Most part of Africa will be impacted by the changes implemented in U.S.A by President Donald Trump.
U.S president announced the cut of fund and medical aid for South African and they are rumors that Lesotho might be next African country to be on the line.
Research Professor at the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology Stan Chu Ilo announced that now it’s time for Africa to support each other.
Stan Chu Ilo said “In the changing world order, Africa must wean itself from the disease of aid dependency.”
It said it was eliminating more than 90 percent of USAID – the U.S. Agency for International Development’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in overall U.S. assistance around the world.
This situation already put the lives of millions of people in danger, particularly in Africa where health experts and aid organizations have warned that United States funding cuts to HIV/AIDS programs could lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths.
Ilo highlighted that even though Africa might suffer now but in the next 10 years some other European countries will do the same.
He said “other European nations may soon follow suit, redirecting aid money to bolster their military spending or cater to the nationalist whims of ascendant right-wing parties.
“In South Africa alone, US funding halts could lead to 500,000 deaths in the next ten years.”
In the face of this changing dynamic, the priest has proposed ways by which Africa can mitigate the impacts.
Ilo said “We in Africa must confront the harsh truth that the global geopolitical landscape is shifting rapidly, and we must change with it.”
Ilo encouraged the leaders of African countries to do something while they seek permanent solutions towards the crisis of lack of medical.
One way of doing this, he suggested, is by tackling the cankerworm of corruption that deprives the continent of over $128 billion per year.
Ilo said “First, according to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Africa loses $128 billion a year to corruption, equivalent to 50 percent of its tax revenues and 25 percent of its GDP.
“Africa would need less aid if it effectively tackled corruption, wasteful spending, and mismanagement of funds.
“robust pan-African anti-corruption institutions, including a credible peer-review mechanism and a continental anti-corruption court.”
He argued curbing illicit financial flows which drain foreign exchange reserves, affect asset prices, distort competition, and undermine the capacity of countries to maintain economic and financial stability is another way by which the continent can extricate itself from the blows of the Trump aid cuts.
Ilo said “Africa loses $50 billion in illicit financial flows, Some argue that the amount that Africa loses through illicit financial outflow is more than the amount received through aid.
“While pressuring the global community to implement international tax conventions, Africa needs to coordinate a unified continental response to tackle illicit financial flows and other commercial crimes.”
Crux revealed that: United Nations, curbing IFFs can reduce the region’s financing gap by 33 percent, and so release funds that can help the continent meet commitments made under various regional and international frameworks, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063.
According to Crux: Ilo suggested that the only way of dealing with the aid cuts is a restructuring of the global financial and trade architecture which he says will allow more room for “homegrown financial systems, including African currency and efficient regional banks.”
He said “Intra-continental trade, which is key to ending aid dependency, will not achieve its optimal performance if the global financial architecture and global value chains are not transformed.”
He explained further that Africa will not stop depending on foreign aid if it fails to achieve both food and energy sovereignty. He also urged Africa to prioritize technology-focused education.
Ilo said “Reducing aid in the form of technological transfers will require Africa to prioritize technology-focused education from the elementary to tertiary levels.
“The priority should be to lay the foundation for homegrown technological innovation in agriculture, mining, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing.”
Ilo explained further that African must stop thinking that without European countries we won’t strive forward and do better.
He said “Africa must cultivate a self-reliant mindset and reject the victim mentality. There should be a comprehensive reform in the life skills learning, with a focus on building collective self-confidence and liberating African minds from this dependency mindset.”
He called for “the emergence of a new generation of African leaders with ethics, vision, and the ability to establish capable states.”
Ilo said “However, to build such visionary and ethical leadership, we need a serious conversation of what it means to a capable state in an African context, and whether the current arrangement of state power, including current configuration of democracy, is conducive to nurturing a capable state on an African soil. And such a conversation should begin now, and not in the future.”
BY LUCKY SEANEGO
