By: Ludorf Iyambo
Sometimes, I find myself deeply emotional about the state of Africa and its citizens. It feels like a curse to be truly awake, to understand how the world operates.
Once you gain that awareness, you start to see that things are not as they appear, and the people you care about are neither respected by others nor, often, by themselves.
Africa is no longer a continent for Africans. It has become a farm, a mine, and a factory for the world’s wealthiest nations – the USA, Canada, and top European economies such as the UK, Germany, and France.
These countries extract the continent’s resources, reaping the benefits of Africa’s riches while Africans themselves remain largely impoverished.
Wherever on the continent people begin to awaken to the true nature of this exploitation, civil war often follows.
Leaders who champion economic independence are frequently assassinated or replaced with those who continue to serve foreign interests.
The very political parties that once fought for liberation have now become caretakers, ensuring that foreign corporations can continue to extract Africa’s mineral wealth, agricultural products, and manufacturing output.
In exchange, these foreign powers protect Africa’s leaders, offering them comfortable lives and ensuring their loyalty.
A few individuals, often business elites, benefit as well. Yet when we examine Africa’s billionaires, it’s clear that many of them are not working in the best interest of the continent.
The masses, meanwhile, remain the labour force – the workhorses who ensure that wealth is extracted and exported. Their reward? A two-bedroom flat, perhaps a nice car.
But they remain slaves to a system, chained not by iron but by debt, locked into 20-year mortgages and financial commitments that enrich an economy that gives little back to them.
Africans eat cabbage but cannot grow their own food. They cannot build their own houses, nor can they solve their own problems.
The majority attend poor schools that teach them nothing practical – not how to defend their families, manufacture tools, or cultivate the land.
The education system fails to empower them with the skills they need to uplift themselves.
Worse still, many Africans are unaware of global politics. Countries like the U.S. pump media propaganda into Africa, urging us to ally with them, while they maintain over 600 military bases worldwide.
But can these nations truly care about Africa? What has Russia or America done for the poor Namibian child living in a shack?
Their agenda is not to uplift the African people. Their goal is to ensure that Africa remains a compliant source of resources for their own prosperity.
This situation brings deep sadness, particularly for the poor black masses.
Too often, they fail to take accountability for their own lives.
When they are not blaming apartheid, they blame their fellow Africans, as seen in the xenophobic violence in South Africa.
In the end, few ask themselves the hard questions: Why am I poor? Why am I struggling? Why am I oppressed?
Is it because I spend my hard-earned money at foreign-owned businesses? Is it because I refuse to work with my family or fellow Africans to build our own enterprises?
We have grown more comfortable working for the white man or the Indian businessman, rather than for each other. We refuse to buy from other black people, preferring to perpetuate the very system that keeps us down.
NB: Rudorf Iyambo is a journalist, radio anchor and content creator. The views expressed herein are his own.
Contact him at the followiludorfthigiipo97@gmail.com
