Let Africa Be Africa

Recently, there was a report on National Public Radio about how China is coming into Africa and making deals in various nations. The story focused on Chinese business ventures in Zambia and Tanzania, but widens it’s scope to the entire continent which will be come a market of 3 billion by the end of the century.  A question was asked where the United States was when it came to investing in Africa.  Here’s how the interviewee Howard French answered:

One of the things I came across is the existence of American funding through the Millennium Challenge Account. These are projects whose financing is guaranteed by the American government. Very large-scale projects – $200-million projects to build a new airport, or some road system or something like that. And I was stunned to discover American companies simply didn’t bid for these projects. And so in a city like Bamako, Mali, I was stunned to emerge from the old airport and see right next-door, with this American funding, the Millennium Challenge Account, a Chinese company was constructing a new airport.

You know, the American media, by and large, doesn’t cover Africa in terms of a place of economic activity. We think of Africa, typically, as a place of disaster and conflict and humanitarian interests. And so our own public is not conditioned to think, as the Chinese have come to think, of Africa as this place of huge demographic expansion where much of the growth of the future may occur. We’re sort of stuck in a old, outmoded view of Africa, and if you don’t have a vision of opportunity, you’re not likely to pursue these sorts of things.

In short, we Americans see Africa as a basket case, a place that needs aid, not investment.

For a few years now, we’ve been hearing stories about how American evangelicals are spreading their homophobic policies to African nations like Uganda.  I don’t doubt that there aren’t some church people here that are stirring up the pot on the African continent.  But what has bothered me greatly is that the media and others spin this story that presents Africa as a poor defenseless waif being manipulated by the evil evangelical.  In essence, in the same way that the American media and business community write Africa off, Africa is not viewed in some parts of the America as a moral actor that can do good or bad things.

I also have some related reasons for being bothered by this.  In the same way that gay activists here in America are focusing on white evangelicals exporting their gay-bashing to Africa, some gay activists have said that African Americans have been influenced by white evangelicals to hate gay people- as if African Americans are incapable of homophobia lest some white person tell them so.  A lot of the homophobia I faced as a kid was not because whitey wanted to keep me down.  It was because there is homophobia present in the African America community.

African nations have had a problem with gays long before evangelicals arrived.  Luckily things are slowly changing or will change in the future.  No, you can’t hold evangelicals blameless, but we should also condemn African leaders who support restrictive policies.  These are not puppets, but leaders trying to keep in power at the expense of LGBT populations in Africa.

So, let’s let Africa be Africa.  And instead of sending aid, let’s send investors and open up markets.  Because the more African economies are open to the world, the faster attitudes on homosexuality will change for the better.

But we need to let Africa be Africa.