Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: lemonde article

There was no escape from 

the IMF in that era and

Rawlings was caught.

Civilian  governments fared no

better. In fact it was China, 

a new kid on the block then, 

that pulled some African 

countries from the jaws of the

usurious IMF,  with offers of 

zero or low rates. To properly 

analyze China- Africa policy

one has to look at the big

picture, and I am not giving

China an unconditional 

pass, either. Policies have 

modified, and the good,

bad and the ugly have set

in. But in the early days,

China was a life saver from

the draconian twins, the

IMF and the World Bank.

This is now a slightly different

era of the Russian bear,

the Chinese dragon, and

the American eagle- or

is it a fox? Best of luck to

the three daredevils,

Guinea, Burkina Faso

and Mali.  

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

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From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2022 2:06 PM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: lemonde article

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

 Ladies First :

 Gloria & Kenneth in Excelcis,

Hopefully, this article  by the First Man should interest you two too:

https://adamgrant.bulletin.com/how-to-be-less-wrong/

Otherwise , the sequnece is painfully familiar and  exactly as Dr. Sikuru Emiola characterised it  -

 in the case of Ghana in the first years of Jerry Rawlings' tenure, the IMF had him simultaneously

by the jugular and by the balls with their structural adjustment program which demanded that he

first of all devalue the  cedi, and secondly, if I remember correctly, that he take away subsidies to 

education and agriculture at which point he had no choice but to reluctantly nod in compliance 

failing which it's anybody's guess what would have happened next. A few months after biting 

the bullet, students at Legon had to start preparing their own meals  - gone were the good old

 days at Mensah Sarbah Hall ( in our case, me & Better Half it used to be  lunch at the Workers 

Canteen where two plates loaded with delicious  Kenkey and Contumley cost a mere cedi)...

the end of subsidies to education resulted in overcrowding - a room meant for two people was 

eventually being shared by four or more...

On Sunday, 30 January 2022 at 15:08:45 UTC+1 Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:

Correction 

Just spotted a crazy  verb.

The top sentence should read:

"Your reading/translation does not 

correlate with mine ……."

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

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From: 'Emeagwali, Gloria (History)' via USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 30, 2022 8:09 AM
To: Harrow, Kenneth <har...@msu.edu>; USAAfric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: lemonde article

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

"the arguments turn on the people's 

disappointment--not with western or 

french interventions per se 

………"

Ken, your reading and translation does not

 correlate with mine.

The title of the article summarizes

 the content accurately, namely,

that the students," betrayed "by the political 

elite, put their trust in the military junta.

That is the literal translation.

No embellishments, ifs and buts as

you imply. 

My favorite economist  Joan Robinson once

quipped that:

"The purpose of studying

 economics is not to acquire a set 

of ready-made answers to economic

 questions, but to learn how to 

avoid being deceived by 

economists."

We can say the same thing about

French, no doubt.

Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History/African Studies, CCSU
africahistory.net; vimeo.com/ gloriaemeagwali
Recipient of the 2014 Distinguished Research
Excellence Award, Univ. of Texas at Austin;
2019 Distinguished Africanist Award
New York African Studies Association

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From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Harrow, Kenneth <har...@msu.edu>
Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2022 4:54 PM
To: USAAfric...@googlegroups.com <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - lemonde article

 

Please be cautious: **External Email**

https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2022/01/28/au-burkina-faso-les-etudiants-trahis-par-les-elites-politiques-placent-leurs-espoirs-dans-la-junte_6111439_3212.html

Au Burkina Faso, les étudiants, « trahis » par les élites politiques, placent leurs espoirs dans la junte Au Burkina Faso, les étudiants, « trahis » par les élites politiques, placent leurs espoirs dans la junte Par Sophie Douce (Ouagadougou, correspondance). Publié hier à 19h00, mis à jour à ... www.lemonde.fr

i'm afraid many won't see this, or all of it. it is very interesting re our recent discussion. moses's point about african people wanting to find their own way without subservience to received western democracies is echoed somewhat here in students' statements. however, it is not in the mode of let's try new military dictatorships or autocracies, but new ways to frame our own democracy.

the arguments turn on the people's disappointment--not with western or french interventions per se, but with their failures to end the fighting and dangers up north that have destroyed the lives of vast numbers of burkinabe people. the govt failed to deliver security. if this new army group can do it, all the better. that's the bottom line.

if you all want me to copy and paste this piece, i can do so. but it is in french, so the value lies in what french readers might get from it.

ken

kenneth harrow

professor emeritus

dept of english

michigan state university

517 803-8839

har...@msu.edu

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