Decolonising Africa’s ‘top-down’ development is essential
A development model that requires continued extraction and export of cheap raw materials is not viable
As we mark Africa Month to "promote African unity, deeper regional integration and recommit Africa to a common destiny and to engage in conversation within the broader theme of decolonisation", it is perhaps appropriate to consider how the main vehicle to achieve these lofty ideals, the African Union (AU), proposes to drive the continent’s development into the future. At the heart of the AU’s vision for the future of what is undeniably the world’s most unevenly developed continent, sits the deeply ideological belief in a top-down "development" model that calls for the continued extraction and export of cheap raw materials alongside increased financial and trade liberalisation. This vision is encapsulated in the AU’s African Mining Vision (AMV) document. While the AMV may appear to be a noble vision of creating shared prosperity, the entrenched ideological biases which underpin its core values, remain an area that requires a deeper process of decolonisation and introspection. With th...
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