Kehinde Andrews - Race and the global economy

Kehinde Andrews, Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University, discusses race and the global economy.

About Kehinde Andrews "I am Professor of Black Studies at Birmingham City University and the Chair of the Harambee Organisation of Black Unity.

My research focuses on understanding race and racism and, really importantly, on how the community is mobilised to combat the problems that we face."

Key Points

• The West is rich because the rest are poor. From slavery, through empire to economic colonialism, Western countries have always found ways to extract resources from the underdeveloped world. • Post-war institutions like the IMF and the World Bank represent what Malcolm X called “benevolent imperialism”. They enable the continuation of exploitation under the guise of development and investment. • The only way underdeveloped countries can develop is to take themselves out of the system that is oppressing them.

Exploiting Africa

The only way to understand what is happening now is to put it in its historical context. Africa is a perfect place to start. Walter Rodney wrote an excellent book called How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Today Africa, and particularly so-called Sub-Saharan Africa, is the poorest part of the world. Why? People often point to corruption or a lack of advanced technology. But again: why?

You need a historical understanding to answer these questions. Africa was first underdeveloped by slavery, which took out or murdered tens of millions of people. The lower estimate is 40 million; the higher estimate is 100 million. This draining of resources completely shattered Africa’s political economy, which was ahead of Europe’s political economy when Europeans arrived. Things weren’t much better after slavery because Africa was so depleted. This is why Europe could take over. Europe’s major powers carved up the continent among themselves, draining its resources.

After independence, the focus shifted to economic colonialism. From chocolate companies like Cadbury’s to tire companies in Congo, the major corporations operating in Africa are still foreign-owned, still draining out all of the resources. You can’t understand poverty in Africa without understanding the historical forces that created it.