The dream Is “Africa unite”
I had a dream for Africa about African unity, but the truth is, it was as challenging as the reality I woke up to.
Ever since colonisation came to pass, many scholars engaged and debated on African identity's core fundamentals, without any further ado I would like to explore the concept at hand in terms of African culture. Unlike the Westerners believe in individualistic lifestyles (cultures) as opposed to African Ubuntu (togetherness) or Africanism, the Western motives are geared towards profit maximization on all economic fronts by a few capitalists with common profit-making goals, for instance this system works well for developed countries, because before globalisation and the free market system adopted by the majority of the world, these country's had already developed to advanced levels, which contemporary Africa had yet to obtain.
But to highlight some of the mechanisms involved in nation-building such as economic and political cohesiveness, one cannot help, but wonder if this is not exactly same criteria's used by the west, partly if not wholly, which the Ubuntu concept entails, and if so, there should be a conspiracy theory behind the western culture of individualism's revelations to the developing world, because this means that before that they had to work in unity to build their states for the wellbeing of everyone in those countries – the results of that are the good and healthy living standards their residents currently enjoy. Therefore the question is why our African capitalist brothers and sisters are enslaved to this system? Or is wealth and stock accumulation all that drives them? The bad news is that even when they focus on wealth accumulation, their products and services targets (consumers) will soon be unable to afford their expensive products. A comparative analysis can be placed on Angola's economic downfall that is closing many enterprises and estate mogul businesses. All this points to the failure of an individualistic system in Africa where all states should focus on, is state development on both the economic and political front and to this end, it is very important to minimize the impact of an individualistic system in favor of Ubuntu (or togetherness) paying more attention to the wellbeing of all Africans (white or black and poor or rich) by providing basic services and products at a reasonable prices that are affordable to everyone in order to retain a robust number of consumers for foreseeable future. Simply because we don't have the capacity and right measures to operate capitalistically, we need to cultivate the importance of the wellbeing of the entire society and promote better living standards that contribute to an increase in the productiveness and effectiveness of African countries labour forces, which would ensure the building of harmonious African states.
Although much critique will be directed at this text, pointing out that the Western states development owes us, because of slavery, etc. In other parts of the world countries protect themselves and we need some level of cohesiveness in the society for such initiatives to be carried out constructively without causing tension and fear between the citizens of those overlooked, because it's important for members of society to feel a sense of inclusiveness and acknowledgement.
What I am getting to/at is that although capitalism and the free market system ensures value for goods and services, only few individuals benefit in short- to medium-term, but if you look at other statistical aspects in society such as on human development, you will find that future objectives are guaranteed to fail in this instance.
If for example the current youth or labour's active population cannot afford basic human needs such as shelter, food and proper clothing, to what extent does it have a psychological impact on their wellbeing leading to demoralisation, since morale is a key component of good performance.
How do we expect them (our citizens and our people) to be productive and effective while living in sub-standard conditions, which translates and contribute to low life expectancy? In conclusion although capitalism comes with key advantages it's important to analyze its impact on major social issues before the citizens of Africa are completely marginalised.
*Romanus Mungamba is a 3rd year student studying towards a Bachelor of Public Management at the University of Namibia.
Ever since colonisation came to pass, many scholars engaged and debated on African identity's core fundamentals, without any further ado I would like to explore the concept at hand in terms of African culture. Unlike the Westerners believe in individualistic lifestyles (cultures) as opposed to African Ubuntu (togetherness) or Africanism, the Western motives are geared towards profit maximization on all economic fronts by a few capitalists with common profit-making goals, for instance this system works well for developed countries, because before globalisation and the free market system adopted by the majority of the world, these country's had already developed to advanced levels, which contemporary Africa had yet to obtain.
But to highlight some of the mechanisms involved in nation-building such as economic and political cohesiveness, one cannot help, but wonder if this is not exactly same criteria's used by the west, partly if not wholly, which the Ubuntu concept entails, and if so, there should be a conspiracy theory behind the western culture of individualism's revelations to the developing world, because this means that before that they had to work in unity to build their states for the wellbeing of everyone in those countries – the results of that are the good and healthy living standards their residents currently enjoy. Therefore the question is why our African capitalist brothers and sisters are enslaved to this system? Or is wealth and stock accumulation all that drives them? The bad news is that even when they focus on wealth accumulation, their products and services targets (consumers) will soon be unable to afford their expensive products. A comparative analysis can be placed on Angola's economic downfall that is closing many enterprises and estate mogul businesses. All this points to the failure of an individualistic system in Africa where all states should focus on, is state development on both the economic and political front and to this end, it is very important to minimize the impact of an individualistic system in favor of Ubuntu (or togetherness) paying more attention to the wellbeing of all Africans (white or black and poor or rich) by providing basic services and products at a reasonable prices that are affordable to everyone in order to retain a robust number of consumers for foreseeable future. Simply because we don't have the capacity and right measures to operate capitalistically, we need to cultivate the importance of the wellbeing of the entire society and promote better living standards that contribute to an increase in the productiveness and effectiveness of African countries labour forces, which would ensure the building of harmonious African states.
Although much critique will be directed at this text, pointing out that the Western states development owes us, because of slavery, etc. In other parts of the world countries protect themselves and we need some level of cohesiveness in the society for such initiatives to be carried out constructively without causing tension and fear between the citizens of those overlooked, because it's important for members of society to feel a sense of inclusiveness and acknowledgement.
What I am getting to/at is that although capitalism and the free market system ensures value for goods and services, only few individuals benefit in short- to medium-term, but if you look at other statistical aspects in society such as on human development, you will find that future objectives are guaranteed to fail in this instance.
If for example the current youth or labour's active population cannot afford basic human needs such as shelter, food and proper clothing, to what extent does it have a psychological impact on their wellbeing leading to demoralisation, since morale is a key component of good performance.
How do we expect them (our citizens and our people) to be productive and effective while living in sub-standard conditions, which translates and contribute to low life expectancy? In conclusion although capitalism comes with key advantages it's important to analyze its impact on major social issues before the citizens of Africa are completely marginalised.
*Romanus Mungamba is a 3rd year student studying towards a Bachelor of Public Management at the University of Namibia.
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