I have been thinking of the Paris attacks. They are abominable. Such
future attacks must be prevented. The attackers and their evil ideology
must be confronted and defeated.
I also heard (personal verbal secondary conversations) recently that some African intellectuals were not surprised, nor shocked with the Paris attacks; they do not support such attacks, vehemently condemn them, but apparently understand why Africans might want to be involved in such attacks. Nothing to do with religion directly (the religion element is a superimposition under current circumstances).
The issue seems historical, philosophical, etc
I believe they have a number of arguments. One is that France intervenes in Africa more often that we get to hear about. French troops intervened militarily in Africa 54 times since 1962.
So if you are an African picking a fight with your government and they get the French troops to sort you out for generations - you develop a certain tendency - if you then happen to be from a religion that is different from most of the French - it becomes a combination of politics-race-religion-social inequity; noxious.
Posting this at a time when France was going through a crisis could be seen as insensitive (hence, while I wrote this some time ago, I am publishing it now). I see it as being comprehensive in attempting to learn about something.
African Economics
Many west African countries share the same currency - it is called a west African franc; many central African countries share a currency - that is called the central African franc. The first question that arises is why are they called franc? - They are independent sovereign countries, even the french currency is no longer called franc. The second question is why have so many independent countries been sharing a currency for a long time? We did think the Euro was a new concept - No. Shared currency has been the norm in those parts of Africa for many decades.
It does not end there. Both the west and central African francs are guaranteed by the French treasury and administered by France. They have a fixed exchange rate against the Euro. This ensures that the governments of those African countries have very little flexibility in the way they can manage their economies.
If my references are right and I think they are; both the African francs need to have a very high currency reserve (70% or higher) to be held in France. These countries can borrow from their own currency reserves at high interest rates.
Here is the final bit, both the west and central African francs are technically exactly the same but they cannot be accepted in each others' territories.
It therefore begins to emerge that while UK uses commerce/business/finance to 'control the world', France seems to use its government directly to control its former colonies.
African-French: Natural resources and ‘trade’
France generates 25% or more of its energy from nuclear power. For other countries is about 10%. How come?
Apparently there is something called a post-colonial pact (here my knowledge and references are unsure) which gives France the first option or the first right of refusal of any natural resource produces by any of its former colonies. Imagine that. France can import what it wants (at a fixed exchange rate) from its former African colonies. They can sell to others only stuff that France does not want. That is a structural trade imbalance by design permanently favoring one party.
Niger is a former colony of Africa and is the largest producer of uranium in Africa (and 4th largest in the world) - all the uranium is owned by the French. I don't think we can be really sure if Niger actually has assured power supply, nuclear or otherwise.
If you were an intelligent person from a former French colony in Africa, how would you feel? If you were a nasty person from the same region, how would you feel?
We must not condone violence in any form. We must explore and understand reasons so that we can prevent it. Talking about 'making sure this doesn't happen again' has to include these issues.
The problem is not so simple as the west or France simply walking away from Africa or whatever; resources will fall into wrong hands, since there are very few good hands left in those completely undermined countries. It is about gradually creating good hands so that when the French 'leave', Africans can become true equals.
I hope there is peaceful living in Paris and equity for ex-French Africa in the medium term.
Follow me on Twitter @HemadriTweets
I also heard (personal verbal secondary conversations) recently that some African intellectuals were not surprised, nor shocked with the Paris attacks; they do not support such attacks, vehemently condemn them, but apparently understand why Africans might want to be involved in such attacks. Nothing to do with religion directly (the religion element is a superimposition under current circumstances).
The issue seems historical, philosophical, etc
I believe they have a number of arguments. One is that France intervenes in Africa more often that we get to hear about. French troops intervened militarily in Africa 54 times since 1962.
So if you are an African picking a fight with your government and they get the French troops to sort you out for generations - you develop a certain tendency - if you then happen to be from a religion that is different from most of the French - it becomes a combination of politics-race-religion-social inequity; noxious.
Posting this at a time when France was going through a crisis could be seen as insensitive (hence, while I wrote this some time ago, I am publishing it now). I see it as being comprehensive in attempting to learn about something.
African Economics
Many west African countries share the same currency - it is called a west African franc; many central African countries share a currency - that is called the central African franc. The first question that arises is why are they called franc? - They are independent sovereign countries, even the french currency is no longer called franc. The second question is why have so many independent countries been sharing a currency for a long time? We did think the Euro was a new concept - No. Shared currency has been the norm in those parts of Africa for many decades.
It does not end there. Both the west and central African francs are guaranteed by the French treasury and administered by France. They have a fixed exchange rate against the Euro. This ensures that the governments of those African countries have very little flexibility in the way they can manage their economies.
If my references are right and I think they are; both the African francs need to have a very high currency reserve (70% or higher) to be held in France. These countries can borrow from their own currency reserves at high interest rates.
Here is the final bit, both the west and central African francs are technically exactly the same but they cannot be accepted in each others' territories.
It therefore begins to emerge that while UK uses commerce/business/finance to 'control the world', France seems to use its government directly to control its former colonies.
African-French: Natural resources and ‘trade’
France generates 25% or more of its energy from nuclear power. For other countries is about 10%. How come?
Apparently there is something called a post-colonial pact (here my knowledge and references are unsure) which gives France the first option or the first right of refusal of any natural resource produces by any of its former colonies. Imagine that. France can import what it wants (at a fixed exchange rate) from its former African colonies. They can sell to others only stuff that France does not want. That is a structural trade imbalance by design permanently favoring one party.
Niger is a former colony of Africa and is the largest producer of uranium in Africa (and 4th largest in the world) - all the uranium is owned by the French. I don't think we can be really sure if Niger actually has assured power supply, nuclear or otherwise.
If you were an intelligent person from a former French colony in Africa, how would you feel? If you were a nasty person from the same region, how would you feel?
We must not condone violence in any form. We must explore and understand reasons so that we can prevent it. Talking about 'making sure this doesn't happen again' has to include these issues.
The problem is not so simple as the west or France simply walking away from Africa or whatever; resources will fall into wrong hands, since there are very few good hands left in those completely undermined countries. It is about gradually creating good hands so that when the French 'leave', Africans can become true equals.
I hope there is peaceful living in Paris and equity for ex-French Africa in the medium term.
©M HEMADRI
Follow me on Twitter @HemadriTweets
My book Standardised Management Conversation is available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Standardised-Management-Conversation-Hemadri-ebook/dp/B018AWBJTU
(nothing to do with Africa or France; everything to do with applying a new model for senior management to interact with their reports especially in healthcare)