My Take | Debt forgiveness is just as bad as debt-trap diplomacy, critic says
Africa should pay what is owed and become productive while leaders must take responsibility for mismanagement, Nigerian scholar argues
As more than 50 African leaders gathered in Beijing last week to celebrate closer ties and cut deals, Olufemi Taiwo, a leading political philosopher from Nigeria was scathing in his assessment.
“This is less about China and more about the lack of self-respect from Africa’s leaders,” the professor of Africana studies at Cornell University told My Take. “It is unbelievable that the same people who deride colonialism think that they are better off putting themselves in the care of another who poses a serious threat to their sovereignties.”
The author of Against Decolonisation: Taking African Agency Seriously, Taiwo said it was about time Africa’s leaders took responsibility for their own mismanagement.
“My criticism is not of China, but of African leaders – let’s be clear about that,” he said.
“There is no economy outside of South Africa that is a productive economy. If you are not producing, how are you going to pay your debt? All those countries that are taking up debts – it’s not as if they are putting the debts into something that will generate something new.”
