Africa’s exploitative history of ‘aid’ and the struggle to establish a new global system rooted in dignity http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/74098

After the Lagos Plan of Action, Elliot Berg, one of the Principal functionaries of the World Bank authored the famous report on Accelerated Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Agenda for Action. In the period after apartheid and in the face of the devastation unleashed by structural adjustment, Africans came together to form the African Union. International capital has responded by creating a military command, the US Africa Command to divert African energies from economic integration and structural transformation.This new military command has been justified on the grounds of fighting terrorism, safeguarding African resources, protect civilians and provide security for Africans. 

From time to time the less sophisticated will expose the real objective of the US Africa Command in relationship to the strategic importance of African petroleum resources and the long term plans to challenge Chinese influence in Africa. Behind and beside this remilitarization of Africa are the conservative Christian fundamentalists who want to embark on a new Crusade against Islam. I am gratified that this conference on Exploitation and Resistance is taking place in a space where there are Christians who are not party to this fundamentalism and conservatism.