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November 15, 2007
An American In Ouagadougou
I'm stuck in Ouaga for a couple of extra days while my friends who should have arrived last night are stuck in New York for a couple of days, having missed their flight to Burkina Faso. (Through no fault of their own, I should say).
It turns out that another American, John Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, did make it to Ouaga, and has been making waves, talking of Cotton again, and of an American Military HQ in Africa.
COTTON AGAIN
Firstly, he has been defending America's illegal cotton subsidies. America will apparently only deal with them when Europe deals with its own subsidies. Now certainly, European subsidies also need to be dealt with. But someone found guilty in court of breaking the law does not normally say "I'll stop breaking the law when they do."
At the same time, even when America gives in to the inevitable and scraps its subsidies, the Burkina Faso cotton industry will not make as much progress as it should until there is re-stucturing of the industry within the country, and the virtual monopoly by Sofitex. Afrika Flak, writing from Ouagadougou, does an excellent critique of the cotton situation in Burkina. He also shows how Burkina needs to avoid becoming ever more dependant on cotton. And in an interview with journalist Na Eng, John Liebhardt explores the human stories of the issue.
While the US, Europe, and Sofitex each fight their corner, the Burkinabe cotton farmers continue to struggle to make ends meet. But regardless of what Europe or the Burkina cotton industry does, America needs to get rid of its cotton subsidies.
AMERICAN MILITARY HQ IN AFRICA
But John Negroponte's main purpose was to talk about U.S. plans for a new "military command for Africa" called Africom.
The US wants to establish a command headquarters on the continent to co-ordinate U.S. military operations in all of Africa except Egypt. African countries however don't seem to want such a presence. They are concerned that it could force them into conflicts that are nothing to do with them, that it would give Washington greater influence in the continent, and that this would undermine efforts to build regional solidarity and autonomy. Of all 53 countries, only Liberia has welcomed the idea.
Africa Loft has an open debate about whether Africom is a good idea or not.
Tags: africa burkina burkina faso us cotton africom trade subsidies military
Posted by Keith at November 15, 2007 09:07 AM
