Unequal Exchange
Africa has been involved in
unequal exchange through the export of raw materials and import of finished
products. This position means that Africa perpetually suffers unfavourable
balance of trade, underdevelopment, and a general state of relative deprivation.
Any keen student of the
dialectics of development and underdevelopment would therefore find it appalling
to read commentaries bemoaning future loss of export earnings due to projected fall
in (raw material) prices as a result of COVID-19 pandemic-inspired recession.
Time to change the narrative
Import substitution
industrialisation (ISI) was once in vogue, until it got a bad name. How about
giving ISI the good name it once had? Now is time to implement (not develop)
strategies, such as Agenda 2063 and
the African Continental Free Trade Area
(AfCFTA) Agreement.
For avoidance of doubt, the AfCFTA
Agreement entered into force on 30 May 2019 for the 24 countries that had
deposited their instruments of ratification with the African Union Commission (see the visual below). Subsequently,
at an Extraordinary Summit of the African Union held on 7 July 2019, the
operational phase of the AfCFTA Agreement was officially launched.
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