Africa and South America:
A new world order confirmed
28 September 2009 | by Prince Ofori-Atta, Stéphanie Plasse
Ministry of Communication and Information of Venezuela, met to find a
"strategic link" between the two regions as well as solutions to the
energy crisis, food security and the financial crisis. "Only united will we
be free," announced Hugo Chavez as he opened the summit. Among his
proposals was the enhancement of economic coordination between the
Union of South American nations and African states, which according
to Brazilian leader, Lula de Silva has reaped enormous benefits. The
cooperation is expected to boost the economies of the two continents.
"We agree that this summit should not be just another summit. This will
be a successful summit, not just speeches and a final declaration that
goes unnoticed. We are working to integrate South America and
Africa,” Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said early September,
during a visit to Tripoli. This statement speaks volumes about the
consideration the leader has given to South-South relations.
At the summit, the leaders agreed to launch a new development bank
for South America, the Banco del Sur, with an initial start up investment
of $20bn. Jean-Jacques Seymour, journalist and writer, elaborating on
the reasons for the summit indicated that the creation of a bank for
Latin America and Africa will be "an alternative to the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank for Southern countries,” while the
implementation of a common currency to replace the FCFA will
represent a “win-win” commercial exchange. A change in financial and
commercial structures is necessary if this partnership has to work. "All
the energy infrastructure, both in South America and in Africa, was
designed and developed to meet the energy requirements of the
industrial powers that our countries were satellites of," said Venezuelan
minister of energy and petroleum, Rafael Ramirez.
Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, "a coloured
essence"
The matter of interest for the Venezuelan president is the creation of a
cooperation concept in line with a similar one initiated with the
Caribbean in April 2005 by the Bolivarian Association for the Americas
(ALBA). This social, economic and political organisation was created by
virtue of the initiative of Havana and Caracas to promote cooperation
between the two socialist countries. For Hugo Chavez, the African
continent, the Caribbean and Latin America represent "a coloured
essence”. "We have more to do along with our sister continent, Mother
Africa, after having set our eyes on the Western capitalist world.
Caracas has to become a bridge to all kinds of cultural Economic
cooperation between Africa and Latin America," he said during a tribute
to the Late Burkinabe president, Thomas Sankara ahead of the South-
South summit themed "Closing the gap, opening up opportunities".
It is in this light that Hugo Chavez has since 2005 multiplied deals with
Africa. For example, Venezuela is cooperating with Mali in various
sectors: telecommunications, agriculture, mining, health and education.
Latin American countries are counting on their oil resources to
encourage African states to move closer to ALBA. Venezuela is among
the countries with the largest hydrocarbon reserves and already supplies
crude at preferential rates to 17 countries in Central America and the
Caribbean since 2005. This is viewed as major asset for highly
dependent countries.
Hugo Chavez has moved to adopt a partnership strategy in relation to
African countries with oil resources. During his African tour in
September, the Venezuelan leader met with his Algerian counterpart
Abdelaziz Bouteflika and proposed a partnership between Venezuelan
companies and the Algerian oil company, Sonatrach, to outdo the U.S.,
which, according to Hugo Chavez, "is plundering Africa’s wealth." "The
21st century will not be a bipolar world, it will not be unipolar. It will be
multipolar. Africa will be an important geographic, economic and social
pole. And South America will be too." Hugo chavez said Saturday in his
opening address at the two day summit. "This is the beginning of the
salvation of our people," he continued. The Venezuelan leader has
promised his country’s support towards the construction of an oil
refinery in Mauritania to process about 40,000 barrels of oil per day
which could help supply fuel to Gambia, Mali and Niger.
This anti-imperialist approach aims at "a Southern integration to free
itself from the trusteeship of wealthy countries," said Francois Polet, a
researcher at the Tricontinental Center (CETRI). The ideology was
borrowed from the “Liberator” Simon Bolivar who wanted to liberate
oppressed peoples from the grips of dominant powers. According to
Muammar Gaddafi, current president of the African Union, "The world
isn’t the five countries on the UN Security Council (…) The world’s
powers want to continue to hold on to their power. When they had the
chance to help us, they treated us like animals, destroyed our land. Now
we have to fight to build our own power."
Brazil, Venezuela and Africa
But this anti-American stands has so far not succeeded in dethroning
Brazil as Africa’s preferred trade partner. "Since coming to power in
2003, Brazilian President Lula da Silva has made the African continent,
especially South Africa, one of his economic priorities. Besides, he has
created an India-Brazil-South Africa alliance (IBSA) to change
geography, loosen unequal ties with the Triad (North America, Western
Europe and Asia Pacific) and establish balanced partnerships" says Jean-
Jacques Kourliandsky, a researcher at the Institute of International and
Strategic Relations (IRIS). One of IBSA’s aims in Africa is to promote
the production of biofuels, such as ethanol, a renewable energy
produced from sugar cane, produced in large quantities in Brazil and
India, to create jobs.
And Africa is benefiting from these partnerships. "Coveted by Brazil,
Venezuela, China, the United States and Europe, the African continent
has a lot to gain from the competition. It has at its disposal a range of
rich countries," analyses François Polet. "Southern countries have a
competitive advantage over the North. First, because they pose fewer
conditions (human rights for example) during trade agreements than the
United States and Europe, and secondly because their economic
structure in terms of agriculture is closer to the African model," he
concludes. Addressing the South-South summit, Mr. Lula da Silva said
that bilateral commercial exchanges had increased from 6 billion dollars
to over 36 billion dollars in only six years, an indication of the success
of South-South cooperation.
The timing this year of the South-South summit, which comes three
years after the first was held in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, that is,
immediately after the U.N. General Assembly in New York and G-20
economic summit in Pittsburgh, “suggests it may turn out to be a forum
for many non-G-20 nations to respond and focus on their concerns
about the way the global financial crisis is being handled,” hints the
Associated Press.
A new world order confirmed
28 September 2009 | by Prince Ofori-Atta, Stéphanie Plasse
- Several African leaders were
on the Island of Margarita in
northern Venezuela over the
weekend for the second
Africa-South America
summit. Among them:
Muammar Gaddafi (Libya),
Jacob Zuma (South Africa)
Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe),
Abdelaziz Bouteflika (Algeria)
Ministry of Communication and Information of Venezuela, met to find a
"strategic link" between the two regions as well as solutions to the
energy crisis, food security and the financial crisis. "Only united will we
be free," announced Hugo Chavez as he opened the summit. Among his
proposals was the enhancement of economic coordination between the
Union of South American nations and African states, which according
to Brazilian leader, Lula de Silva has reaped enormous benefits. The
cooperation is expected to boost the economies of the two continents.
"We agree that this summit should not be just another summit. This will
be a successful summit, not just speeches and a final declaration that
goes unnoticed. We are working to integrate South America and
Africa,” Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said early September,
during a visit to Tripoli. This statement speaks volumes about the
consideration the leader has given to South-South relations.
At the summit, the leaders agreed to launch a new development bank
for South America, the Banco del Sur, with an initial start up investment
of $20bn. Jean-Jacques Seymour, journalist and writer, elaborating on
the reasons for the summit indicated that the creation of a bank for
Latin America and Africa will be "an alternative to the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank for Southern countries,” while the
implementation of a common currency to replace the FCFA will
represent a “win-win” commercial exchange. A change in financial and
commercial structures is necessary if this partnership has to work. "All
the energy infrastructure, both in South America and in Africa, was
designed and developed to meet the energy requirements of the
industrial powers that our countries were satellites of," said Venezuelan
minister of energy and petroleum, Rafael Ramirez.
Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America, "a coloured
essence"
The matter of interest for the Venezuelan president is the creation of a
cooperation concept in line with a similar one initiated with the
Caribbean in April 2005 by the Bolivarian Association for the Americas
(ALBA). This social, economic and political organisation was created by
virtue of the initiative of Havana and Caracas to promote cooperation
between the two socialist countries. For Hugo Chavez, the African
continent, the Caribbean and Latin America represent "a coloured
essence”. "We have more to do along with our sister continent, Mother
Africa, after having set our eyes on the Western capitalist world.
Caracas has to become a bridge to all kinds of cultural Economic
cooperation between Africa and Latin America," he said during a tribute
to the Late Burkinabe president, Thomas Sankara ahead of the South-
South summit themed "Closing the gap, opening up opportunities".
It is in this light that Hugo Chavez has since 2005 multiplied deals with
Africa. For example, Venezuela is cooperating with Mali in various
sectors: telecommunications, agriculture, mining, health and education.
Latin American countries are counting on their oil resources to
encourage African states to move closer to ALBA. Venezuela is among
the countries with the largest hydrocarbon reserves and already supplies
crude at preferential rates to 17 countries in Central America and the
Caribbean since 2005. This is viewed as major asset for highly
dependent countries.
Hugo Chavez has moved to adopt a partnership strategy in relation to
African countries with oil resources. During his African tour in
September, the Venezuelan leader met with his Algerian counterpart
Abdelaziz Bouteflika and proposed a partnership between Venezuelan
companies and the Algerian oil company, Sonatrach, to outdo the U.S.,
which, according to Hugo Chavez, "is plundering Africa’s wealth." "The
21st century will not be a bipolar world, it will not be unipolar. It will be
multipolar. Africa will be an important geographic, economic and social
pole. And South America will be too." Hugo chavez said Saturday in his
opening address at the two day summit. "This is the beginning of the
salvation of our people," he continued. The Venezuelan leader has
promised his country’s support towards the construction of an oil
refinery in Mauritania to process about 40,000 barrels of oil per day
which could help supply fuel to Gambia, Mali and Niger.
This anti-imperialist approach aims at "a Southern integration to free
itself from the trusteeship of wealthy countries," said Francois Polet, a
researcher at the Tricontinental Center (CETRI). The ideology was
borrowed from the “Liberator” Simon Bolivar who wanted to liberate
oppressed peoples from the grips of dominant powers. According to
Muammar Gaddafi, current president of the African Union, "The world
isn’t the five countries on the UN Security Council (…) The world’s
powers want to continue to hold on to their power. When they had the
chance to help us, they treated us like animals, destroyed our land. Now
we have to fight to build our own power."
Brazil, Venezuela and Africa
But this anti-American stands has so far not succeeded in dethroning
Brazil as Africa’s preferred trade partner. "Since coming to power in
2003, Brazilian President Lula da Silva has made the African continent,
especially South Africa, one of his economic priorities. Besides, he has
created an India-Brazil-South Africa alliance (IBSA) to change
geography, loosen unequal ties with the Triad (North America, Western
Europe and Asia Pacific) and establish balanced partnerships" says Jean-
Jacques Kourliandsky, a researcher at the Institute of International and
Strategic Relations (IRIS). One of IBSA’s aims in Africa is to promote
the production of biofuels, such as ethanol, a renewable energy
produced from sugar cane, produced in large quantities in Brazil and
India, to create jobs.
And Africa is benefiting from these partnerships. "Coveted by Brazil,
Venezuela, China, the United States and Europe, the African continent
has a lot to gain from the competition. It has at its disposal a range of
rich countries," analyses François Polet. "Southern countries have a
competitive advantage over the North. First, because they pose fewer
conditions (human rights for example) during trade agreements than the
United States and Europe, and secondly because their economic
structure in terms of agriculture is closer to the African model," he
concludes. Addressing the South-South summit, Mr. Lula da Silva said
that bilateral commercial exchanges had increased from 6 billion dollars
to over 36 billion dollars in only six years, an indication of the success
of South-South cooperation.
The timing this year of the South-South summit, which comes three
years after the first was held in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, that is,
immediately after the U.N. General Assembly in New York and G-20
economic summit in Pittsburgh, “suggests it may turn out to be a forum
for many non-G-20 nations to respond and focus on their concerns
about the way the global financial crisis is being handled,” hints the
Associated Press.
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Obama Must Reverse Bush-Era
African Policy
2 April 2009 ( EQN ) -
The United States
Militarized its policy
towards Africa,
defended
unpopular and undemocratic regimes and undermined
United Nations peacekeeping missions on the
continent under the Bush administration, says the
Africa-centered More
African Policy
2 April 2009 ( EQN ) -
The United States
Militarized its policy
towards Africa,
defended
unpopular and undemocratic regimes and undermined
United Nations peacekeeping missions on the
continent under the Bush administration, says the
Africa-centered More
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