In her efforts to address the increasingly desperate situation in Greece, Christine Lagarde, the French head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has made a fateful comparison between Greece and Africa. This is not the first time that a single, tiny European country has been compared to the whole of Africa, nor would it be the last. What is different this time is that Christine Lagarde appears to see no similarity between the situation in Greece than her "Africa". Yes, many people have died in Greece because of austerity and many more have lost their jobs - just like it happened in some African countries when the IMF and the World Bank saddled these countries with the so-called structural adjustment plans of the 1980s and 1990s.
For Ms. Lagarde, however, the situation in Africa is different because Africans cannot pay their taxes while Greeks can and Africa's children are poor while those of the Greeks are not. That is why she implores the Greeks to pay their taxes in order to get a handle on their desperate situation, saying that she is more concerned about poor children in Africa than the Greeks. Really!? Leaving aside the obvious fact that Europe has never been more concerned about Africa than Europe itself, Ms. Lagarde fails to see that Africa does not need her sympathy, if that is what she wanted to show. Much of the current condition in Africa, especially in Francophone Africa, has been brought about by Ms. Lagarde's France, which first colonized the continent and then saddled its peoples with autocrats who care more for French interests than the interests of the people they serve. In effect, France has been running Francophone Africa from colonial times to present. Paul Biya in Cameroon, the late and current Bongos in Gabon, Blaise Compaore in Burkina Faso, etc. These are all autocrats saddled on the necks of their people to serve the interests of France. With its mercenaries and military, France helps these autocrats kill their own people so that French interests in the continent may be protected. The poor children in Africa have actually been manufactured with the help of Ms. Lagarde's France. It would be disingenuous of her to claim ignorance of this and pretend that she is more concerned about Africa's children.
For Ms. Lagarde, however, the situation in Africa is different because Africans cannot pay their taxes while Greeks can and Africa's children are poor while those of the Greeks are not. That is why she implores the Greeks to pay their taxes in order to get a handle on their desperate situation, saying that she is more concerned about poor children in Africa than the Greeks. Really!? Leaving aside the obvious fact that Europe has never been more concerned about Africa than Europe itself, Ms. Lagarde fails to see that Africa does not need her sympathy, if that is what she wanted to show. Much of the current condition in Africa, especially in Francophone Africa, has been brought about by Ms. Lagarde's France, which first colonized the continent and then saddled its peoples with autocrats who care more for French interests than the interests of the people they serve. In effect, France has been running Francophone Africa from colonial times to present. Paul Biya in Cameroon, the late and current Bongos in Gabon, Blaise Compaore in Burkina Faso, etc. These are all autocrats saddled on the necks of their people to serve the interests of France. With its mercenaries and military, France helps these autocrats kill their own people so that French interests in the continent may be protected. The poor children in Africa have actually been manufactured with the help of Ms. Lagarde's France. It would be disingenuous of her to claim ignorance of this and pretend that she is more concerned about Africa's children.
3 comments:
Christine Lagarde may well have more sympathy for poor African children than austerity-hit Greeks.
However, I have a feeling she's got even more sympathy for the international bankers.
Christine Lagarde may well have more sympathy for poor African children than austerity-hit Greeks.
However, I have a feeling she's got even more sympathy for the international bankers.
I think the debate here not whether Lagarde feels pity for Africa or not, we just want that the major issues and ills of Africa or Europe should be addressed and solutions found. What matters are the objectives of IMF for Africa and not what Lagarde thinks, it is not the issue of an individual but an organization. Let’s not be distracted, we need to stay focused.
President Paul Biya is no autocrat and does not serve any other interest but that of Cameroonians.
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