STRAIGHT TALK
MARK BARNES: Africa could be number three in the world if it managed to unite as one
I am not yet convinced about African unity. It does have its virtues, though, no doubt. Imagine Africa taking its rightful place at the table of the economic powerhouses that decide the future of all things big. We would rank third, just after China and India, and we’d be bigger than the US, Brazil, Russia and all the rest. At first glance, it seems the obvious thing to do, if we can get our act together and actually implement the ideological dream. Economies of scale would lower the cost of the continent’s products and increase our ability to compete in global markets, obviously. Taking down all of the borders and letting people wander everywhere would be a brave step. I’d like to see one of those time-lapse pictorials of the population migration between now and, say, 2050. Would Lagos still be the biggest city (by population) in Africa? Probably, but they are not signing up to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) just yet, if ever.Would more people migrate to Cairo or ...
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