Global Research

More than 60 years ago, Africa gained supposedly her independence from the different Western colonial powers. However, Africa is to this day not free. Africa continues to be colonized by the same Western colonizers, plus all the different so-called development institutions they have created after WWII – just before the so-called liberation movement.

Coincidence? Hardly.

Today’s colonization is not visible as in occupied by Western troops. It is foremost a financial, economic, and monetary colonization —with emphasis on monetary.

The huge production capacity imbalance between the West and Africa has hardly changed since Africa’s independence.

Africa has a huge under-capacity that is maintained by the West. Africa is not “free” to make their own investment decisions for productive capacity that suits them and their population best. And that despite hundreds of billions of (debt) investments by the World Bank, regional development institution, like the African Development Bank, and bilateral assistance programs.

Case in point is the Franc CFA (XAF) of the former 14 former French colonies, also called Françafrique – eight in West Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo); and six Central African countries (Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, and Republic of the Congo, plus Guinea-Bissau and Equatorial Guinea [the latter two no longer part of the CFA zone]).

They all have the same currency, the CFA Franc, though they are divided into two blocks, West and Central Africa, with two different African Central Banks, both dependent on the Bank of France (French Central Bank), but the CFA exchange rate versus formerly the French Franc and today the Euro are the same.

CFA stood originally for Colonies françaises d’Afrique (“French Colonies of Africa”). Later, it was renamed to Communauté française d’Afrique (“French Community of Africa”). The abbreviation and the monetary principles are the same.

The currencies are over-valued to serve the French interests. The IMF, supposedly working and regulating currencies for the interest of its member countries, i.e. Françafrique, watches the continuous decay of Africa, but does nothing, as Western power interests prevent it from interfering.

Today, the French Central bank still “guarantees” to about 70% the CFA franc, an almost total dependence on France. France allows what they can export to the world market, and what they must export to France at France-decided prices; and what they must buy from France – also at French established values.

Why does the IMF not help, as a first step, francophone Africa devalue the CFA, to make it more independent, more competitive? And second, help them establishing their own independent currency – getting out of the French Central Banks chokehold?

Maybe that is why: There is a saying, if francophone Africa (West and Central Africa) would abandon the CFA franc, France would lose between 20% and 30% of her GDP.

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How is it possible that institutions like the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) et al; plus, bilateral aid programs, did not address and invest in the needs of Africa, but rather the presumed and imposed “needs” that fits Western interests and agendas?

It is called “corruption”. Corruption is a two-edged sword: It takes a corrupter and a corruptee. 

The West has made sure that the “appropriate” leaders were in place before they granted African countries their “independence”. In many cases, these leaders were former Western administrators, paid by and responsible to the colonial powers. Hence, they know their paymaster. Subsequent leaders were again implanted, pretty much like they are designated – not elected – in the West – also to suit the decision-makers and the pay- or coercion masters.

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Since colonial times and until this very day, there has been – and continues to be – a severe imbalance of production capacity between Africa and the West. Not by accident. It is to keep Africa poor and dependent on Western exports, rather than truly independent with production capacity that suits African needs and allows Africa to cater to their own markets, much of it, African-internal markets.

After more than 30 years with the World Bank, of which at least 8 to 10 years working in Africa, my observations summarize what 500 years of colonialism has done to an entire continent, and continues doing to this same continent with a cunning, factitious, falsehood-laden narrative.

To deviate from the colonial burden, Africa, including Moslem Africa, still shoulders, the West accuses it of terrorism, of bringing terrorism to the West by massive migration – well, most of you know how the Western elite [the unnamed paymasters] orders the creation of terrorism in Africa, to create false flags, and organizes massive migration into the West, Europe, and the United States – to destabilize these Western entities, to make them fit for the unnamed paymasters’ One World Order. 

Africa has never been a continent of terrorists. In fact, terrorism is not in the blood of Africans. It had to be implanted from outside – again, Western corruption, coercion and outright threats, are convenient tools.

So, the production imbalance is made to continue, as long as Africa allows it. The only true ally Africa has is China. Moral support; and needed investments? 

Many courageous Africans who wanted to free their countries, or even Africa as whole, from this “modern” monetary colonialism were punished severely, some with their lives. You may recall Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, who was also called the African Ché, killed in October 1987 instigated by France; and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. Lynched by NATO troops (October 2011), ordered by then French President Sarkozy with the complicity of Washington. 

Remember Hillary’s disgustable laugh: “We came, we saw, he died”? 

The West has no real interest in reducing its “over-capacity” because it allows them to dump their over-production in Africa and other so-called developing countries. At these dumping prices, Africa could hardly start their own production and be profitable. Besides, Western over-capacity maintains Africa’s dependence on the West.

What to do?

China investing directly in African production?

That still does not free Africa from the Western monetary, especially dollar-dominance.

Today almost 60% of the formerly called convertible currencies, including the Chinese Yuan, flooding the world, are in US dollars, of course, non-backed, worthless dollars. Compare this with less than 5% of Chinese Yuan, backed by a solid economy, as well as in gold and commodities, the currency of the world’s strongest economy in PPP terms, and the second strongest in absolute terms, soon to overtake the US. 

It is difficult to fight this production imbalance in fair terms.

What China and Russia, leaders of the BRICS, are doing is gradually expanding BRICS membership in the Global South, creating an own trading currency, independent of the US dollar. Currently, there are 10 BRICS countries, maybe in October 2024 another 5-10 more, with a population that far outranks the population of the Global North, or the West.

This is not an overnight process. It takes time. 

It is the monetary independence, that may allow the Global South, especially Africa, to create its own production capacity – a gateway to true independence. And if they can also “gradually” get rid of their Western-corrupted leaders, there is hope.

As it stands today, many Western countries may also want to join the BRICS – or you might call them the Eastern – or Global South Association. For now, many do not dare as dollar sanction is looming. But once independent of the Western currency fraud, many may flock to the Global South alliance.

A good example is Turkey, a NATO country – presently applying to become a BRICS member.

There is hope for Africa.

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Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the globe. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020). 

Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

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