A UK newspaper yesterday reported that "Foreign multinational companies siphon $46bn out of sub-Saharan Africa each year, while $35bn is moved from Africa into tax havens around the world." That totals to $80 bn that leaves the continent annually. The newspaper also says that every year "western countries send about $30bn in development aid to Africa." If we calculate the difference, it means that Africa still looses $50bn annually to profiteering by multinationals/foreign investment. So can we agree to the fact that Foreign Investment that immediately exports all profits to offshore banks rather than in local banks, is also pillage? At least that's what the numbers here imply. Especially when the paper adds that "The perception that aid is helping African countries "has facilitated a perverse reality in which the UK and other wealthy governments advertise their generosity whilst simultaneously assisting their companies to drain Africa's resources." When Idi Amin started the 'Save Britain fund' with an initial deposit of 10,000 shillings as the UK economy collapsed (1974), they called his offer preposterous. Soon he had truckloads of food from Ugandan citizens ready for donation. Britain declined to send planes required to receive Amin's donation. Compared to the incredible scam behind British assistance to Africa, I wonder who really deserves the diplomatic courtesy of being branded preposterous. We already knew that foreign aid was being used as a tool for political patronage on the African continent. We now increasingly realize that it is actually also used as the untold backdrop for facilitating secret deals for their multinational companies. Contracts that are actually "three to six times" more lucrative for them. And when I say "them", I also imagine their politicians quickly pocketing large sums in offshore accounts as well. Don't these multinational companies make even more profits when they sell whatever finished products they then produce from Africa's resources? If you notice how Congolese children carry incredible loads of cobalt from dawn to dusk for $1 dollar a day, then you compare that to the riches made by western companies that produce the smartphone and related battery you have, then "preposterous" takes on a new mzungu smile. Let's be clear here; foreign aid is the devils lube (lubricant oil). One that keeps the pillaging machine working smoothly, serving solely the interests of the so-called donor. FOREIGN AID IS BROAD DAYLIGHT BRIBERY OF AFRICAN LEADERS. They scramble for the donations as donors claim the funds are meant for the poor. A donation is probably the only way European governments can account for the bribe to their tax payers. They then have to feign indignation when the theft by African leaders is unearthed. If it wasn't for our leaders accepting the bribe, African economies would have long been financially stable. We should have taken patriotic, remedial steps where we stop accepting aid, ask for reparations for colonialism, then ensure 50/50 partnerships in foreign direct investment. While we thank our citizens can"t have the investment money, political will and the available banking facilities can fill the gap. In the Middle East for example, the regulatory framework for foreign businesses insists on compulsory partnerships with their nationals. The market then finds it's way to comply. And because these countries don't need aid, Western governments try to bribe them directly. This is reportedly quite common, especially in multibillion dollar weapons contracts where an emir can be offered a luxurious private jet as a "free gift". Did I mention that they constantly tried to offer such gifts to Idi Amin? Maybe I should name the companies and related western governments one day. Obviously the laughing Brits have their guilty necks stuck on the guillotine here. I had a nice time reading my fathers documents after the funeral. It is also fun to see some Ugandan politicians faking outrage and publicly branding my father an idiot today, yet they were contacting him secretly for financial assistance and weapons when they were in the Luweero bushes fighting against the Obote and Okello's governments. I ask myself what ideological orientation they were inspired by. The Middle Eastern partnership policy was started even before they became the super rich countries they are today. This obligation guarantees that foreign companies become economically rooted in their countries, and at least half the profits go to locals. With a 2015 GDP per capita income at $42,000 for the United Arab Emirates (UAE), while Kenya for example, the richest in East Africa, is at $800 per citizen annually, the huge long term benefits of such compulsory partnership policies to private citizens are clear for anyone to compare.
#RejectUnscrupulousAid Written by Hussein Lumumba Amin. 21/01/2016 Kampala.
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