According to Madaraka Nyerere, the continent must band together to benefit its people.
According to writer Madaraka Nyerere, the son of independent Tanzania’s first president, Julius Nyerere, Africa must unite and stop relying on foreign countries for progress.
In an interview with RT before of the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, Nyerere said it was regrettable that certain African countries were “distracted by the supposed assistance” that was expected to come from other countries, as well as the IMF and World Bank.
“I believe that if a country has a leading economic position, it will rarely give up that position willingly,” Nyerere remarked, adding that expecting others to freely relinquish their grip on the global economy is “unrealistic.”
According to Nyerere, the only “realistic” option for the African continent to prosper is for it to unite and use its riches for the benefit of the African people, rather than becoming an agent for foreign powers seeking to exploit the region’s resources.
He also stated that, in addition to cooperating with one another, African states must also collaborate with countries such as India, Brazil, China, and Russia.
“The Northern countries’ barriers to development cannot be overcome without a strong base of countries that begin to create some economic muscle,” Nyerere explained, adding that “that is the only way to go.”
In other parts of the interview, Nyerere claimed that Africa had become the victim of Western pressure to change its policies to conform to those of the IMF and the World Bank, and that there were alternative ways for societies to function other than the market-driven model, which “doesn’t always make sure that everybody is taken care of.”
The author proposed that African leaders engage in discourse with the continent’s youth, who have been “overwhelmed by values and information from other societies, from outside of Africa.”
“We risk losing our own humanitarian values and values of justice that we had in the past if we don’t make a big effort to show that there is an alternative way to how we organise our societies,” he warned.
Nyerere thinks that his father, Julius Nyerere, was a renowned anti-colonial activist and political thinker who cleared the path for Tanzania’s independence from Britain and served as the country’s first president from 1964 until his death in 1985. He was also a driving influence behind the formation of the Organisation of African Unity, which later evolved into the modern-day African Union.
The second Russia-Africa Summit will be held on July 27-28, with 49 African delegates expected to attend. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that the summit is of “great importance” and that a comprehensive declaration, multiple joint statements, and a Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan through 2026 would be issued.
