With twenty-sixty-three looming, are we prepared- Or are we going to scratch these forty-odd years away hoping for an ideal that may never come?
‘Africa would be the world’s powerhouse, considering our mineral wealth, if only our politicians weren’t greedy.’-Township adage
According to worldatlas.com, some thirty per cent of the earth’s natural resources have concentration here. And when you search ‘worlds natural resources by continent.’, all that returns is ‘Africa, Africa and Africa’. It seems, for once, that all web resources are in unison about something.
Resources mean wealth, and wealth means interest. That is why today’s world is gauging the continent as they are, and why wouldn’t they?
The issue, however, is that the world wears a face. In this instance, Africa wears a black one. Wearing a look is excellent for preserving culture, medicine, tradition, science, and much more. But the issue is that we can easily remove it as well. Also, the world will look at and judge our faces when things go awry. And they will also wear ours if they need something from us.
The internet as an instigator
But we live in the times of the internet. Isn’t it time we assimilate ourselves with the world, as they have done with us? How do we borrow their faces, even though we can’t pay for them? Or rather, Shouldn’t we paint the look with new colours to represent the rainbow? If anything, wouldn’t that help to unite us and reduce the guilt of our past? Does the macrocosm seem to care?
I know that if the status quo does not change, we are in for a rude awakening. If we continue wearing old faces, then we continue with old stories. These stories have a lot of segregation in South Africa and the USA. People look at each other, but there is no synchronicity; faces come with colour and behaviours. Occasionally, one group may retort, ‘I honestly hate the other face with their colour and customs’.
I see no reason for this to change unless we start issuing new faces.
Could trade/duty-sharing be the solution?
For the most part, yes! Any device designed to bring people together for a common cause is terrific. So long as people have equally at stake in the exchange. Trade/Sharing in itself has many benefits, including:
- Exchanging of assets, ideas and duties.
- Forging relationships.
- Finding pathways to create livelihoods.
- Finding places and learning about cultures.
- Gaining other non-related insights.
- Finding your niche.
- Mobilising resources from many corners of the country or world.
- It could break a deadbeat path of life that you are on.
Exchanging of assets, ideas and duties.
‘Familiarity breeds contempt’- a quote
People generally grow fonder of each other when their paths cross and when they share a mandate. Should the exchange go well, it will likely be recalled or translated into more meaningful relations. It is a human fact.
Forging relationships.
This point is synonymous with the first one. I should add that relations can escalate deeper. And the advent of men resulted from ties and forming tribes around similar interests. Even today, any ties, be it on race, nationality, class etc., are forged from similar interests more than being a biological or economic fact.
Finding pathways to create livelihoods.
Exchanging/Sharing could yield immensely, granted that the economy is open for it. Also, suppose it is done in high volumes or with frequency. To satisfy this condition, one must assume that people are mobile and open to new experiences. We must believe they are; however, how we present to them is key to their buy-in.
Finding places and learning about cultures.
Twenty-sixty-three Africa promises a virtually frictionless trade mechanism between all stakeholders. As it stands, seventy per cent of stakeholders have brought forth their signatures, championing the idea.
It means that people would move around the continent in a fashion similar to commodities, which is fantastic. This expansion could be the ‘wow’ people need in such a localised continent. People should start learning if they don’t know, then they can’t fathom.
Gaining other non-related insights.
Although we no longer live in times when there are new continents to discover, there is still much to learn from travel. Half of the time, one’s opportunity will not be in their homeland. But the issue is that we lack a nudge, some hutzpah; hopefully, newfound trade opportunities can create some. After all, trade is one commerce capable of binding people long term.
Finding your niche.
What better way is there to find a niche than to ‘go out and find one’?
Closing
To close, the ‘genesis’ for this continent will likely boil down to citizens integrating with the new world and building from that. It will come down to people understanding that their niche may come from any corner. We may need to wear different faces sometimes. Hutzpah is a must! By staying authentic and selling authenticity, we will go far. Now and then, we should be free to make assumptions. It will come from investing in technology and using it to market in new forms. Faith must be on the table, even if we stumble upon it.
That is the genesis.
Thanks for reading.
