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By Victor C. Ariole
Equality of humans ends at birth –same complexion same outlook. Humans grow into different societies and different hierarchical orders as genetic blueprint unfolds – endowment to withstand weathering and economic vagaries as received education permits; or by inheritance of material wealth and all it enables so as to dominate others. Hence, “we are equal” is mere illusion. (Anonymous)
usa is evidently the domineering power in the power chessboard of the United Nations, and it is by virtue of its balancing of “Sword and Equity” in both the second world war and thereafter –extending hands of fellowship to both winners and losers and strongly engaging in negotiations that established what is known today as the rule-based world order, which creates first, second and third worlds; somehow, associating others and assigning values to them.
First world being the group of G-7, even defeated Germany and Japan are part. (USA, United Kingdom, France, Canada, Germany, Japan and Italy). Somehow, they bring into the equation other countries and make it G-20 while inviting African Union alongside European Union as “guilt attenuation”; not necessarily as equal partners.
Basically, one could see a case of applied quadratic function as the head of the equation and the middle of the equation must collaborate to overwhelm the tail of the equation where most of the third world – or as they have learnt to attenuate it, emerging or marginal or developing countries – belong. The whole African countries, Latin America and parts of Asia are the tail end, with large populations.
Listening to Prof. Pat Utomi on Seun Okinbaloye’s programme on Channels TV, both very disturbed that Nigeria lags behind in asserting itself as the biggest Black country, it elicited another definition of economics by Utomi as a study of juggling and redirecting incentives, and one would also add disincentives, so as to apportion available and hanging fruits resources in appropriate manner towards making the majority of Nigerians feel the impact of governance as against just enhancing tax collection and appropriating it to feed the purses of politicians and state governors who go into living extravagant lifestyles seen in their purchases of property outside Nigeria as lamented by even the United States Consul General.
The keyword here is “juggling and redirecting incentives or even disincentives,” as President Donald Trump is currently doing, facing the whole world with tariff barriers without minding if such barriers could lead to isolating USA or not.
USA, with its cumulative material wealth seen all over Planet Earth, experiences love as well as hatred from others; and balancing incentives so as to remain the main head of what is known now as zero-sum game equation in the extant rule-based world order, while awaiting a better equation that could lead to win-win game, remains imperative. It is worrisome that Africa that is completely at the tail end of the equation is also targeted. A continent of over 30 million km2 with 1.4 billion humans and contributing only $3 trillion of world GDP of over $120 trillion.
Hence, time for Africa to learn to shift the equation, if not for a perfect win-win, at least to zero point five summations. (that is, 0.5). It requires a united Africa for it to happen.
Here, one is insisting on tariff that makes Africa’s natural resources and the capital outflow from Africa either an incentive item to push Africa’s GDP to match those in the middle-income earners’ countries of the world or to create new distribution values to the three segments of the quadratic function equation so as to reach some level of inequality – here towards quasi equality that translates to greater than zero or equals to 0.50 sum-up, instead of zero-sum game.
For example, Africa is known to be losing over $60 billion annually to illicit capital outflow. It is also known that most operating hedge fund portfolios in Africa are tilted toward quick profit-making and quick exit management, as over $200 billion is meant to be fetching quick revolving profit year in, year out, to the tune we all know that led to a $3 billion loan by Nigeria before 2000 cumulating to debt of $36 billion in 2011, which was repudiated after paying in bulk $18 billion. Quite uncapitalist approach!
Illicit funds deposited by African elites abroad are also what create weak economic performance of Africa’s resources. Paucity of dollar in Nigeria that escalated the value of dollar from mere N150 to current N1,500 shows also to some extent capital outflow. It is just reported that former President of DR Congo Joseph Kabila is the richest African, towering above $24 billion worth of Dangote and almost the same for the daughter of former Angolan President Jose Edwardo dos Santos, Isabel dos Santos. All the money involved are part of capital outflow servicing the economy of other nations outside Africa. So many African heads of state and their cohorts create great disincentive for the progress of African economy and they also help in exploitation of African natural resources without requisite values attached to such resources, as the determinant of values to African resources are the great powers united in G7 or even solely and/or covertly determined by USA.
So, when President Trump talks of tariff, he should be reminded that the worth of Google or other tech giants in USA is dependent on how raw materials like colbat, lithium, uranium, quartz, metals, rare earth, etc. are priced and used in technology stack as well as robotic engineering and space crafts. The pricing does not equate to their real values as it is mere capitalist economic pricing and not humanistic and nature pricing. They are not far from setting a price for oxygen and water without which there will be no life on earth.
President Trump is on incentivizing USA economy by collecting tariff tax to repudiate $36 trillion USA debt and it is a mere defence tactics. In football, scoring more goals is better. USA must adopt attacking tactics that help for more wealth creation world over. However, for USA to be in positive attacking mode, it is a function of optimizing, for win-win purposes not over exploiting, resources found in the space of countries rated as Third World, Emerging economy or even marginal economic worth; and all of Africa is marginalised. Attempt at making them more productive, by attacking their weaknesses for production purposes to strengthen AGOA, could have helped USA feel better in its greatness and remain the unbeatable champion.
• Ariole, Ph.D, professor of French and Francophone Studies, University of Lagos
