There is nothing new under the sun. Absolutely nothing. Not even woman presidents. Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba are among the very first of notable women leaders in the annals of history who wielded massive influence on what was then a global stage.
Cleopatra (late 69 BCE – August 12, 30 BCE) in particular, holds the unique distinction of reigning as the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She had a powerful allure to say the very least. Her diplomatic charm offensive included forging a steamy alliance with one Mark Antony in opposition to Caesar’s legal heir, Augustus. It was an alliance that bore the pair three children – the fruits of one woman’s desperate bid to retain control over her dominion.
Up to this day, leaders continue to make desperate trade-offs to ensure the survival of their nations. For the most part, such trade-offs only buy them brief windows of breathing space. Ultimately, they fall short of postponing the inevitable.
And hence there is nothing new under the sun. More worryingly however, there is nothing fresh coming from modern day politicians to suggest that power relations between the weak and the strong have changed for the better. It is pretty much a case of same script, same plot, different cast, different era.
You will therefore excuse me for not sharing the enthusiasm expressed by most about the coming to power of Joyce Banda in Malawi. I will certainly not wax lyrical about how her ascendancy to the top post is a breath of fresh air. It would have been had it not been for her propensity to follow a well-trodden path of dependency on handouts. For all intents and purposes, Her Excellency has taken a cue from a well-read script of pandering to the whims of donors and the IMF who have since rewarded her with a hefty $157-million “aid package”; a euphemism for a loan with the sort of devastating terms and conditions we tend to gloss over. Let’s not forget that there is no free lunch in the order of millions anywhere in the world.
All too often we have seen countless third world leaders reach out for IMF bailouts when the right thing to do is to take difficult decisions which, although painful in the short term, are beneficial in the long run. The IMF does not have an exemplary history in the third world. The institution is notoriously known for forcing through Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) on countries which fail to repay their debts. The SAPs which are engineered with the help of economic hitmen, have in most cases worsened instead of alleviating the plight of the poor. One such economic hit man, John Perkins, has since revealed that on April 16 2004, members of the steering committee of the Development Group for Alternative Policies wrote to the then World Bank president James Wolfensohn that SAPs were having a destructive impact in the countries where they had been implemented. The letter reads in part: “Over the past decade, far from reducing poverty, adjustments programs have resulted in increased poverty and economic inequality as well as numerous economic crises.”
Joyce Banda’s readiness to devalue Malawi’s currency is part of an IMF orchestrated path of least resistance for desperate nations seeking desperate measures. Often in such instances, the right thing to do is also the most difficult and painful of all. Whilst it is appreciated that Malawi does not have sufficient forex earnings to shore up the Kwacha and the country’s balance of payments, she still has a little bit of something as opposed to nothing at all.
Despite having the renowned freshwater chambo species swimming in abundance in Lake Malawi, the country is yet to exploit the potential of a thriving fisheries industry. Neither has Malawi made a concerted effort to position her superior brand of Chombe tea for the export market. No effort to harness the country’s celebrated arts and crafts has been made. To this day, art pieces crafted by Malawian artists are bought for song on the informal markets in Blantyre and Lilongwe only to be sold for an arm and a leg by enterprising middlemen operating in the lucrative international markets.
Malawi had a compelling tourism mantra once: the-warm-heart-of-Africa. Nothing has been heard of this campaign lately. In an era when the world has shrunk considerably and the tourism market has benefited immensely from advances in technology and social media, the authorities in Malawi are still to apply their minds to tourism or indeed an investment campaign to rival that of countries such as Turkey and Indonesia.
It therefore seems to me that Joyce Banda needs to be reminded that there is nothing new under the sun. We have seen far too many third world countries devalue their entire stock of natural resources in exchange for loans, only to be caught in a web of dependency weaved by the IMF and donors.
I was seriously hoping that Madam President would be the first woman leader to realise that the IMF need her more than she needs them but I’m beginning to despair. Her charm offensive has included the selling of the presidential jet, a laudable move. All told however, her courtship with the IMF is nothing short of a dangerous liaison. We have seen it far too many times: third world nations diverting large sums of money to debt repayments instead of fixing their infrastructure, healthcare and uplifting their people.
Cleopatra, the last pharaoh of Egypt, was only successful in staving off the inevitable for a short season. Eventually her luscious exploits to defend her power base came to nought and Egypt was swallowed by the behemoth that was the Roman Empire. Quite clearly then, and perhaps metaphorically speaking, courting the enemy in order to save your nation is an exercise in futility especially when the enemy in question is the powerful and overbearing IMF. Madam President, there is absolutely new under the sun.
Please give her a chance, there are positive signs.
First of all if “there is absolutely [nothing] new under the sun,” we wouldn’t be where we are today as a civilisation. Viewing dealing with other citizens of the world as “courting the enemy” is plain stupid.
And I just love that she is not pandering to the AU where it concerns Bashir. She has shown more courage than the spineless male rulers on this continent.
Alas, you and your peers would prefer another Mugabe or Gadaffi, no?
Really? Wow.
There’s just something extraordinarily bathetic about someone who can’t even pull off a simple hit job.
And something extraordinarily telling that of the two powerful historical African women that an African man pulls out, neither was actually African.
First, the Queen of Sheba: Sheba was in southern Arabia, with its capital probably in modern day Yemen. That’s notably not in Africa.
Second, Cleopatra: She was the descendant of Ptolemy, the Macedonian general. Her family practiced incest, specifically because they didn’t wish to mix with the local Egyptian populace. In point of fact, she was most likely blonde and blue-eyed, like the Doric Greeks of Macedonia.
Seriously? Of all the women in African history, you couldn’t pick one who was actually “of” Africa? Well, we’ll be sure to come back to you for lots of commentary on the plight of women on this continent. No doubt Joyce Banda looks upon your works and trembles.
And then finally, you’re going to use Ecclesiastes? Um, Banda is Malawi’s first female president. She was the first female vice-president before that. That’s, well, new! She had the courage to leave an abusive marriage back when that was pretty new for an African woman, around 1980. She’s one of the first to say, “I’m going to abide by treaty obligations — no, Omar al-Bashir isn’t welcome here.” And she’s ridding her presidency of unaffordable luxuries — pretty darn new around here.
She’s prostituting her country. What a pity…I had high hopes for her. Under Gaddafi, Libya had no debt with the IMF nor the World Bank. That’s why they hated him. Since his death, guess what has happened? You guessed it…in a “kind” gesture to help Libya fix the country after months of war, IMF and other donors have stepped in to help/exploit….oh well, the more things change….indeed, there’s nothing new under the sun.
Now, let me turn to your specific criticisms.
Let’s start with the obvious. Joyca Banda’s been in office for 2 months. And you’re criticizing her for not having fixed systemic, long term Malawian problems yet? Are you also ready to throw Lindiwe Sisulu under the bus? I mean, she hasn’t resolved the public service union issues yet, so I’d just assume you’d be happy to.
Second, if you’re going to bring up the IMF, it gets kind of uncomfortable for you when the Father of the Nation just committed R17 billion towards the IMF stabilization fund, doesn’t it? That’s US$2 billion (more than 10 times as much as Joyce Banda just got from the IMF) that won’t be available for building the nation as a developmental state.
Third, well, I’m just not going to waste the time on you — either you have no idea of the circumstances Malawi is in or you’re content to assume that your readers don’t and will just assume you have the clue that they don’t. Suffice to say, *nothing* you’ve written makes any sense given Malawi’s current debt burden and energy problems.
And finally: It’s more than 6 months into the school year, and in multiple provinces, learners are still awaiting their *textbooks*. You know, so they can start learning? This is after 18 years of ANC rule. Why don’t we give Ms. Banda just a little more time and see if she can’t show a record anywhere above “hopelessly incompetent.”
@rich brauer
And your point is? Egypt is in Africa and the Queen of Sheba was from Abyssinia. Do you know where that is? Come talk to me when you find out.
Anyway, the article is about the short sightedness and fatalism of depending on the IMF for bailouts and not about women or africans for that matter.
“Egypt is in Africa and the Queen of Sheba was from Abyssinia. Do you know where that is? Come talk to me when you find out.”
Why don’t you ask an actual Egyptian how “African” he feels. I’d love to hear the answer. ‘Cos I’ve actually been to Egypt, and many of them didn’t know where South Africa was or have any interest in anything “African”.
And while Abyssinia is in the Horn, most historians who rely on more than a Bible are convinced that Sheba was in modern-day Yemen.
“Anyway, the article is about the short sightedness and fatalism of depending on the IMF for bailouts and not about women or africans for that matter.”
Well, it must be terribly disappointing for you to see Zuma pledging billions to that dastardly organization, contributing SA to the cause of continued Western capitalist domination.
On a more substantive note: Banda faces enormous problems, ones that require an immediate infusion of cash.
Most notably, energy: Because Bingu’s regime defaulted on their payments to their petrol and diesel suppliers, Malawians have suffered through an extensive period of shortages, compounded by having to make due with an ad hoc import of petroleum products that’s done little to relieve the shortages. As a result, they desperately need to restore normal service, and that’s going to require deposits to petroleum companies who otherwise won’t do business with a customer who has defaulted.
This, of course, ignores the radiating economic problems that develop from petroleum shortages in a country where infrastructure *not* based on road is nearly non-existent.
There’s a drought. In a country with one of the highest population growth rates in the world. Food insecurity is a very real problem, made worse by environmental degradation because much of the population is dependent on charcoal and other wood products, which in turn has led to deforestation and its incumbent soil degradation.
All of which is compounded by the fact that nearly half of the funding for basic government is provided by foreign donors. Meaning there’s nothing left over for infrastructure improvements of any kind, physical or other.
If you look at the actual numbers, Malawi is close to Rwanda in 1994 in many of the demographic areas which…
Continuing:
some scholars have argued contributed significantly to the genocide there: Food insecurity, loss of arable land, explosive population growth, etc.
In short, Malawi has *enormous* problems, and desperately needs to make serious structural adjustments in order to address them.
Devaluing the currency to address debt considerations is one of them, even if it is painful. Developing new sources of funding which can be used to improve infrastructure is another. Getting enough diesel into the country that the cars, trucks, and buses can run so people can work and trade is another.
And that’s what the IMF *does*.
There’s not exactly a huge untapped market for aquarium cichlids in a depressed West, friend. Nor is there an untapped market for people who can afford private flights into distant game reserves not served by real airports.
More tilapia? That would be great — except how do you get them to international markets when you don’t have the diesel to run the trucks or the electricity to run the refrigeration required? And what about the damage to ecologically sensitive Lake Malawi?
Those are the issues rooted in reality that Banda has to deal with. Not the kind of tripe which simply assumes that the “IMF is bad.”
The Queen of Sheba was long before Arab colonisation of Africa, and also long before the birth of the Prophet Mohammed
Also she was something “new” and “strange” with “wisdom” the Jews did not have.
The Mediterranean world – Europe and Africa -had interacted for centuries – there was nothing new about them.
The only part of Africa she could have come from was the Ethiopian corridor – the only part not cut off by the Sahara Desert, which formed 60,000 years ago.
The Egyptian civilisation only arose 7000 years ago, and blacks only migrated into Sub Saharan Africa 5000 years ago.
Solomon was about 3000 years ago.
First of all, all the problems in Malawi can be laid at the feet of the World Bank and IMF.
For instance, it was the World Bank that forced the Malawi government to sell of (monetize) their food reserves, because ‘they could always import food’. Result: 2,300 dead from starvation.
President Bingu wa Mutharika, going against the dogma of the World Bank, spends $62 million in a fertilizer support program (support for farmers, something illegal in Africa but running in the billions in the US of A), and he turns around agriculture, saving the taxpayer the cost of spending $120 million importing maize.
For this, and for breaking the economic sanctions against Zimbabwe by extending to them a $20 million loan for, ironically, the importation of Malawi maize, he was hounded into his grave.
The IMF and World Bank has an agenda of it’s own, and the actual development of Africa is not included in it. The exploitation of Africa’s resources without compensation is.
Time to get with the program, DA.
I agree with Jeremiah that “I will certainly not wax lyrical about how her ascendancy to the top post is a breath of fresh air. It would have been had it not been for her propensity to follow a well-trodden path of dependency on handouts.” Funny enough, ‘bail outs’ are not necessarily an African problem ref to Obama’s intervention in the car industry and of late the 100-billion Euro ‘life support’ for the lazy Greeks. The point Kure makes is that before Joyce Banda made up her face and raced to Washington bowl in hand, she could have organised a regional investment indaba and pick the brains of African economists how best Malawi can reverse the Mutharika disaster without further indebting her people. Okay, Malawi has no diamonds and platinum like us in Zimbabwe, but pandering to the whims of donors has a price. Politically speaking – Mrs Banda has placed Malawi on a trajectory of transformation – restoring freedoms and confidence in humanity.
@Lyndall Beddy, say it from the rooftop I say! Teach the likes of Rich Brauer a thing or two.
I few weeks backI wrote my dissatisfaction with her closeness with her country’s doners which I said at the time that: “That decision should not be made under any pressure nor should such an undertaking be made under duress or taken only to appease the fears (whatever they are) of the West just because they are Malawi’s biggest donars. No, it should not be like that.
Banda – if she knows what’s good for her and her country – should make such an undertaking in the best interests of Malawians and not some ‘biggest’ Western donars’ interests. It does not help us Africans claiming democracy and independence yet succumbing to western pressure.
If she knows what is good for her people and her country, Banda should have made that decision because she – and she alone and her government and not some donors – realised that she does not and would not need the jet and the cars more than Mutharika ever did.”.
And when she recently boycotted the AU meeting (refusing to attend it) , I noted that: “As mentioned in my recent blog about my skepticism of Malawi’s president’s decision to ditch the presidential jet and fleet, here’s another reason why I have always looked at her action with skepticism and suspision because she wants to please the western countries as their are Malawi’s biggest donors”.
Jeremiah
There is actually an lot of other evidence that the Queen of Sheba came from Ethiopia – in Ethiopian culture which is very Judeo/Early Christian.
The Queen of Sheba went to TRADE wisdom with King Solomon remember.
Jeremiah you can make it simpler. Very simple. Joyce Banda = bad; Robert Mugabe = good. Yeah right.
Sizwe says: “Viewing dealing with other citizens of the world as “courting the enemy” is plain stupid.”
I agree 100%. It was NOT Joyce Banda that landed Malawi in the position it is now.
At least she is facing up to the problem. She has to do two things: Manage the immediate crisis, and then build Malawi up over the longer term.
For the immediate crisis, Malawi needs funds (all the freshwater species swimming in lakes and wonderful things Jeremiah mentions are nearly meaningless at this immediate moment without any money). As any business person (as opposed to, say, social commentator) knows, money is available at a price (including the interest rate and any other “strings” – good or bad – attached).
Joyce Banda is getting the money Malawi desperately needs (due to mismanagement by PREVIOUS governments) at the best price she can get.
That is the RIGHT thing to do.
What needs to happen next, is how well that money is applied. For that, we must give her the opportunity to prove herself.
If that money is mismanaged, then the provider of the money has full right to demand correct application.
In the event that should happen, blaming it on hidden agendas by the IMF is just pure unwillingness to accept responsibility.
In the event the money is used well, it is to the benefit of Malawi (and its citizens) and to the provider of the funds.
Jeremiah Kure has just demonstrated that he does not fully understand the world of international finances.
@Lyndall Beddy. Indeed I do remember. It is well documented actually.
On another matter, I hear Joyce Banda has made some pronouncements on diversifying the economy and also intends on tightening up controls in the tobacco industry.
Sour grapes!
Banda is doing well; I also support her stance on the Al Bashir matter. African leaders tend to behave as if their raison d’etre is to defend the indefensible in the name of “African brotherhood” that is actually a club of – very often – discredited leaders concerned with looking out for one another!
So, Banda is a breath of fresh air!
@Jeremiah and Mr K
Do you have any detailed knowledge of the work that is done by the IMF and World Bank (for reconstruction and development, to give it its full name)?
Are you critical of the very positive poverty alleviation work that has been done in countries such as Brazil, Columbia and Bolivia?
Have you ever read even one of the papers develped by one of the researchers?
Are you aware that our very own Dr Ramphele held a top post for a number of years in that organisation?
Do you know and understand the details of structural adjustment, beyond recognising the name?
What are your qualifications to write on Economic matters – M Com? PhD?
You got it wrong here bro. She did not get Malawi into the situation that it is in. She is trying to sort out the mess and has gone to the bank to get money to aort out her country just like how someone who takes over a messed up company does and the bank sets its conditions. A lot of what she has done is very positive call it oandering to the west or whatever but hey a lot of african countries have lots of luxury cars for the leaders but they must feel the pain people are feeling no need for pretending having luxuryplane when national airline has not a plane! come guys give her a chance its how she uses the money even the chinese used western money to build their economy and are still using western markets to sell their good but they rule the world economy ,
GIVE HER A CHANCE SHE HAS STARTED VERY WELL WE AFRICANS SALUTE HER SHE MAY USE THE MONEY TO BUILD HER COUNTRY AND BE ABLE TO SAY NO WHEN TIME IS RIGHT
@Kanyang, Joyce is doing the right to deal with the US that has the power to help her instead of listening to these left wing critics. The author says the IMF needs Malawi more then this country needs the IMF now, what a dumb statement to make.
Jeremiah
Maybe Joyce Banda is a bit more educated and informed as to the history of Al Bashir than her other African counterparts. Here is a quote from “Exploreres of the Nile” by Tim Beal:
“Omar al Bashir, now president of Sudan – addressed a rally in Khartoum, holding a Koran in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other…..Under Bashir’s Islamic dictatorship the war against the south became a jihad and the Sudanese government actively encouraged militias to go on save raids there, and in Darfur. Bashir and his elderly mentor, the Islamic scholar and Sorbonne educated lawyer, Hassan al-Turabi, welcolmed to their country groups interested in ‘the war on America’. Among those chosing Sudan as a base was the Saudi construction magnate, Osama Bin Laden….Terrorist attacks mounted from Sudan included an attempt to kill the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, and bombings in Israel, Kenya and Tanzania….
99 percent of voters in Southern Sudan have opted for succession from the north…(but there is) no certainty that northern Sudan will respect the south’s independenct statehood in the years to come.”
When the British administrators were forced out of Sudan and Uganda, mainly by Communists Soviet Russia and Capitalist America, they left behind an infrastucture, including a railway from Lake Victoria to the coast, for the former Arab slavers to move back into and operate a slave trade even more efficiently than before.
Jeremiah
I see you followed up on the Queen of Sheba.
Maybe you would like to follow up on the dozen tribes of Taiwan – their culture shows great similarities to both black cultures in the Pacific and in Africa.
If you Google Taiwan and go to Wikipedia – the links to all the tribes are there.
@Beddy,all what you are saying is true but, how come many African leaders are not aware of what’s going on in the Sudan’s? The people in the northern part of Sudan consider themselves superior to the people in the south. The big mistake of the AU is to think that all the people have something in common with one another. The people in north Africa have nothing in common with black Africa.
Sterling
What you are seeing is the result of the dumbing down of education – starting at school level – and it is universal!
@Peter, many of the African leaders knew nothing about economic and mismanaged the econonies of their countries and when they went to the IMF for money, they imposed the Structual adjustment on these countries. Take the case of Nigeria, this country sold over a half billion dollars in oil and nobody know what happen to the money. Billions have been spent to upgrade the electricity and the country still have massive blackouts, this country had four oil refineries and only two working, millions were spent on state own ranches to raise beef and the ranches had only six cows.
Sterling
The title given to Jesus Christ in his lifetime by the people and the disciples was “Teacher”. If they wanted a Biblical text or parable explained they asked him as “Teacher”.
Which is still the main function of the Jewish Rabbi today – to study the Biblical texts and “Teach” them.
The world has hardly any teachers left – how can you teach if you have been inadequately taught yourself?
@Beddy, you should listen to Jimmy Swaggart when he talks about religion. When Jimmy Swaggart sings, the whole house seems to be uplifted.
@Beddy, you must remember that the same thing happened when the Roman empire collapsed, most of the European countries descended into chaos. The Germans came down from the north and sacked Rome by destroying their great art works. These wild tribes had no love for arts and beauty of Rome. In the South the Moors invaded Europe and ruled some parts for a while. It was the rise of the French that established order and stop the Moors from taking over Europe. So, what you see going on in Uganda and Sudan is history repeating itself because these people don’t have any love for these things like railroads.
@Rich, that was a very good comment you made about the problems in Malawi. Most of black Africa suffers from the same problem of food security and population growth. However, none of the governments in Africa are doing anything to address these problems.
@Rich, a lot of people are not aware that north Africa has nothing in common with the black Africans although they share the same continent. The people in Ethiopia shares the same continent with black Africa but, these people history is very different from black Africa.
Peter L,
” Are you critical of the very positive poverty alleviation work that has been done in countries such as Brazil, Columbia and Bolivia? ”
Funny you should mention the World Bank in Brazil. From “Brazil land-Based poverty Alleviation project (Crédito Fundiário), by mAlcOlm D. chilDrESS AND JOrgE A. muñOz, iSSuE 31 FEBruAry 2008
” Through the Land-Based Poverty Alleviation Project (known in Brazil as Crédito Fundiário—Combate à Pobreza Rural), Brazil is addressing one key factor underlying poverty in the countryside, particularly in the Northeast: inadequate access to land by the rural poor. With poverty heavily concentrated in rural areas, agrarian reform is a high priority for the Brazilian Government. Since 1995, the Government has redistributed land to about 372,500 families, using a combination of the traditional approaches through expropriations, settlement on government owned lands, and direct negotiation of land sales by the government with landowners. ”
” Beginning in 1997, the Government also began experimenting, with World Bank support, with a community-based approach to land redistribution in five States in the Northeast. The results were highly encouraging, in terms of speed, cost-effectiveness, participation of beneficiaries, and sustainability. “
Jeremiah
Have you followed up on those 7000 old cultures of the tribes of Taiwan yet?
Why not do a post on them – and see if anyone, either in Africa or the Pacific, recognises similarities to their own cultures?
Jeremiah
There are about a dozen tribes in Taiwan, whose cultures are alleged to go back 7000 years, who have not killed or eliminated each other.
I see similarities to their cultures to other black cultures from my own missionary family records: the Buchanans in the Pacific before colonisation; the Lindleys in Natal before colonisation.
But I really would like other opinions on the matter.
The basic facts are on Wikipedia.
this is good staff …but alas joice banda is asleep
Rich Brauer you need to grow up