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The New Scramble for Africa: Poverty, Guns And The Weapons Market September 15, 2013

Posted by OromianEconomist in Africa, Colonizing Structure, Corruption, Development, Dictatorship, Economics, Knowledge and the Colonizing Structure., Uncategorized.
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The world  OutLine states  Africa  is going to spend over $20bn on defence projects over the coming decade. ‘As the European defence market becomes ever more bereft of big spenders and Asian markets face strong competition from China, Africa’s 54 states will make the last major geopolitical frontier for defence companies.’ It has been reported that whilst  for various reasons there is undoubtedly significant  demand for the latest  weaponry in the region,  large-scale arms contracts  do raise questions over the future of a continent already stricken with poverty and permanent violence. It is well known  Africa is run by dictators and human rights abusers. Defence contractors with out doubt  are always  looking to  maximize  profits and increase their trade,  however, it is not clear whether ethical considerations will be in place  in providing such  weapons  in the continent run by unaccountable politicians and unelected tyrants engaging in militarism, e.g Ethiopia, Rwanda and Sudan. It is worrying  that scarce   public  money will continue to  be diverted from social and economic investment and  wasted into arms deals. ‘The UN has warned that 22 of the 24 lowest Human Development Index nations are in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in some instances GDP per capita is less than $200 a year. However, pumping aid into the region is not necessarily the answer. A 2005 report suggested that a staggering proportion of the $500bn of aid sent to Africa over the last forty years has been embezzled through corrupt institutions; the so-called ‘leaky begging bowl’. It would be interesting to know how much of this will fund armaments over the next decade.’ http://theworldoutline.com/2013/09/africa/

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