Consolidation is the only antidote to this chronic African under-development

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) Do you know that China, the European Union and the US account for about half of world trade between them? Some 50% of all goods bought and sold worldwide takes place between them despite these three trading blocks accounting for just 30% of the population

(2) This lopsided economic model is simply not sustainable. In 2017, China’s gross domestic product (GDP) totalled $23.1trn, that of the EU $19.9trn, while that of the US was $19.4trn

(3) Now, when the world's total economic output adds up to $127trn but these three account for half of it with a combined GDP of $62.4trn, you have to ask what is your role on earth. Are my African people not embarrassed to just be the providers of raw materials for the rest of humanity to feed off?

(4) Some other nations are putting up a good fight and pulling their weight too as India has a GDP of $9.5trn and Japan has a GDP of $5.4trn. Oya, let me put you Africans to shame now. Africa’s total GDP is only $2.19trn. Even our so-called giant Nigeria only has a GDP of $380bn

(5) Take it or leave it but too many Africans nations are simply not sustainable or viable. Their economies are weak, not diverse enough and lack the productive capacity to grow. Something radical needs to be done and I have a solution. It is called consolidation

(6) If we halved the number of countries across Africa today, it would boost output by at least 30%. Does anyone really for instance consider a nation like Gambia with a GDP of just $1bn to play any serious role in the advancement of humanity?

(7) As a first step in this consolidation plan, I would immediately merge Nigeria, Cameroon and Benin Republic. This giant would immediately become the world’s number one producer of plantain, yam, kolanuts, cassava, cashews and shea nuts. Within the next five years it should also easily become the world’s number one producer of cocoa, bananas, coconuts, groundnuts, palm oil and papaya

(8) With it’s deep sea ports of Cotonou, Lagos and Douala, the nation would serve as the maritime hub of the entire West African region, dominating the trade like a colossus. This will inevitably lead to it becoming a sea faring nation

(9) More importantly, having Cameroon on board will open up access to central Africa and the markets of nations like Gabon, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville and ultimately that sleeping giant DR Congo. Once that happens, we are looking at another China

(10) It just baffles me how Africans fail to realise that their biggest weakness is the fact that they have been carved into too many small mini states. When as a continent you only account for 4% of world trade, how is anyone going to take you seriously? To add insult to injury, in our ignorance, some of us are even talking about chopping up our nations into smaller pieces. Hmmmm!