NAM with weak economies is a glorified talk show

The membership of NAM consists of 26 countries from the Caribbean and Latin America, 2 from Europe, 39 from Asia and 53 from Africa. Like it is with most global organisations from the UN to the Commonwealth, the African continent is dominant by way of numbers. The balkanisation of the continent stemming from the 1884 Berlin Conference where colonial European powers scrambled and partitioned Africa according to whichever part of the continent they wished to lord it over, despite the realities on the ground,  accounts for the big numbers in the African contingent. These became the Independent states that we have today even when some of the borders divide people of the same ethnic group or nationality and bundle other nation states into uncomfortable united republics.

Under normal circumstances, there is strength in numbers and so on paper Africa has an advantage when it comes to voting. But in reality, African countries with their numbers, hardly have a meaningful voice and influence in these organisations.

From independence in the 60s Africa has not made significant progress in all spheres of human development and growth. African countries, despite having abundant and valuable natural resources, are some of the poorest in the world. Africa with almost 18% of the world’s population contributes about 4 percent of global GDP. Africa is an exporter of low value primary products and an importer of high value secondary products. This unequal exchange leaves us with a perennial deficit in more ways than one.

Most of the population, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, lives in severe poverty. They and many elsewhere in the continent live on less than a dollar a day with the persistent threat of hunger, starvation, disease and death hanging over them like the proverbial sword of Damocles.

The young population of the continent that exist in environments with almost no employment opportunities, annually joins the armies of the urban poor living from hand to mouth as they masquerade in disguised unemployment. The rest either rely on crime or take the risk of rickety boats on the oceans in search for opportunities overseas. “No one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark,” wrote Warsan Shire in the poem ‘Home’. That is how most Africans view Africa.

There is almost no guaranteed solution in sight in the near future, of averting this trend for the only instant viable solution in sight is the poisoned chalice of borrowing. The lenders as Prof David Rubadiri once said “are not the legendary mother goose that fends for its young ones, they are in lending as a business”.  Yet we have desperately sunk to the level of borrowing at high interest rates for even basic things like salaries and wages of our own workforce.  In countries like Uganda almost an equivalent of a third of the national budget goes to debt servicing.

He who pays the piper calls the tune. NAM is purportedly to keep all its members neutral and immune from superpower influence. But the ones we are running away from are the ones who literally feed and clothe us. That is why from time to time they set conditions and levy sanctions if we do not do as they desire. Uganda is currently grappling with such sanctions for its passing of the Anti-Homosexuality legislation which the US and the West describe as an abuse of human rights.

If the majority of NAM members are in this tight spot that requires them to always be cognizant of the whims and desires of those that pay their dues then NAM risks descending into a mere talk shop where high sounding platitudes are made. It will have little significance on the ground in as far as fulfilling its intentions of independence and self-determination of its members -away from undue influence of global powers. The solution for NAM in general and Africa in particular is to focus on economics. There is an urgent need to get into serious production for what we consume and add value to what we export as a way of creating employment, widening the tax base and increasing the revenue to GDP levels. That may help in alleviating the debt crisis. Investment in production and skilling the young population for the challenges and opportunities of the work space of the Internet and Communication Technology age is non-negotiable.

Secondly we need to lay emphasis on protection of the environment not only because most of the NAM members are agrarian societies, but because the abuse of the environment has adverse effects on climate globally. The poorer countries of which NAM has many, suffer more than the richer ones in the global North for disaster management is a serious cost we can barely afford.

Climate action is key with emphasis on harnessing renewable energy as opposed to reliance on biomass energy.

Of course there has to be a total rethink about governance and utilization of national resources. 

Corruption, lavish spending, emphasis on security for the perpetuation of individuals to “rule until they die,” take up significant resources and opportunities that would strengthen state structures. Weak states eventually fail to live up to the promise of existing as viable entities. A state that is not viable is for all intents and purposes a failed state. Failed states are subordinate to the wishes of those who prop them up -by saddling them with debt.

Ironically, countries that have taken on this responsibility are the very ones NAM was created to shield its members against. Without laying emphasis on sustainable economic progress through increased production for self-reliance, NAM may hold colourful meetings with high sounding themes like “Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence,” but in reality, have its members in the wings of the global powers.  Poverty and indebtedness has costs, one of which is towing the line of the lender.

Twitter: @nsengoba