Economic Inequity And Injustice In Africa
An unfortunate trend has arisen in Africa that involves the enrichment of select groups of people, often at the expense of others. In particular, various parts of Africa could now be accurately characterized by “the fragmentation of public authority and emergence of multiple forms of private indirect government”. The emergence of private indirect government and its functioning poses a major problem for those who seek economic fairness and justice, and this is especially true as technological landscapes shift.
In post-colonial Africa, power structures have not always shifted in beneficial ways. Whereas colonial oppressors used to use their tremendous comparative power and privilege to exploit those whose land they occupied, private indirect governments are following disturbingly similar patterns. However, they do so at times in different ways. Private indirect government involves “forms of integration into the international system and the concomitant modes of economic exploitation”. In an increasingly globalized world, economic opportunities are certainly abound. They often involve connecting with foreign governments and companies to forge business relationships. Governments in Africa have often forged these relationships, but not necessarily as representatives of their people — or with the people’s interests at heart. Key questions that should be asked with respect to governments are as follows: “Who is to be protected, by whom, against what and whom, and at what price? Who is the equal of whom? ”.
In an egalitarian or just society, governments would represent the will of their people and look out for their interests at all costs. But with tremendous opportunities to profit, it is not clear that African governments are committed to these principles — and may in fact seek the opposite. In this vein, opportunities have emerged for select groups to profit at the expense of others. Specifically, economic relationships (i. e. international economic partnerships) are being formed that benefit governments and paternalistic structures. In this way, governments are becoming privatized, so to speak. Even worse, they have often done so at the expense of their people — involving gross degrees of exploitation. For example, when it comes to the sale of natural resources, a private indirect government may profit while its people are tasked with laboring in unsafe conditions for meager or unlivable wages.
As technology changes the business landscape, this may have negative impacts with respect to private indirect governments in Africa. In particular, it can solidify economic modes. Those who are in a position to use technology to their advantage may continue to do so, gaining with respect to power and prosperity, while others are left further in the dark — and thus less likely to capitalize on a technologies that are increasingly necessary to understand and utilize. Ultimately, this speaks to the great levels of potentially exasperating and compounding economic inequity and injustice that can arise through private indirect governments, as well as the need to address this problem before it becomes even more entrenched in African society.
