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Tribute
to Gaddafi Panafricanism In Spite of Everything Else
By
Dr. Bienvenu-Magloire Quenum
Since March 21, 2011, 4 months running at the date of current delivery, Libya's
territory is submitted to daily heavy bombardments, carried out by NATO's war
planes, under the code name "Odyssey Dawn," to assist the rebels from Cyrenaica/Benghazi
region fulfill their quest for Democracy against the "dictatorship" rule
of Colonel Gaddafi.
For that purpose to assisting the rebels, NATO's war planes are destroying roads,
ports, army barracks, universities's compounds, oils fields's equipment,
and even physically targeting Colonel Gaddafi in a clear search for regime
change. As
here explained, the UN's Resolution 1973 had been cleverly
worded and coined by the sponsors - France, the United Kingdom
and the United States of America, to provide legal interpretation for a regime
change, beyond the strict No Fly Zone mandate.
However, "Odyssey Dawn" is lingering, not producing the quick result
expected by NATO, and Gaddafi is holding on to power. Several huge gatherings
of millions of supporters across Tripolitania/and
Fezzan regions, mainly in Tripoli,
the capital city on July 1, 2011, and in Sebba, in the deep south of Libya,
on July 9, 2011, show the
regime is still backed by the majority of Libya's
people, which means that the downfall may not occur as fast as expected by NATO's coalition - if Gaddafi manages to escape physical elimination.
Gaddafi's
economic achievements and wealth distribution policy cannot be denied
The
"dictator" still benefits from the support of Libyans because his economics achievement
in favor of the peoples cannot be denied by a sober observer. Judge by yourself.
First of all, education is free in Libya, from kinder gardens to university.
270,000 university's students pay a tiny annual fee of US$9 (yes nine!) to have
access to an university education system, that is endowed with huge libraries,
and research departments in all kinds of knowledge equipped to the existing highest
international standard.
Second, water and electricity are free for Libyan citizens. The regime have invested
billion to bring aquifer freshwater from southern
Libya's desert to the coastal regions where the populations are concentrated.
The Man Made
River is a worldwide acclaimed achievement that would stand as a
testimony to Gaddafi's huge contribution to the economic developing of Libya
It is worth noticing that the cost of the project (in excess of US$35billions)
had been exclusively financed by Libya's Central/Reserve Bank, without borrowing
a cent from abroad. That kept the cost of building at check - contrary to the
dogma that money should be borrowed from abroad to implement projects in emerging
countries in order to keep inflation down.
Should money being borrowed from the international
financing system, the cost of the project would have doubled due to interests
and capital repayment, increasing the debt load of Libya and depriving the country
from financial resources to invest in Education, Health and other economic development
areas.
 The
construction of the
Man Made River was a defiant act of political and financial independence
in face of the powers of the day. Let us see if NATO's bombings would target
the Man Made River's network! (Picture of the Man Made River's Grid troughout
Libyan territory is at the left of this paragraph.)
Petrol/gas cost US$75cents (yes seventy five cent!) per gallon for Libyan citizens
- before the attacks from NATO started, disrupting the distribution system.
Now, there are kilometers of files at gas stations!
Every Libyan bride is granted about US$90,000 dowry gift by the
government, and automatically is eligible for a loan for house purchasing or
construction in islamic loan's conditions, that is zero interest rate.
Health cost is free for Libyan citizens, care being provided in high
end equipped hospitals and clinics.
Above short listed social and economic achievements are
mentioned to show that Gaddafi, the "dictator" has not only implemented an independent
developing policy that permits the country to have a per capita GDP in the range
of US$95,000, but he also has put in place a wealth distribution system
for all Libyans to benefit from.
-
Gaddafi was planning to strengthen Africa's economic and financial independence.
As
brilliantly demonstrated
by Walter Rodney, Africa had been, and still
is economically exploited to remain a subsidiary client to the economic powers
of the day. Everything is done, through astutely implemented economic, political
and financial policies, to keep the continent as a consumer of imported expensive
goods, and remaining provider of cheap soft commodities and mineral raw materials.
Projects's financing are granted to African countries at conditions that
not only increase sovereign debt load, but also most of the times,
under strict procedural disbursement rules, that delay the implementation
of vital infrastructure, in telecommunications, roads's development, agriculture
and industries expansion.
Let us consider the example of global telecommunications, TV and satellite
broadcasting, to illustrate above statement.
In 1992, 45 African
countries incorporated Rascom, a company setup to supervise the construction
and launching of a satellite, to control costs of telecommunication and
TV broadcasting between the sponsoring nations.
Indeed, telecommunication's costs from one African country to another one
was then one of the most expensive in the world because telecommunication's
signals from one particular African country were first sent to the North
(European countries,) and then diverted to the targeted African
country.
The service for the transfer Africa-Europe-Africa was billed by European
service providers at costs far more expensive that the one existing for interconnections
between European countries. Europe was garnering about US$500million a year
for that service, through its network of satellite system.
Rascom project was to put an end to the drain of scarce and vital financial
resources from Africa, and use said resources for developing in African countries.
The cost of the project was estimated at US$400million. Just US$400millions
paid once and for all. No more US$500millions annual financial drain from
Africa to Europe.
The
International Monetary Fund -IMF, had been solicited to finance the project.
The usefulness of which was evident. Guess what? From 1992 up to year 2006,
the IMF dragged its feet, finding all kinds of excuses to delay the financing.
Make a quick calculation, in the meantime US$500millions a year, that is
US$7billions had been extracted from African countries coffers for the benefit
of European nations!
That is when Gaddafi steps in, disbursing a hefty US$300millions, African
Development Bank providing US$50millions, and the West African Development
Bank US$27millions. Finally, the first African satellite system was live
on December 27, 2007.
Other satellites had been launched since then, by Angola, Algeria, South
Africa, benefiting from low-cost technology transfer from China and Russia.
Another second African satellite had been launched in July 2010. Let us notice
that this new African satellite will lower the cost of inter-telecommunication
between African countries to just one tenth of what it was when European
monopoly was dominant.
Examples as above exposed, blocking the implementation of vital
infrastructure and the setup of profit making projects in African countries
are endless.
So you see, Gaddafi's gesture to providing 75% of the initial cost of the
first African telecommunication satellite, was a breakthrough that freed
the continent from financial blackmail.
Gaddafi was also planning to assist the continent reaching financial independence
through the setup of (1) An African Monetary Funds, with
an initial equity level of US$42billions - to be established in Yaounde,
Cameroon; (2) An African Investment Bank, with headquarters
in Syrte, Libya; and finally (3) The African Central/ Reserve Bank,
with headquarters in Abudja, Nigeria.
One sees that Gaddafi was ambitious for Africa. The establishment of above
listed institutions, on African soil, managed by African decision-makers
would obviously be a serious economic (and political) challenge
to the powers that are striving, since centuries, to keep Africa as a subservient
client to the North (Europe
and America) - as
described by Walter Rodney.
-
Gaddafi became the Danger Man for the powers of the day, adamant to remove
him from power
In
view of above exposed actions undertaken by Gaddafi to secure the financial
independence of Africa, one can easily understand why his is now targeted
for physical elimination.
Of course, he himself, Gaddafi had made political mistakes - internally and
on the international political stage. No need to discourse on that.
One
can state, however, that the biggest mistake he made was to suppress opposition
parties. Not to forget his bravado style of ruling. But the man is not mad
as his "histrionics" make believe. For sure, he is
a showman, but he is not mad.
He is in the contrary a very lucid ruler, who
has a good knowledge of the real power
structure in the world, as shown by the economics he performed in his home
country - protecting
its oil resources from sharks,
and the financial independence vision he is planning for the black continent.
It would be interesting to see the outcome of the showdown with former colonial
powers, France, Italy and UK, united under NATO's
flag for regime change in Libya. Would the coalition succeed in putting
the rebels into power?
If such
is the case, one would scrutinize the evolution of the Reserve/ Central
Bank's policy. Would the Libyan central bank remain independent from the
international financial system
as it is now under Gaddafi's leadership? What will be the destination of
the about 150 metric tons of gold stacked in Libya's central bank?
And also
one would be watching to see if social benefits granted to Libyan citizens
would remain unchallenged by the new rulers. Would they abide to IMF dicta
of curtailing social benefits, and tightening belts to pay back international
debts? And what about the oil policy? Would the profit sharing plan remain
at current level, that is 90% for the Libyan party?
 Whatever maybe the outcome of the showdown with NATO member states, Gaddafi
deserves a vibrant tribute from African nations, for his dedication to promoting
the financial independence of the black continent. He has shown the way to
follow to reaching sound economic development and real political independence
With the construction
of the Man
Made River,
he has shown to emerging countries's rulers how to use national financial
resources, that is National Central Banks's resources to finance national
projects at no "expensive" costs - not relying on external financing disbursed at drastic conditions.
That lead us to ask what money is finally about? A digital creation
on a computer screen, to be 'in
a normal world"
used for the benefit of the peoples.
About the author: Dr.
Bienvenu-Magloire Quenum is the principal/
managing director of Dr. Quenum & Associates, IBC. He is an experienced Investment & Business
Planner with 25 years consulting practice in African countries. He is the
editor in chief of Africabiz Online
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| Business
Opportunities MISCELLANEOUS
SERIES: - ECONOMICS OF A MINI-SCALE FACILITY TO
PRODUCING GLUCOSE FROM CASSAVA STARCH
There are two main classes of starch-based products: 1- Unmodified or native
starch. 2- Physical, chemical or biological Modified starches for
industrial purposes to producing sweeteners, including high fructose syrup, glucose (dextrin,
monosodium glutamate, pharmaceuticals;) iso-glucose (a
combined syrup of glucose and fructose). For
more on Cassava Starch click here
 One
of the by-product deriving from cassava/ cassava starch is glucose. In
brief, Glucose in free or combined form is not only the most common of the sugars
but is probably the most abundant organic compound in nature. Glucose is the
primary fuel for the brain and muscles, and because the brain is very sensitive
to shortages, there are a number of control mechanisms in the body which tend
to keep blood glucose level constant. Excess glucose is either converted by the
liver and muscle cells into glycogen, or turned into body fat.
The image at the left of this paragraph represents glucose tablets. Industrial
glucose - also called dextrose, was first manufactured in France during World
war II, to replace sucrose that
become a scarcity. Glucose syrup extracted from dried cassava pellets or starch,
is colorless. It is a raw material to producing vitamin C in the Reichstein process,
to make citric acid, gluconic acid, bio-ethanol, polylactic acid, sorbitol.
The string of above listed industrial products deriving from glucose, once again
shows why an efficient developing scheme should have a
starch industry component, to catering for a wide range of industrial consumers's
products.
Click
here to read more about the matter
Control Your Desktop
IS YOUR SMARTPHONE SECURED?
There are
billion of cell phones now in usage in emerging countries. Not to speak of smartphones
that are used by decision makers. How many of these are really secured?
Do the users aware that they are target of shark/scammers who can steal at will
anything stored in their cell phone/smartphones that is, bankcard code, bank
account access code, office safe's security code - not to forget all Big Brothers
of the world prying and stealing vital sovereign information at will.
For more on the matter visit this link
|
