April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

esources.
Then, how should we use them? Certainly the continent will continue to
sell some of its raw materials. We cannot use everything immediately.
However, we must increasingly turn towards transforming these raw
materials on the spot. We think that inter-regional cooperation allows us
to have an area in which viable policies of industrialisation become
possible, which would enable us to convert our raw materials, to create
fresh added value and jobs!
ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: You spoke of the disastrous
consequences of structural adjustment. How do you see the promise of a
better representation of Africa in international institutions?
DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: Firstly, even if they give a few minor roles to
the African countries, this is not worth very much. It’s negligible in
practice. Secondly, the Africans who will be there will be those who have
accepted neoliberal ideology. So they are not the ones who will defend
different policies. Thirdly, as long as these institutions still fully support
neoliberal ideology, the fact that they have some African representatives
doesn’t change anything very much, since the economic policies remain
the same, policies based on privatisation, free trade and the completely
free movement of capital and flexibility of the labour market. So long as
the World Bank and the IMF remain standard-bearers of this ideology,
putting a few more Africans there is meaningless. As far as I’m concerned
it’s not worth discussing.
ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: You spoke of the need to stress
the alternatives. Can Africa, precisely because it is the first victim of this
capitalist system, also be a prime area for the invention of alternatives?
DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: But of course! Even on the African level, even at
the level of decision-makers, Africa has already decided to create an
African Central Bank, an African monetary union and an African Investment
Bank in three different capital cities. The president of the African Union’s
Commission, Jean Ping, formerly foreign minister of Bongo’s Gabon but
now, because of the crisis, expressing an almost militant discourse, has
declared:
‘We know that the capitalist market cannot resolve everything [I’m just
quoting from memory] and that no one must impose policies on Africa
anymore. Africa must no longer accept policies being imposed on it – it
must regain its freedom and choose what suits it and who its partners shall
be’.
This is most important, coming from Jean Ping, who is president of the
African Union Commission. We ourselves have always said that another
policy is possible. Some others are also saying we must control our own
resources and put an end to this policy of unbridled privatisation that has
been imposed on us. Sub-regional integration allows us to speak with a
single voice at the sub-regional level and even at the continental level.
This gives us negotiating strength.
Then there is the problem of sovereignty of food supply. I am not talking
about security but of sovereignty, because Africa can feed itself – on the
condition that present policies are changed. We have producers, some
associations of producers, particularly in West Africa, the ROPPA (peasant
and producer organisations in West Africa), which is a member of Via
Campesina and which has affirmed: ‘We can feed not only this sub-region
but also a good part of Africa. However, we need politicians who follow us,