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Don’t mask Africa’s poverty
By Caesar Zvayi
THE 23rd France-Africa Summit held in the Malian capital Bamako, from December 2 to 5 was an eye-opener in many respects.
It had interesting exposes on the relationship between the coloniser and colonised in Francophone West Africa, which differs greatly from what prevails in Anglophone Southern Africa.
It was also a reminder of how long the continent has to go, before the attainment of holistic independence.
France-Africa summits that began in 1973 bring together former French colonies and France to the table every two years to discuss issues of mutual interest.
Hosting of the summits alternates between France and French-speaking African countries and they were opened to non-French speaking countries in 1996.
Amid the squalor and poverty of Bamako, numerous concrete structures at different levels of completion stabbed the sky bearing testimony of the damage control organisers tried to effect to hide the penury that is part of their lives.
The latest Peugeot models, straight off the assembly line criss-crossed the streets ferrying conference delegates fighting for space with numerous dusty motor bikes and some of the most run-down automobiles to be found outside a dumping yard.
The affluent French President, Jacques Chirac’s government lent Malians for the duration of the Summit stood out like a sore thumb as it was clearly out of place amid such indigence.
In medical parlance one would liken it to tissue rejection.
It just could not fit into the scheme of things in Bamako.
Reports said Paris gave the Government of Mali hundreds of millions of Francs to prepare for the Summit, and the Malian administration went about the project with alacrity constructing hotels and villas in areas where heads of state and Government were to be accommodated.
What is the point here?
The point is there was no need to mask the real Bamako from the eyes of the world. The Franco-Africa Summit was supposed to showcase the poverty to Chirac, who is part of the Group of Eight richest countries’ (G8) leaders, who forgot their commitments soon after their Summit held in Gleneagles Scotland in July.
Some may say the massive construction programme in Bamako showed Chirac’s sincerity, but what help would the villas and Peugeots be to poor Malians?
Shouldn’t the assistance have gone to addressing the needs of the common man who is clearly struggling on a daily basis?
The construction that could not be finished on time connotes insincerity on the part of the organisers, an attempt to put lipstick on a frog in the hope of fooling a groom that it is a lovely princess.
Even though to his credit Chirac made the usual promises of extending more aid to Africa, amid much joy and jubilation from the conference hall at Centre Palais de Congresse Internationale (International Conference Centre), scepticism was rife on the real motives of the largesse.
The attempt to build in a few months, what should have been built over 35 years of Mali’s independence showed concern for the here and now?
The question is, was the concern for Malians or for Chirac’s own survival?
The situation back in Paris and what prompted it suggests an attempt at damage control on Chirac’s part; he was at pains to present himself as a man who cares for Africa.
He embraced almost every speaker during the opening session.
France is currently under a state of emergency declared on November 9 at the height of violent riots that engulfed the country from October 27 to November 16 following the killing of two youths of African extraction by French police.
The state of emergency is based on a 50-year-old law that was first introduced to deal with unrest in Algeria’s struggle for independence, and which was renewed for a three-month period by the French parliament on November 15, 2005.
The clashes, that covered 20-straight nights involved marauding bands of youths of predominantly African and North African origin and French police, raised questions about France’s famed integration model.
In the colonial period, France pursued a policy of assimilation opposed to the separate development of British colonialism, emphasising co-development and integration of the colonial subjects into the French way of life. Judging by the disparity between the opulence of Paris and the abject poverty of cities like Bamako, assimilation failed as far as economic development is concerned but succeeded as far as complete cultural and mental dominance of former French colonies is concerned.
This was evident in the way Chirac enjoyed demi-god status among Malians, down to the man in the street, who bowed when his motorcade passed, homage normally reserved for Allah.
Of the 21 heads of State and Government, tens of Prime Ministers and Ministerial representatives who touched down at Bamako Senou International Airport, only Chirac was welcomed with full honours including a twenty-one gun salute, guard of honour, traditional dancers and the gamut of the Malian political executive.
For all other African heads of State it was an embrace from the Prime Minister before being whisked away in convoys of sparkling Peugeots to hotels that still smelt of fresh paint.
When Chirac stood up to address the Summit during the opening ceremony, the auditorium was almost brought down as praise singers serenaded him even more than they had serenaded their own leader President Amadou Touman Toure.
Interestingly, Gabon’s President Omar Bongo, who spoke after Toure and before Chirac was not similarly received.
But the Francophone African leaders were not done yet as they sought to include a declaration in the Bamako communiqué aimed at boosting Chirac’s chances of re-election.
They wanted to declare him the most progressive French leader that ever dealt with Africa.
It is not deniable that Chirac is among the most level-headed leaders in Europe today, as shown by his refusal to endorse British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s attempts to drag France into the bilateral dispute between Harare and London, what is not acceptable is trying to use such a summit to influence the French electorate.
Most of the leaders acknowledged that Chirac may not win presidential elections set for April or May 2007, with observers saying his chances of seeking re-election were dealt a severe blow by the defeat his government suffered in the May 29 referendum on the European Union (EU) Charter and his own ill-health.
The primacy that French authorities have placed on Republican values of fraternity and equality have left no room for recognising and addressing, at policy level special needs of ethnic minorities or other disadvantaged groups in France and elsewhere in Francophone Africa.
This explains the abortive -plastic surgery attempted on Bamako.
There is no point in dwelling into the Summit’s platitudes as they are to be expected from such summits where Africa tops the agenda for the duration of the summit only to regress in between summits.
But as long as we try to mask our circumstances, we shall forever live in denial and fail to solve the fundamental national questions linked to such colonial pursuits.
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