leader, who can articulate a policy for uplifting humankind. There are no Kennedys, Roosevelts, or Lincolns, in the political class of America today. As a result, the notion of developing other nations, (much less our own) has virtually vanished from the American lexicon, and U.S. strategic policy. Tragically for the U.S. and the rest of the world, the diseased doctrine of geopolitics has become the dominant ideology in formulating foreign policy. In this warped creed, might makes right, and the desire to remain on top dominates, in a belief structure of a fixed zero-sum world. In this perverted mind-set, what drives a nation’s foreign policy is the thirst to maintain its power.

Demands for so called human rights, good governance, and the insistence for Western structured democracy, are not only terribly flawed, but in fact, have been used  as weapons to bludgeon nations into accepting the dictates of the “rules-based international order.” This is the new term for geopolitical control by the West, with its unipolar view of the world, following the demise of the Soviet Union. China and Russia are wrongly viewed as enemies of the U.S. However, it should be understood that China and Russia China, along with an increasing number of nations in the expanding non-align movement are indeed a threat to the hegemony of the “rules-based order.

BRICS is emerging as an alternative to the “international rules-based order.” Ocotober 2019. (Courtesey of wikapedia)

Again, I agree with Zhang Weiwei: “Only through development can poverty be eliminated, and the root causes of many conflicts be removed.” Allow me to extendthis line of reasoning by stating unequivocally: poverty is the enemy of human rights, the enemy of democracy, and the enemy of peace and stability.

Democracy and human rights are a cruel illusion: when almost half of one’s nation lives in poverty; when the majority of the citizens have no access to electricity; when mothers have to search for food each day to feed their children; when the lack of productive jobs forces young men and women to hustle for survival in the informal economy; and when families believe they have no long term economic security for the future.  

Democracy is more than voting every four years. Democracy requires that its citizens have the material standard of living and leisure time to inform themselves  so they can intelligently discuss and debate national policies that will impact the present and future of their nation. Electing candidates who will offer a meaningful and dignified life for its people, and hope for the future, requires a society with a culture that fosters a thinking citizenry. What makes us human is our creative imagination that allows us to discover the laws of the universe. Thus, each human being should have a rising standard of living that provides for one’s material needs and the freedom to nurture the creative potential of their mind.

Why isn’t the right to electricity a human right? Why isn’t the right to have a productive job a human right? Why isn’t the right to a quality education a human right? These omissions from the mantra of the “rules based order,” and the U.S. State Department, are glaring and fatal.

Common Aims of Humankind

A nation’s foreign policy towards other nations is clear and elementary, if one understands this crucial principle: all people share a universal similarity as members of the human species, who are uniquely endowed with the potential of creative reasoning. Thus, the interest of each nation is the same: the material and spiritual development of each of its citizens. Therefore, it is in the self-interest of each nation to cooperate with other nations to foster the enrichment of the mind, soul, and body of every human being. From this higher understanding of civilization, we redefine a nation’s relationship to the rest of the world, away from geopolitics to one of collaboration in creating a new paradigm based on economic development

President Franklin Roosevelt, and Prime Minister Winston Churchil, Casablanca Morocco. 1943, (Courtesey of the National War II Museum)

It has not always been the case that U.S. foreign policy towards developing nations excluded economic development. President Franklin Roosevelt was appalled at the conditions of Africans living in British controlled colonies. Prime Minister Churchill was furious when President Roosevelt confronted him with this ugly reality. Elliott Roosevelt, President Roosevelt’s son, who was present at many of his father’s meeting with the Prime Minister, reports in his book, As He Saw It, their diametrically opposed view on colonialism.Elliott Roosevelt recalls a heated conversation, when his father told Churchill, that after the war he intended to dismantle the British Imperial system. President Roosevelt also told his son of his intention to help turn the Sahara Desert green with vegetation.

Sixty years ago, a young President, John Kennedy, reversed his predecessor’s  aloofness towards Africa, and embraced the newly independent African nations. He made a commitment to assist in modernizing and industrializing their underdeveloped economies. This was most evident in President Kennedy’s agreement with Ghana President, Kwame Nkrumah, to support the construction of the Volta River Dam project. To this end, the Kennedy administration provided a $40 million loan for the hydroelectric dam and bauxite smelting manufacturing facility to produce aluminum.

President Kennedy invites President Kwame Nkrumah to Washiongton DC, March 8, 1961, for the first State Dinner of his new presidency

When in the last five decades has the U.S. led any effort to assist an African, or developing nation, in significantly expanding its manufacturing capability?

In examining whether a nation’s foreign policy is successful or not, the criteria is  obvious, and one that I have long ago adopted. Does it result in an improvement in the conditions of life? Does it lead to a reduction of poverty? If it does not, the policy should be discontinued, and replaced with a strategy to increase the production of physical economic wealth for the benefit of the people.

It is well past time for the “rules-based order” to be replaced with principles that benefit humankind. Principles are always superior to rules.

Read my earlier post: My Thoughts: Poverty & Ethnicity Kill Democracy in Africa

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freeman’s stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton

Kenyan President Ruto Decries Disrespect for Africa & Challenges Dollar Dominance

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June 18, 2023

The post below is from africanagenda.net, reporting on a punchy fifteen minute speech by Kenyan President, William Ruto, to the African Union Parliament on the disrespectful manner African leaders are treated by the developed sector. (See video). Below that, is a two minute clip of President Ruto discussing the need to conduct trade outside of the dollar denominations.

President Ruto`s Candid and Humorous Speech to the AU: No More Kowtowing to the Developed World!

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freeman’s stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton

Ethiopian National Social Protection Conference: “The Source of Wealth is the Human Mind”

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Dr. Ergogie, Minister of Women and Social Affairs, standing fourth from right, in front of the conference hall.

June 8, 2023

Ethiopia’s Ministry of Women and Social Affairs (MoWSA) organized a two day conference, May 23-24, held in the Nelson Mandela Plenary Hall, at the African Union Commission, Addis Ababa. The theme of the deliberations was, Social Protection for Nation Building in Ethiopia. As part of Ethiopia’s effort to reduce poverty, and expand economic growth, additional social protection programs are necessary to provide for the vulnerable portions of the population.

The several hundred attendees were welcomed by H.E. Dr. Ergogie Tesfaye, the highly qualified Minister of MoWSA. The conference was key noted by H.E. Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The conference concluded with a Call Of Action with five central objectives, of which I highlight the first, the third and the fifth.

          1. Policy Framework and coordination

1.1  Revise the social protection policy and strategy to ensure alignment with the national Ten Years Development Plan, relevance for meeting the current needs of the most vulnerable, and ambition to progressively build a universal social protection system.

1.2  Establish a Social Protection Council to guide, coordinate and oversee the implementation of the social protection policy, strategy, and programming.

3. Coverage and inclusion

3.1  Progressively expand coverage of social protection, ensuring the inclusion and protection of those most in need, including informal workers, people with disabilities, internally displaced people, and refugees.

3.2  Enhance nutrition, protection, and gender sensitivity within social protection programming, and ensure greater access to social services, including community-based health insurance.

5. Jobs and economic inclusion

5.1  Ensure a more inclusive economy and labor market, by increasing access to decent jobs, incomes, and entrepreneurship opportunities for volunteer groups.

5.2  Adopt a government led harmonized framework for the delivery and design of economic inclusion/self-employment/graduation programs for better impact at scale.

Below is an edited version of my remarks, delivered in the afternoon plenary session on May 23, 2023.

Lawrence Freeman addressing the conference on May 23, in the Nelson Mandela Plenary Hall, African Union Commission

“Human Creativity is the Source of Wealth and Why Social Protection is Necessary”

I am honored to be here today.

The Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, under the leadership of Dr. Ergogie, is addressing a critically important topic. As a physical economist, I will add my unique view of the issue that is being discussed in this two day conference.

Why is it important to care, protect, and develop each citizen of the nation, especially the youth? It is more than just a moral and cultural imperative: it is essential for economic growth. And economic growth is fundamental to the peace, prosperity, and stability of a nation. Poverty and hunger are the enemies of peace and democracy.

Contrary to what you may have heard; free trade, supply and demand,  the invisible hand of the marketplace, are not the cause of economic growth. The source of all wealth is the individual, more precisely the  human mind. The mind is the creator of wealth, through its power to  discover new scientific principles embedded in the universe.

Only human beings-every human-is born with the innate potential of creativity. It is from that power of the human mind that new technologies and inventions are introduced into the economic process. Through the introduction of more advanced technologies, we increase the productive powers of labor to produce more wealth with equal or less effort.

Thus, the elected government is responsible, nay obligated, to protect and care for all of its citizens. Governments must provide for the material necessities of life AND nurture the creative power of the individual. Government must make an extra effort to provide for those most in need, especially our children, because these creative minds must be developed to become productive members of our society and economy. They are the future.

The most vulnerable are no less precious as potential contributors to the production of wealth for their nation. Therefore, it is not an option, but a necessity to care and develop each child, and each citizen.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt understood that every member of society is important, and he initiated innovative programs to provide care for people of the U.S. “from the cradle to the grave.” The cornerstone of this became the Social Security system of the United States.

Economic growth is indispensable to build a nation. This requires the contribution from all of its citizens. I recognize that economic development is a human right. Unfortunately, the United Nations does not. However, the African Union does recognize “social protection and an adequate standard of living” is a human right. Also, the African Charter, article 22, stipulates that economic development, is in fact, a human right.

Lawrence Freeman, giving Dr. Egogie, a new book on the Grand Ethiopian Renassiance Dam, “How It Happened” by Dr. Dereje Tessema,

From my standpoint, not only is economic development a human right, but electricity is a human right, because without power, economies cannot prosper, and the people of that society will have a diminished standard of living. There will be no growth, no progress for society, without electricity, and without vital infrastructure.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam-GERD, which I visited in December of 2022, will produce 5,150 megawatts of power when completed. The functioning of the GERD will advance the nation, improve the lives of the citizens of Ethiopia, and will help drive economic development in the East Africa region. The GERD will contribute to peace and stability throughout the Horn of Africa and the Nile Basin.

Now let me return to where I started in my presentation. The GERD is a creative act of humankind, a human intervention into the physical environment (physical universe) to capture-create the power of electricity from a river that has been flowing for five million years. Thus, as I emphasized at the beginning of my remarks, the construction of the GERD proves that human creativity is the source of wealth for society.

Thank you very much.

Lawrence Freeman is a Political-Economic Analyst for Africa, who has been involved in economic development policies for Africa for over 30 years. He is a teacher, writer, public speaker, and consultant on Africa. He is also the creator of the blog: lawrencefreemanafricaandtheworld.com. Mr. Freeman’s stated personal mission is; to eliminate poverty and hunger in Africa by applying the scientific economic principles of Alexander Hamilton