Africa’s big two should use this latest crisis as an opportunity to drag the continent out of poverty

By Ayo Akinfe 

(1) As we debate the ongoing pogroms in South Africa and the retaliatory attacks in Nigeria, it appears that we are failing to realise that this presents us with an opportunity in a lifetime to lift the African continent out of poverty and create a unified economy that will end this kind of crisis once and for all. Contrary to a lot of the propaganda flying around, those baying mobs in Johannesburg do not hate Nigerians, they are just hungry people. They are attacking all Africans out of sheer frustration

(2) Likewise, those mobs engaging in the looting of Shoprite stores in Lagos do not hate South Africans. They are just using the opportunity to lay their hands on essential goods that are normally beyond reach. Prosperous and contented people do not engage in such actions, so it is time to address the crisis with a Nigeria-South African Economic Pact that will create lasting prosperity 

(3)Between them, Nigeria and South Africa account for about one third of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP). Their combined GDP is about $700bn, exactly one third of the continental total of $2.1trn. It is time to merge these two economies, abolish the differences created by the colonisers and leverage on their combined might to build an African alternative to the growth we are currently witnessing in China and India

(4) Let us start off with the abolition of nationality controls. Introduce the free movement of goods and services between both countries and grant nationals of both nations citizenship rights in each country. Just imagine 10 more Shoprite chains and MTN’s in Nigeria and how many jobs that would create 

(5) Let both nations float a Pan African Airways that will be a major international player that can compete with the likes of Lufthansa, BA, Air France, KLM, Emirates, American Airlines, etc. Each government should have a 30% stake in the venture with the remaining 40% sold to private investors and other airlines 

(6) Build a Cape Town to Abuja high speed railway line that travels at about 250km per hour. This will open up the economies of both countries to their citizens. All those disenfranchised youths in Johannesburg for instance, will be thus able to come and work on cleaning up the Niger Delta, cocoa farms, palm oil plantations, etc. One big problem South Africa has is that unlike Nigeria, it has no rural area, so unemployed urban youths do not have farming villages to go back to. A united economy with Nigeria will address this 

(7) Nigeria will gain immensely from such a union as she will gain immediate access to technological transfer. There are about 10 automobile assembly plants in South Africa and the country manufactures helicopters. Under the terms of the deal, these companies will be obliged to open plants in Nigeria and employ local people. Just imagine how many Nigerians that will lift out of poverty 

(8) If all of South Africa’s companies had unfettered access to the Nigerian market, poverty will be banished south of the Limpopo forever. We should agree on a single currency, a common defence policy, a common market and tourist packages should include visits to both nations. This should be the start of the building of the Africa that Nkrumah, Mandela, Cabral, Machel, Nyerere, Fanon, Rodney, Biko, Sankara, etc dreamed of 

(9) Anyone who has read Walter Rodney’s How Europe Underdeveloped Africa will know that the creation of a multiplicity of nations states on our continent was designed to divide us, keep us weak, prevent us from coming together to fight colonialism and prevent the emergence of a continental power. It is time to change the narrative. No African nation was present at the 1884 Berlin Conference where the Europeans decided to carve up our continent and create 54 fictitious nation states. It is time for the 2019 Abuja Conference to abolish those imperialist and colonial borders 

(10) Africa has about one sixth of the world’s population but only accounts for 4% of world trade. Like China, we have a population of 1.3bn but have a GDP of $2.1trn while the Chinese economy is $14trn. No matter how many soldiers and police you deploy, the statistics make it clear that Africa will always be restive with such poverty. Africa’s current status is not sustainable so wealth creation is a must. It is prosperity that will end insecurity not policing. If I can quote Dr Martin Luther King: “We either live together like brothers or perish together like fools!”