Emma Emeozor, [email protected]
Theresa May became the second British prime minister to fall victim of the Brexit wildfire after David Cameron. She formally resigned last week after Boris Johnson was elected in a keenly contested election. Johnson was foreign secretary in May’s cabinet. He resigned in protest to May’s Brexit approach. The controversial politician is confident of winning the Brexit battle and has pledged to withdraw Britain from the European Union October 31, whether there is a deal or not. He has also pledged to unite the country which has split over Brexit.
Though African leaders welcome the emergence of Johnson as prime minister and have expressed their readiness to work with his administration, the concern of the continent is majorly the fate of the new partnership canvassed by May during her visit to Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya in 2018. Though Johnson visited some African countries during his brief tenure as foreign secretary, it cannot be concluded easily that he has truly changed his negative perception of the continent. Also it cannot be said that as prime minister, he would adopt the policy of continuity in change and implement an agenda that will favour Africa.
Until becoming foreign secretary, Johnson had a penchant for deriding Africa. He has on various occasions exhibited his anti-Africa inclination such that even after spending three months in office as foreign secretary, he referred to the continent as a country. ‘‘For all its difficulties, life expectancy in Africa has risen astonishingly as that country has entered the global economic system. ‘In 2000, the average Ethiopian (16 years ago) the average Ethiopian lived to only 47, it’s now 64 and climbing,’‘ he said.
A colonial apologist, some of his wisecracks portray him as nothing but a racist. He once said the “the problem (in Africa) is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more. He reportedly said that colonialism ended slavery and brought cash crops, whereas air efforts bring political correctness.
In the London Sun of February 2002, Johnson wrote: ‘‘The best fate for Africa would be if the old colonial powers, or their citizens, scrambled once again in her direction; on the understanding that this time they will not be asked to feel guilty.’‘
Again, in 2016, he wrote in the London Sun that Barack Obama (while in office as president of the United States) had an “ancestral dislike of the British Empire” because he is “part-Kenyan”.
Johnson’s reckless remarks on the Libyan city of Sirte made major news in 2017. He said: “They’ve got a brilliant vision to turn Sirte, with the help of the municipality of Sirte, to turn it into the next Dubai. The only thing they’ve got to do is clear the dead bodies away and then we will be there.” According to him, Sirte could be turned into the next Dubai by British investors if they could clear the bodies.
“There’s been a complete breakdown of government authority . . . Libya is not in a state of civil war. . . it would be more accurate to describe it as in a state of anarchy. There is no government authority who runs the country and there are large parts of it where there is no government at all.” He said in 2018 during an interview with BBC.
The catalogue of Johnson’s diatribe on Africa reminds one of Frantz Fanon’s book ‘The Wretched of the Earth,’ written in 1961. Johnson was born on June 19, 1964. It is not clear if he has had the opportunity to read the writings of authors like Fanon, to truly understand the evil of colonialism and how Africa developed Britain and Europe.
But for Africa, he may not have grown to be proud of Britain and its wealth. What he has refused to accept is that colonialism was a cankerworm that drained the blood of Africa to enrich the lives of Britons and other Europeans. Johnson had never been a good student of history, even as a journalist.
It is disheartening that even after climbing the political ladder to become a leader considered qualified to become a secretary for foreign affairs, Johnson was yet to retrace his missteps and become the Biblical Saul who became Paul after witnessing receiving spiritual enlightenment. It was after this experience that Paul (Saul) began to appreciate what the oppressed community was passing through in the hands of their oppressors, and in the case of Africa, in the hands colonialists, neo-colonialist, imperialists and racists of our time.
As he settles down to work, it is hoped that the prime minister will tear his toga of radicalism and white supremacy and use his good offices to promote good relations between Britain and Africa. Importantly, he should work assiduously to deepen the bilateral and multilateral relations between African countries and London. The office of prime minister provides a litmus test for the international community and Africa in particular to determine if Johnson is not Britain’s Trump, a description he has rejected. He must immediately come up with his blueprint for Africa.
Already, May has cleared the road for him to court the friendship of Africa. Indeed, May’s visit and the overwhelming reception she received, undoubtedly, poses a challenge to Johnson because he would have to beat the mark(s) the ex-prime minster made. He must set an African template that will promote equal partnership and not the usual underdog role Europe likes to foist on Africa.
Brexit poses enormous challenges and investment and trade are crucial to overcoming those challenges. Africa is advancing and beginning to separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words, Africa is beginning to identify those who have her at heart and those who are out to milk her dry as it was in the colonial era.
May understood the feelings of Africans and she came with kind words to seek new opportunity for investment and trade ahead of Brexit. It is obvious that Britain will be hard hit economically after Brexit. Already, the economy is in bad shape and needs a revamp.
Until the fever of Brexit gripped Britain, London had over the years turned its back on Africa in the area of investment and trade, forcing many African countries, particularly its former colonies to look elsewhere. Even then, Africa countries remain ever willing to do business with Britain. This was evident in the responses May received from Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.
It is without argument that Africa is the right destination for Britain in time of economic crisis. Africa has been a trusted and loyal friend of Britain. Of the 54 members of the Commonwealth, 19 are from Africa and they have always aligned with London in critical moment(s).
Despite the socio-economic rape of the continent by Europe and America, the continent remains endowed with abundant human and natural resources. It has the population and the market that can support Britain after Brexit. For centuries to come, Africa will remain the bride of the international community. Already, a new scramble for the continent had begun with all the world powers jostling to have an economic grip.
Leaders of Asian countries and European countries including America and Russia are crisscrossing the continent daily, offering African countries juicy incentives that would enable their businesses penetrate the local markets and business catchment area(s) of interest. Ironically, analysts say Britain is at the bottom of the rung.
For example, Larry Madowa, BBC Africa business editor in a report said “in 2015, total trade (imports and exports combined) between Africa and the UK amounted to $36 billion (£28 billion), but that figure for the EU as a whole was $305 billion. In the same year, trade between China and Africa totaled $188 billion and between the US and Africa is amounted to $53 billion.” What these figures reveal is that Britain has a herculean task to penetrate Africa markets and businesses.
Johnson should go through the books and records and study May’s agenda for Africa with a view to overhauling it if that would enhance his outing in the continent. May assured her hosts of promoting “a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Ahead of the visit, she had explained that she was coming to Africa to discuss how Britain can “deepen and strengthen its global partnership.” Pointing out that this will be done “alongside Africa to help deliver important investments and jobs as well as continue to work together to maintain stability and security.”
It is instructive that May was accompanied by a delegation of 29 business leaders to “promote the breadth and depth of British expertise in technology, infrastructure and financial and professional services.”
Speaking in South Africa, May pledged “£4 billion in support for African economies, to create jobs for young people.” She also said there will be a “fundamental shift” in Britain’s policy regarding aid spending with a view to focusing “on long-term economic and security challenges rather than short-term poverty reduction.”
The former prime minister was bold to say she “wanted the UK to overtake the US to become the G7’s biggest investor in Africa by 2022.” Curiously, she did not brush aside existing economic links based on her country’s EU membership. Rather, she assured African leaders that those economic links will continue, citing the example of EU-wide partnership with the Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique after Brexit this year. At the time, May was still confident that she would win the Brexit battle.
As if she was not done, May also pledged an extra £4 billion in direct UK investment to be matched by the private sector. One of her strategy to promoting sustainable economic ties with Africa was to encourage the British private sector companies invest in the continent’s fast-growing countries (economies).
She noted that “true partnerships are not about one party doing unto another, but states, governments, businesses and individuals working together in a responsible way to achieve common goals.” There can be no better handing over note to Johnson than these words of May. Africans expect Johnson administration to work with African governments “in a responsible way to achieve common goals.”