African countries are resisting neo-colonialism by banning the exporting of raw materials

A story currently making the rounds is that nearly half of the 54 nations on the African continent are restricting or banning the exportation of their raw materials. It is a story deserving closer study for several reasons – historical and geo-political.

The upshot of the story is a video exploring the phenomenon of 10 African nations curtailing the sale of various raw materials to some non-African countries. The African nations mentioned include: Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Since the release of that video, at least 10 other African nations reportedly have followed suit. These include Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, and Sudan. 

One would do well to realize, however, that these bans are baby steps since in every case, the African nations are only restricting one, two, or three products. Imagine the impact they would have if they were including all the raw materials needed by the importing European and other non-African countries. Imagine the impact if all or a distinct majority of the African nations decided to ban the exportation of their strategic raw materials. That would be real Black Power. 

When one considers the fact that Africa is the richest continent on earth, possessing more mineral and other raw materials that are in high demand than any other continent, and that European countries have long had easy access to them, the current story is one of political, economic, and military interest. 

It is a story with deep historical roots. From the 1500s through most of the 1900s, Europeans were exporting enslaved African people via the Atlantic Slave Trade and/or using military power to control many African nations and the exportation of their raw materials, including diamonds, gold, copper, lithium, cobalt, rubber, uranium, platinum, cocoa, timber, skins, and much more. Colonialism existed side by side with the slave trade. This spelled the true raping and intentional under-developing and weakening of most African nations.

The Atlantic Slave Trade came to an end in the early 1800s, but colonialism continued for another 150 years, causing school children to learn of places called French West Africa, Belgian Congo, North and Southern Rhodesia, and so on down the map. School children were not taught the true African names of these nations. Fortunately, many African nations gained their independence in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

What followed, however, was the phenomenon now called neo-colonialism. In this new arrangement, European countries used their advanced technology, control of the world monetary system, and collective military might to continue exploiting African nations and their workers. The Europeans were no longer militarily occupying the land, but they were still controlling the economies of most African nations. 

It is not that these conditions went unnoticed. A major problem in addressing the conditions is that individual African nations were isolated from one another and often plagued by tribal rivalries. Meanwhile, the European countries had created instruments for their own solidarity against African nations. Such had been expressed through the Congress of Berlin, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Common Market, and even the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the United Nations.

Throughout the same period, people on the African continent and in the diaspora, including President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, American born scholar W.E.B. DuBois, and Jamaican born activist Marcus Garvey, called for African unity through the label of Pan-Africanism, the slogan of “Africa for the Africans,” and other proposals. 

That unity remained elusive due to the geo-political environment. However, the idea of and the movement toward Pan-Africanism gained momentum as an increasing number of leaders returned from studies abroad. In 1963, they formed the Organization of African Unity, which was succeeded by the African Union in 1999.

Although these efforts did not immediately solve the problem, they were steps in the right direction. Additionally, these efforts demonstrated that continuing to work for Africans’ unity is essential if African nations are to succeed in re-claiming control of their natural resources.

The task is difficult and fraught with real dangers. In pursuit of that goal, African leaders have been assassinated, as in the case of Patrice Lumumba; coups have been fomented, as in the case of Biafra; and direct military invasions to extract precious metals, as in Central Africa, have been staged, by or at the behest of European or American agents. These agents have included executives of multinational corporations, ambitious local politicians, neighboring countries, and even mercenary generals. This reality has caused some African rulers to accept the status quo or simply play along with neo-colonial exploitation. 

One needs to be aware of these realities because as the aforementioned African nations have moved to restrict or ban the exportation of their raw materials, they have faced the opposition of the countries and multinational corporations depending upon these raw materials to build their wealth and power. These raw materials are needed for cell phones, computers, automobiles, and weapons. In addition to military actions, some of these non-African countries use monetary policies and trade wars to strangle the African economies in order to feed their greed.

Therefore, in their struggle against neo-colonial exploitation by controlling the exportation of their raw materials, African nations need more continental unity. They need the support of international human rights groups and affiliated United Nations agencies. They need extensive exposure of their case around the world, which could secure for them individual and sovereign allies. While there never was a time when slavery, colonial oppression, or neo-colonialism could be morally justified, surely the time for neo-colonial exploitation has come to an end.