The core of Sankara's position (that debt forgiveness is the logical solution to the African debt situation as of 1986) predates Marxism. All revolutionary movements in the ancient world had a dual programme: to cancel debts, and redistribute land.
An understanding of debt isn't very well served by a conflation of healthy and toxic debt. When debt becomes toxic - and thus unpayable - sound economics dictates that debt forgiveness is the recourse (this holds for nations, corporations, and individuals). Sankara quite clearly understood this, hence his prescription. The historical context of Sankara's submission is that of toxic African debt: by 1986, continental African debt stood at more than USD 200 billion and with interest arrears due of about USD 5 billion. By 1986, the debt crisis which had started towards the end of 1982 had fully hit; Nigeria, for instance, then accounted for about 20% of all sub- Saharan obligations. Between 1982 through 1986, Africa's debt had ballooned, and that in the absence of significant new borrowing; Sankara appeared to have been competently briefed.
The 'anarchist' position on debt is a curious one, especially considering the statement that "if one does not intend to pay his debts, one should not take them"; this feeds – directly – into a poor understanding of the concept of debt. First-off: the statement is essentially moralistic: it is neither self-evident nor economically defensible. Standard economic theory dictates that the lender accepts a certain degree of risk; further: high anticipated returns implies the increased likelihood of default. This may be vexing, but no: [sound] economics does not dictate that debts must always be paid. In fact, sound economics quite frequently prescribes that when the debt of nations and individuals assume the proportions faced by Africa in 1986, pursuing non-payment (i.e. debt forgiveness) is the singular reasonable course towards a recovery. Contemporary history offers insightful examples: both for debtors and creditors.
Leke Olalemi
.
I have criticised Thomas Sankara's ideas about purposeful defaulting of the debt African nations owed to others as faulty and corporate African irresponsibility elsewhere. What still amazes me is the number of people who think that those are good ideas. I guess that tells us the kind of thinking that keep the African continent backward.1. Outer Locus of Control- Over and over Thomas fail to appreciate the role the African leaders and nations played in their indebtedness and underdevelopment. It is always about what others did. This thinking is pervasive not only among the masses but, sadly, even among the scholars. It actually forms one of the major premises of the Africanists' movement. Psychiatrists have a word for this perpetual disconnection with reality and denial of responsibility: Schizophrenia. It is a disease.2. Poor understanding of the idea of debt. In financial studies we learn that debt is good for the economy. Too much equity is not an indicator of wealth but under-investment. investment capital must be leveraged. It is interesting to note that the wealthier the people are, the more indebted they are. Of course, there is a point where too much debt becomes toxic to a business or economy. Sankara appeared to have no understanding of all of this.3. Propensity for anarchy. As a Marxist revolutionary and a man who came to power through a coup d'etat one can understand why Sankara would resort to purposeful debt defaulting as a way to resolve debt issues, but what would the world become when this becomes the order of the day. To be respected in a community of nations, nations and its leaders must build a reputation that they are trustworthy. Yes, sometimes circumstances may force an individual, or a nation, to default on their debts, but, to sound individuals, that is a very troubling situation. Unfortunately, Sankara thought that Africans could simply do this out of a whim: let's form a club with a motto 'we will not pay our debts'. So, what is to stop the debt collectors to simply eliminate you because they can? That callous behaviour must not be entertained. If one does not intend to pay his debts, one should not take them.Again, may Thomas Sankara rest in peace with his faulty ideas of corporate African irresponsibility.Charles.--On Thu, Jul 23, 2015 at 2:40 PM, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:debt was the subject of Abderrahmane SIssako's great film Bamako
ken
On 7/22/15 1:29 PM, kwame zulu shabazz wrote:
--These experiences are all too familiar in Africa where sovereignty has often been ground away in the cycle of loans, debt and structural adjustment. As Thomas Sankara, president of Burkina Faso for four years in the 1980s, famously argued:
Debt is neo-colonialism, in which colonisers transformed themselves into "technical assistance". We should say "technical assassins".
In a 1986 speech at the Organisation for African Unity in Addis Ababa, Sankara asked his fellow African leaders to challenge the use of debt to enable neo-colonialism saying:
Sankara's advice was not heeded and throughout the 1980s indebted African countries had to surrender their autonomy to Structural Adjustment Programmes.The Paris Club is there; let's create the Addis Ababa Club for cancelling our foreign debt. Our Club should say: our debt will not be paid.
Read more here.
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-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu--
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