Loading ...In his article, ‘The Rise of the Rest’, an excerpt from his book A Post-American World, the luminous editor of Newsweek magazine, Fareed Zakaria writes, “In 2006 and 2007, 124 countries grew their economies at over 4% a year. That includes more than 30 countries in Africa.”
He goes on to say, “A team of scholars at the University of Maryland has been tracking deaths caused by organized violence. Their data show that wars of all kinds have been declining since the mid-1980s and that we are now at the lowest levels of global violence since the 1950s.”
Given that the UN has around 192 member states, and the globe a total of 195/196 countries, excluding territories such as Palestine and the Western Sahara, Zakaria’s statement displays profound optimism, God bless him.
There are 47 countries in Africa; in 2007, the Niger experienced a GDP growth of 4.5 percent, thus, the Niger is one of the 30 African countries listed in his article.
But how reliable are GDP’s and its various components, and to what extent do these estimates and procedures accurately reflect the status quo?
Last year, the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) saw the Niger bottoming out, ranked last on a list of 177 countries. The list, which excludes vital economic and political indicators such as gender and income inequality, does in fact provide a more inclusive and holistic perspective of multidimensional vectors of poverty and development, than your average all-round vague GDP could. In 2005, the Niger ranked 174 of 177; in other words, the situation has gotten worse on the ground.
Indicators taken into consideration include access to education (primary, secondary and tertiary), health, life expectancy, literacy, standards of living, etc. Some basic facts on the Niger: 54% of the nation has no access to water and 60% of the population lives on less than $1 per day. According to UNICEF, over 67% of Niger youth are coerced into some form of slave labour, many of them in mines and quarries.
Lurking alongside child labour, gross malnutrition and lack of access to education, sanitation etc is the disturbing fact that the Niger has the highest school fees in Africa, with just 2.3 percent of GDP spent on education. One in four kids will die before the age of five. Infant mortality is at 150 births for every 1000.
The Niger is also one of the youngest countries in the world; half the population is below the age of 14. UNICEF states that 40% of these kids are underweight; life expectancy is 43.3 years old.
Whilst the Niger has a population of 14 million, give or take, the approximate cap is 3 doctors for every 100 000 people.
The Index of Economic Freedom lists the Niger as having 86% Economic Freedom, and 89.3% Freedom from Government.
As the above reveal, the people of the Niger are indeed free of, and from, the government who appear to be doing nothing other than allowing foreign entities such as Areva to exploit natural resources like uranium, the number one export. No doubt, certain members of the government are lining their pockets.
Some, like Laouel Kader Mahamadou, former Secratery General of the Niger government, even end up becoming consultants to Areva. No telling what concessions and oversights Mahamadou engaged in to deserve such a reward.
The Economic Freedom may well allude to the fact that few in the Niger have any money to speak of, hence the freedom. Even though the Niger is sorely lacking in access to electricity, they are the third largest suppliers of uranium in the globe, providing up to 32% of France’s energy requirements.
According to Idrissa Ali, National Coordinator for the organisation Publish What You Pay (PWYP), “The agreements that are linked with exploration and exploitation of uranium are highly strategic in nature, placed at the level of relations between states. Under these, the choice of buyers of the product and setting its price in the international market are the prerogative of the former colonial power. The latter is only empowered to transform the uranate to produce atomic energy from its nuclear power plants or to use it for military purposes. Today, energy independence from France relies heavily on uranium in Niger.”
“A neo-colonial framework has led to the signing of mining agreements establishing and functioning of the SOMAÏR (1968) and the COMINAK (1975), which are nothing other than a bias contract making available the uranium in Niger to France,” Ali said.
Why the silence surrounding the issue?
“The silence that has long surrounded the exploitation of uranium in Niger is due to the fact that this ore has always been considered a strategic product by both France and the Niger authorities, through defence agreements signed on April 24, 1961 between the two countries,” he responds.
On the issue of profits, Idrissa states, “From sources close to SOMAÏR and COMINAK, since the beginning of the exploitation and sale of uranium, the revenue generated from the sale has exceeded 2300 billion CFA francs. In this windfall, the state of Niger has garnered just under 300 billion CFA francs.”
In an interview with Areva, the company stated that, “Indirect profits include the income tax on employee’s salaries and the business tax from contractors and different supports provided by the group through its sustainable development program in different areas such as education, water supply and health care.”
How much does a kilogram of uranium go for? “The selling price of uranium as of 2007 is60 €/kg; increasing by around 50% in 2008.”
Who owns Areva and how long has the company been active in the Niger. What percentage of profits does the company receive?
“AREVA has been active in Niger since 1958; the company opened its first mine in 1971 with SOMAÏR (established in 1968) in Arlit. COMINAK was created in 1974, in joint venture with ONAREM (the Niger State Interest Owner) and Japanese and Spanish partners (OURD and ENUSA),” the company said. “Eighty seven percent is owned by a consortium of French public entities (CEA, State and ERAP).”
In a press release issued last year, the company proclaimed that they have, “an answer to the important issues of the 21st Century: the preservation of the planet and accountability to future generations.” The company claimed to operate with complete transparency.
In January 2007, Areva was fined €53 million for price-fixing EU electricity markets; fined alongside the company were 11 other energy cartels including Siemens, (hefty € 396 million). The company has manufacturing facilities in over 43 countries with a commercial/sales network presence in more than 100 countries.
AREVA’s Hoover profile reads that, ‘it is the world leading company in nuclear energy…the only company with a presence in each industrial activity linked to nuclear energy: mining, chemistry, enrichment, combustibles, services, engineering, nuclear propulsion and reactors, treatment, recycling, stabilisation, and dismantling.’
Though the Niger citizens have not received a dime emanating from uranium exports courtesy of the government, the export of uranium is the primary booster relating to the Niger’s GDP. Perhaps the question is less whether the monolithic construct of the economy has been growing, and more, whether this growth has benefited the population. Does GDP translate to income growth for the entire nation, or does it merely reflect the quantity of accumulated wealth present in a specific economic orbit, one that precludes income distribution?
Given the neo-liberal dynamics of wealth redistribution and circulation, especially when linked to rogue regimes or satellite states, the processes of GDP also fail to examine the mechanisms by which the society or nation in question operates, transparently or otherwise.
The Niger, like many African countries and people, are of the Islamic faith, with Islam being the primary ‘religion’ in Africa, yet the environmental and human rights narrative and legal framework of the Niger could not be further from the principles of Islam.
“He has set up the Balance (of Justice) in order that you may not transgress (due) balance. So establish weight with justice and fall not short in the balance.” (Quran 55:7-9)
As the UN’s HDI has shown, the Niger has hit rock bottom; life in this country is desperately lacking in justice for those without voices who have been buried under the tarps of harsh nightmarish scenarios; it’s as if it has been written up by a bad b-grade scriptwriter stretching his imagination to the max. Enough tragedy, the script-doctor would say, bring in some hope.
Whilst Zakaria’s brilliant article on the nature and concept of globalization is heartening, neo-liberal lore has ingrained (perhaps too well) the concept of the trickle down effect.
Something is trickling done for sure, but it isn’t money.
[…] Lights out in the Niger + GDP This is a tricky one; does GDP automatically mean that a country is growing economically or could it be that only certain sectors are growing? Is GDP a good indicator or a misleading one.. Thought Leader
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