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Jul
10
Image via WikipediaIt is probably obvious, by now, that I like BusinessDay. This is their editorial today:
In what seems to be a major policy thrust in international economic relations and in resolving the festering Niger Delta crisis, President Umaru Yar’Adua on Monday, at the meeting of G8 leaders holding in Japan called for global clampdown on trade in stolen crude oil.
The president emphasised that stolen crude oil deserved the same global treatment as that of stolen diamonds.Yar’Adua said measures must be taken to “dismantle the criminal dmension” of the problem in the Niger Delta. And for good measure, he said the problem in the region was being aggravated by international cartels.
The Nigerian leader drew attention to another aspect of the Niger Delta challenge, the criminal aspect, in this case “those who use the cover of militancy to steal our crude oil and engage in all forms of violence.”
We commend the president for drawing attention of the international community to this ugly trend. This is an issue that hitherto had been discussed in hushed tones and privately, too. It is an open secret that Nigeria’s crude is stolen daily, that beyond the official production figures given to meet OPEC quota and local consumption, a lot more is produced through illegal bunkering and from offshore rigs.
According to Freedom House, a US-based oil industry analyst, out of the 1.9 million barrels of crude oil Nigeria produces per day, she loses 10 per cent to oil thieves, part of the proceeds of which are spent on criminal activities in the Niger Delta.
We can draw a parallel with the role diamonds played in the civil wars that took place in Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s. The rebels that waged war in Liberia were able to sustain their rebel activities, which ultimately escalated to become a civil war on account of the money they made from illegal mining and sale of diamonds.
A number of questions, naturally, arise from President Yar’Adua’s submission. Who are those involved? Apart from the militants, who hide under the cover of agitation, are there international thieves helping to fuel the theft of Nigeria’s crude oil?
If they exist, is there a nexus between the objective they pursue and the criminalisation of the Niger Delta struggle?
In all of this, what is the role of the multinational oil companies engaged in oil exploration in the country especially in the Niger Delta region?
There is talk about the use of satellite to monitor offshore oil drilling. Is it effective and if yes, are those in charge giving the Nigerian government the true picture of the situatiion? If they are doing that, has the government taken any steps to address it?
More importantly, does Nigeria have the capacity to monitor offshore exploration activities of the oil companies and enforce compliance to production limits?
Answers to these questions are important as they will point the way to dealing with the issue.
President Yar’Adua chose the right platform to raise the issue. The international oil companies are all from the G8 countries. Their governments will need to do internal checks to ascertain the culpability or otherwise of their companies in this criminal behaviour.
We urge him to quickly take the matter to the United Nations as he has promised. Only concerted efforts at the global level can arrest the situation.
The president’s pledge that the much talked about Niger Delta Summit would hold is reassuring. Resolution of the crisis in that region of the country holds the key to Nigeria’s economic and social transformation.
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Jul
9
Third European Conference on African Studies
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
The conference is open to all disciplines and methodological approaches representing the Social Sciences and Humanities. However, at the same time the Steering Committee is strongly inviting panel proposals which look into the re-scaling and re-shaping of Africa through the various references which are being – or have been – made to the spatial dimensions of human action (social, symbolic, imagined or otherwise). This includes processes of globalisation, regionalisation, transnationalisation, re-nationalisation etc. – at all levels and across time.
Panels are expected to consist of four papers, with a chair and a discussant. Larger panels may be accommodated over more than one session. At this stage the Steering Committee invites potential panel organisers to provide a title and some of the names of participants to be considered for inclusion in the programme. A 50 word abstract and 250 word description should be included. The official conference language is English (contributions in any EU language are possible, but there will be no translation services offered, except for key note speeches).
More information here.
Jul
4
At My Bank on Tuesday.
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Nov
18
Size and cost
The Economist did a special report on technology in India and China in their November 10th - 16th edition. Part of the report says that China’s biggest advantage - while discussing technological innovations - is the shere size of its market. That statement was made in relation to the role of “venturesome and resourceful customers” in steering technological innovation. The principle is simple: a company does not need to wait till it has perfected its products before presenting it to the public. Because China has a huge population that is gradually becoming more and more economically empowered, you can throw what is not yet perfect to the market, and then let the feedback determine areas that need attention. It is best captured by this statement, “You can afford to waste some customers with imperfect product, because there are always another 100m out there to whom you can sell version 2.0.” If we translate that to other parts of the economy, one would realise that shere population is strength for both China and India. There is a large chance for a country that is growing to expand inside itself as more and more citizens gain economic strength. In other words, simply empowering the citizens provides a space for economic growth. Also, there is a tendency for the country to attract FDI, based simply on the size of its market.
Another advantage that one keeps hearing about is the price of labour in China. With an increasing population of members of the middle class, and a large army of cheap labour to boot, China seems not only to be ready for growth based on the strength of an increasing middle class, but also because of its large army of cheap labour. With this large army, it can produce at a very cheap rate for exportation. And it has been doing this. One major point that is sometimes missing in the moral debate on China’s business in Africa is that there is a large amount of made-in-China products in African markets, and these goods are so cheap that they sell more cheaply than locally produced ones. The price of labour is also an important attraction for FDI.
Please, help!
What exactly do I need help with? The problem is this: what is the comparative advantage that African countries have? Why would African countries be attractive for production and not just servicing? I think of shere size of population in the case of China and India, and I think of cheap labour, especially in the case of China. Are African countries doomed to simply supplying developed and emerging economies with raw materials to which value is added and then brought back to be sold in African countries? I am asking for help because it seems that my rudimentary knowledge of economics cannot fully appreciate the situation.
Nov
14
Nov
12
Development and ‘The African Culture’
Filed Under Opinion | 4 Comments
“Compared to the rest of the world
Africa has been described as the atypical, both economically and politically. The relationship of dependence that exists between the aid donors andAfrica also fuels the discourse of docility, laziness and dependence. For instance, Joseph Hanlon (2004: 382) raises, ‘… the fundamental question that has dogged charity and aid in the West for more than a century: are the poor poor simply because they lack money, or are they poor because of their own stupidity and cupidity?’ However, as I said earlier, the way these discourses are structured almost make them immune to critical reviews. I will toe the trail of Mbembe on this point. These studies of Africa have been in relation to what is lacking in Africa, and this in itself is a product of the comparison ofAfrica to the West, using paradigms that are products of Western modernisation. As Mbembe (2001: 9) writes, this has led to the paradoxes that ‘we know nearly everything that African states, societies, and economies are not, we still know absolutely nothing about what they actually are.’ I will join my voice to that of Mbembe for the call for studies of Africa that do not pitch her against the west, and do not use western paradigms; studies that consider the realities of Africans, their experiences and interactions with globalisation and ‘westernisation’; studies that do not take Africa as a single culture but look at the nuances in the identity of Africans and their constant negotiation of a place for themselves. Until African studies are approached in this way certain formulations will keep showing that the African is ‘docile’, ‘passive’ and ‘lazy’.Works Cited
Hanlon Joseph, 2002. ‘It is possible to just give money to the poor.’ Development and Change 35 (2): 375 – 383Mbembe, Achille. 2001. Introduction: Time on the move. In: Mbembe, Achille, On the Postcolony. (
Berkeley :University ofCalifornia Press).“
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