Whenever the issue of economic underdevelopment and poverty sets in, Africa comes into the mind, but why? Those who have arrested Africa into the dungeons of poverty are the ones with louder voices to talk about poverty in Africa.
In this contribution, the writer attempts to provide readers with a brief analysis on the relationship between all forms of independence, dependence and interdependence..
For over 60 years, African leaders and statesmen have been talking and theorizing on the importance of post-independence pan Africanism and economic integration but unfortunately Africa seems to travel uphill’s to achieve these loft goals. Yes, 50 African states have become independent from colonial yokes but regrettably independence did not effectively bring forth socio-economic and political independence.
The truth is colonialism was replace by neo-colonialism in many African countries and independence has lost its full meaning as long as Africa is still at the peripheral zone in global economic development. Africa remained a raw material supply zone in even much bigger volume compared to the colonial era. Africa suffered from slave trade but did not escape then wester flow of brain drain of post-independence. Besides, African countries suffer from monopoly prices in foreign trade dictated by global multi-national corporations.
Independent African states are now artificially divided on colonial language classifications as Anglophone, Francophone etc. remaining under the political influence of their former colonialists. The venomous European goals of the Berlin Conference and the scramble for Africa only changed forms but did not bring the desire development for Africa. Africa with close to 2 billon population is still not represented in UNSC and are economically tied down by exorbitant amount of foreign debt, terrorism and ethnic based conflicts and civil wars widely rampant in many of the African countries.
African countries still grapple with malaria, HIV and AIDS, the vestiges of COVID-19 and a myriad of waterborne diseases and drought induced health hazards.
In terms of education, African countries use mostly irrelevant education system that is borrowed from the colonial era. The colonialists developed boundary demarcations, which divided the same citizenship. This is still causing problems of higher proportion for Africa. Some African leaders are already operating as puppet regimes who are out to serve their personal interests and the interests of their former colonialists with total disregard to the wider interests of their citizens.
Independence implies self-determination on decisions pertaining to good governance, justice and designing operational polices for socio-economic development suited to the development needs of citizens. Priority must be given to the interest of the people and not the interest and diplomatic motives of western powers who never wish to see African countries thrust from abject poverty.
The real essence of independence lies in a strategy to give a better life and peace for citizen’s Effective use of natural resources for the economic development of their countries is another indicator for meaningful independence.
On the other hand, independence covers socioeconomic and political sovereignty which is a major political and legal precondition for the statehood of these countries. Dependence is anti- thesis of independence.
Conceptually dependence has two sides of the same phenomena. Dependence on foreign aid, technology and financial assistance for African countries affects their independence and the power for self-determination.
As no country, including African countries is fully endowed with all inputs needed for development; it is natural that countries may depend upon one another for multiple sets of their social, economic and political needs.
Even under normal conditions, many African countries are food deficient and depend on foreign food support to feed their growing population. At times of natural and man-made disasters, many African countries had to call upon developed countries to meet their relief and rehabilitation needs as they find it hard to meet their food security needs.
Africa is rich in natural resources and is endowed with almost all the row material for their development projects but still they depend on western countries even for the smallest items they can cover from local resources. African governments have huge budget deficit and trade imbalance with foreign countries and are also debt Dependence never allows the way out from poverty depend on foreign expert’s advice for most of their development programs. These is nothing wrong with this approach but African young persons need to be trained to handle the challenges that their countries face in their efforts to meet the needs of their peoples.
It is also interesting to note that the AU itself heavily depends upon foreign aid from major western countries as member states often fail to pay their contributions on time.
Dependence on foreign countries for most of their needs have plunged African countries into what Andre Gunther Frank described as “development of underdevelopment.”
Here it is important to distinguish the difference partnership and total dependence. Partnerships are established for mutual support and sharing of experience, skills and resources while dependence is to total reliance on a source for everything that has to do with development undertakings.
Dependence on donors kills innovation and self-reliance and the desire to use local resources but totally depend on imported materials, products and resources. It does not allow any means and resource usage from local sources for poverty alleviation.
Many African countries are engaged in monoculture and there is a vivid lack of economic diversification. Exclusive dependence on external aid gives the donor a leverage to influence and at times dictate the receiving African countries to act only on the recommendation of the donor country.
If support is withdrawn for projects in African countries, they will either start to find other alternatives or close down the projects as it is the case for instance with massive USAID closure in almost all African countries. It would also be very difficult to solicit local fund as it would take time and the population may not respond in the desired time and amount of fund.
On the other hand dependence on foreign loan from international financial magnets requires strong political leadership and commitment from African leaders. They need to design workable and applicable macroeconomic, financial and monetary policies that would help them to handle financial loans.
Interdependence among states is a natural and possible relation between countries. For instance, European countries or former colonialists have a much stronger level of interdependence among them to provide all the necessary services for their citizens while they are busy treating African countries in isolation from one another.
In the African context, interdependence is manifested in sharing resources, experience, technology and other development inputs that are not available in every country.
For instance Ethiopia is already practicing interdependence by sharing hydroelectric power with the countries of the Horn of Africa. This is based on the moto of using African resources for Africa’s development. This concept is not limited to sharing but also implies friendship and peace building as well as supplying the most needed renewable energy resources for the common good of all Africans.
Ethiopian Airlines Group is already connecting Africa coast to coast while the nation is building all weather roads that connect the country with the neighboring countries. Ethiopia is providing scholarships to young Africans while the country is hosting more than one million refugees from Africa. Thee nation is engaged in trade with the nearby countries and is already taking actions in implementing AfCFTA. In promoting NBI, the country is an active participant of the Nile Council and also AU Security Council.
Interdependent is necessary for Africa because foreign countries are trying to divide the unity of the African countries. They need to implement the programs of Agenda 2063 and all other development ventures that can strengthen the unity and prosperity of African countries.
African countries can be self-reliant in all spheres of development activities when they cooperate with each other in good faith and not by serving for the interest of foreign countries. They need to work on promoting peace and take conflict resolution measures among the African countries.
The main purpose for the establishment of the establishment of AU is to make sure that African countries are united in pulling together their human and natural resources to help the population in the continent to be self-sufficient in every aspect of their daily life. They can do this only when they act in an interdependent manner.
African countries can tackle the onset of disasters and other man-made and natural calamities together or by developing their own disaster mitigation mechanisms and policies.
The author wishes to stress on the need for self-reliance and interdependence as a viable strategy for shaping the future of the African youth which are expected to act in unity to defeat any form of underdevelopment and poverty.
Regional organizations and CSOs operating in Africa need to work beyond the borders of each country to ensure that countries in Africa could share their development experience. In this regard, Ethiopia is the best example as the nation is engaged in sharing knowledge in IT, AI, digital technologies, cyber-attacks and a number of technologies related to defense industries.
African nations still suffer from the birth pangs of colonialism and are not fast enough to implement their joint regional development strategies as indicated in Agenda 2063.
Independence and political independence by itself is a major precondition for Africa’s socio-economic development but is not a panacea for all the challenges the countries in the continent are facing. Political independence is meaningful only when it helps to rid these countries of dependence on the western countries. Interdependence and cooperation is required for thrusting out of poverty in Africa.
Editor’s Note: The views entertained in this article do not necessarily reflect the stance of The Ethiopian Herald
BY SOLOMON DIBABA
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY16 MAY 2025
