Abstract
Section 6.1 (the introduction) comprises (Section 6.1.1) a brief statement on the limitations of the exposition below, followed by (Section 6.1.2) a short explanation of “Africa”, the African Union, and the urgent socio-economic development needs of the continent.
Section 6.2 focuses on the historical background to Africa’s current position in the global economy with reference to (Section 6.2.1) the slave trade; (Section 6.2.2) colonialism and post-colonial misrule; and (Section 6.2.3) the shaping of the monetary system within which current trade negotiations occur.
Section 6.3 is an outline of the core expectations that Africa has of the WTO and the current “Development Round” of trade negotiations, followed by Section 6.4, a discussion of “special and differential treatment” and Section 6.5, consisting of concluding remarks on the value of ubuntu for life in a global village.
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Notes
- 1.
No wonder books by Joseph Stiglitz (2002, 2006) and Jagdish Bhagwati (2004) on globalization have become international bestsellers! There is a growing mountain of literature on the subject from all different perspectives. See the excellent overview of contrasting views by Held and colleagues (1999).
- 2.
The African Union insists that one of Africa’s greatest challenges is exactly to overcome divisions based on so many differences, for example, culture, language, religion, economic status and political systems (AUC 3, pp. 4–22).
- 3.
This information is mostly available in AUC 1, p. 9 ff.
- 4.
If one accepts that a very high percentage of international trade is “virtual” (shares, futures), Africa’s share of real commodity trading – minerals, and increasingly oil – would be considerably higher. The lack of participation in all forms of trade is a sign of Africa’s marginalization as it points to weak financial institutions and a lack of connectivity in a widening digital divide.
- 5.
For an empirical argument, see Nathan Nunn (2007) and his many references to literature from development economists defending the link between Africa’s current underdevelopment and historical legacies.
- 6.
- 7.
See Thornton’s persuasive argument of the link between slavery and African social structure (1998, pp. 72–97).
- 8.
See Thornton’s discussion of early slave raids in Angola by the Portuguese army (1998, p. 115), but also his sober conclusions regarding the link between European war-abilities and enslavement (1998, p. 116ff).
- 9.
The AUC refers to this as a “demographic haemorrhage occasioned by the paroxysm of the slave trade” (AUC 1, p. 5).
- 10.
Williams was the prime minister of Trinidad and wrote the controversial book Capitalism and slavery in which he argues for a link between slavery and industrialization.
- 11.
See the estimated statistics of the slave trade as cited by Thomas (1997, pp. 805–806) in terms of carrier countries (Portugal 4.6m and Britain 2.6m); destinations (Brazil 4m); origins (Congo/Angola 3m) and type of labour (sugar plantations 5m).
- 12.
See Thornton’s very interesting chapters (5–9) on the effect of slaves on the cultures of the so-called New World and how reciprocal transformations occurred.
- 13.
For this section I rely heavily on J.D. Fage (1988). A history of Africa. He commences his study with early African societies (part 1), the impact of Islam (part 2) and more importantly, for this chapter, he discusses European expansion and colonial power in parts 3 and 4. The well-known book by Thomas Packenham (1991). The scramble for Africa, reads like a novel and focuses more closely on the colonial period and actual territorial invasion of Africa between 1870 and 1906. Each region is discussed in detail, and makes clear how complex the process of colonization was. A more journalistic book with a fairly critical view of Africa is Robert Guest’s (2004). The Shackled Continent. He starts off by arguing that Africa’s basic problem is not its past, but its lack of leadership in the post-colonial period (see pp. 12, 23).
- 14.
Fage remarked that: “Europe and the world had accepted by 1902 that the whole of Africa was the property of one or other of the European colonial powers” (1988, p. 391).
- 15.
See Packenham’s (1991) fairly detailed accounts of the various regions, starting with King Leopold II of Belgium’s dealings with the Congo.
- 16.
The scramble for Africa is – as indicated above – the title of the magnificent account of colonization by Thomas Packenham (1991), but the use of this expression probably originated as early as 1884.
- 17.
The link between Christian mission and colonial power is an ambiguous one. Packenham states unequivocally that the scramble for Africa was led by “the empire-building alliance of God and Mammon” (1991, p. 673), introduced as “Christianity, commerce and civilization” by British explorer, David Livingstone. For us in Africa, a fourth “c” is added: conquest.
- 18.
Madison (2001) shows how this integration has grown by indicating that for the world as a whole, the ratio of merchandise exports to GDP rose from 5.5% in 1950 to 17.2% in 1995.
- 19.
I am not an expert in economics or monetary policy and for this section rely heavily on the exposition by Peter Isard (2005), who was for many years a senior adviser at the IMF, and writer of Exchange rate economics (1995).
- 20.
There was fractional support for the GS up until 1933 – see Isard (2005, p. 15), footnote 5.
- 21.
For a simple explanation of the orthodox account of the Gold Standard, see Held et al. (1999, p. 196).
- 22.
In theory at least, this is the first example of a system embodying globally integrated financial markets, where domestic or national economies were subject to international financial discipline, to which they were required to adjust. One might refer to the Gold Standard as the origin of what has become known as economic globalization, i.e. “the increasing flow of goods and services, financial resources, workers, and technologies across national borders” (Isard 2005, p. 4).
- 23.
For a discussion of the different currency crises between 1994 and 1999 in Mexico, the Asian countries and Russia, read Isard (2005, pp. 119-151).
- 24.
At the first major bi-lateral meeting between Africa and India in New-Delhi (8 April 2008), it was announced that India would grant priority trade access to the least developed countries of the world.
- 25.
- 26.
There are hundreds of meetings and informal negotiations to be conducted, but some developing countries can scarcely afford a permanent trade representative in Geneva, and are outnumbered by other countries and the special interest groups that represent them.
- 27.
Note the sub-title of the Economic Report on Africa: “Accelerating Africa’s development through diversification” and the discussion of diversification in the report itself (ECA 2007, p. 113ff).
- 28.
Of the 19 countries that reached completion point in the HIPC debt relief process, 15 were from Africa.
- 29.
This is a form of justice not as widely discussed in the literature yet. I have found the essay by Kwenda (2003) very helpful in this regard. He argues that cultural justice is established when people are allowed unselfconscious living, i.e. they live in acceptance and appreciation of their own identity. For an analysis of the link between cultural justice, identity and globalization, read Naudé (2005).
- 30.
Bedford-Strohm makes the astute observation that both material and socio-cultural poverty find their origin in “fehlende Teilhabe” (1993, p. 169). People are poor because of a lack of participation in the (in)formal economy and a lack of power to influence decisions. This is one of the most urgent issues in discussions of global economic justice today.
- 31.
For a definition and wide-ranging discussion of different theories of distributive justice, read Roemer (1998).
- 32.
This difference is, for example, illustrated in the debate between John Rawls (egalitarian view) and Robert Nozick (entitlement view).
- 33.
The most famous proponent of this radical challenge to traditional Catholic social thought is Gustavo Gutierrez, whose classical Spanish exposition was published in English as A theology of liberation (1973).
- 34.
Well-known names are Manas Buthelezi, Desmond Tutu, Itumeleng Mosala, Allan Boesak, and womanists like Mercy Oduyoye and Isabel Phiri.
- 35.
Ubuntu has been widely discussed by African and other international scholars. Mbiti (1969) is considered to be the locus classicus in academic literature in this regard. Recent contributions are by Gyekye (1996), Ramosa (1999) and Shutte (2001). Like all good notions, ubuntu has also been misused and must obviously be subject to critical analysis. Ubuntu has in recent years also been translated into business management and leadership literature. See for example Broodryk (2005) and Mbigi (2005).
- 36.
- 37.
“God bless Africa”, is the first line of a pan-African hymn and is also the first line of the official anthem of the Republic of South Africa.
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Naudé, P.J. (2010). Fair Global Trade: A Perspective from Africa. In: Moore, G. (eds) Fairness in International Trade. The International Society of Business, Economics, and Ethics Book Series, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-8840-6_6
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