Small is beautiful? Big Brother will swallow you

Prodigal Son · 2010-04-11T17:08:57+00:00

By CHARLES ONYANGO-OBBO Over the Easter break I was catching up on newspaper clippings I have been saving, but hadnt got round to digesting. I found an interesting one from the Independent of London late last year, in which Sudanese-born billionaire Mo Ibrahim (he of the $5m African Good Governance Prize) said that most African countries were tiny things that were not viable. Something is drastically wrong Who are to think we can have 53 tiny little countries and be ready to compete with China, India, Europe, the Americans? It is a fallacy, Mo told a good governance conference in Tanzania. Mos remarks though intended to push the case for economic integration rather than dissolution of tiny, little countries prompted the Independent to compile a list of some of the African countries that it thinks are not viable, and why. A few examples: Rwanda Darling of Western donors. Rwandas average income ranks below West African minnows. Strong leadership cant change the fact that small landlocked country in corrupt region cant thrive. Hype about becoming IT hub sounds good. Raw economic data does not. Benin Cotton and palm oil wont eradicate poverty. The Gambia Tiny nation is a basket case whose ruler is an embarrassment to his neighbours. Heavily reliant on peanuts, Gambia President Yahya Jammeh wants to rule a petro-state. Trouble is he cant find any crude oil. Size and natural resources are important, but they are not do-or-die factors for the viability of states. After all, Japan has no natural resources, nor does Singapore. Also, there are big resource-rich African states that sometimes look unviable, the DR Congo being the best example in our region. Africa desperately needs integrated markets if most of its countries are to survive. However, if economic integration and political co-operation fail, then we cannot rule out old-fashioned bullets and gunpowder shaping the future. What might that future be? In another 30-50 years, a nuclear-armed Egypt could move up the River Nile to secure its water access, and possibly force the other Nile Basin states to reorganise or even amalgamate into formidable states in order to push back against Cairos expansionism. Angola, with its massive army and mineral wealth, could dominate Central Africa source: the east african

Thread starter Prodigal Son
Start date Apr 11, 2010

Prodigal Son

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Small is beautiful? Big Brother will swallow you

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