Africa Must Be Courageous to Take Back Its Privileges from 'Colonial Masters'

African countries must get rid of the West's interference in their internal political and economic affairs in order to thrive, Michael Bibi, bishop of the diocese of Buea located in south-west Cameroon, said in an interview with Sputnik.

Bibi noted that Africa needs to "abandon those agreements made with these powers on the eve of independence giving them unlimited access to all our resources underground."

"African countries must be courageous enough to stand up to these foreign powers and take back all the powers and privileges they had taken upon themselves," the bishop stated.

Bibi recalled the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is "a perfect example of the destabilizing effects of this 'economic colonisation' of Africa."

"It is a country that is rich in mineral resources and rare metals found in very few places in the world," he added.

In the bishop's opinion, aiming to obtain these mineral resources, interested foreign states' enterprises are ready to pay "the appropriate prize".

But since they [mineral resources] are expensive the alternative is for those foreign powers to destabilize the Congolese Government with several rebel groups so that in the end the minerals are extracted for next to nothing.

Michael Bibi

Bishop of the Cameroonian diocese of Buea

Currently, the Democratic Republic of Congo is seeing clashes between government forces and the M23 rebel group which launched an uprising in 2021 and managed to occupy large territories. In 2022, the peace process was launched under the auspices of the East African Community, which supervises the peace talks between the DR Congo government and numerous rebel groups. The M23 movement is not considered a part of the general talks, thus a separate process was launched between the DRC and Rwanda, which Kinshasa accuses of supporting the rebels - an accusation Rwanda denies.

Speaking about the consequences of the colonial age for Africa, among which is also western involvement in African internal affairs through military bases and enterprises, the clergyman compares the French and British policies in relation to their colonies in the age of colonialism, describing the former as "direct rule" and the latter as "more indirect".

"This policy difference has coloured the post-colonial attitude of these colonial powers towards their former colonies," he said. "The French interference is more direct; in politics, finances [the first Governor-General of BEAC was French 1973-1978, and to this day, the currencies of all francophone African countries are printed in France], presence of French military bases, etc."

At the same time, he explained, "the British post-colonial policy has retained its indirect characteristic, mainly through their companies coming to do business in African countries," which has given their former African colonies more independence in terms of their affairs entailing their better economic advance.

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Despite the fact that the US did not have colonies, Bibi believes the Americans, too, have adopted a strategy similar to the British one, "through their multinational companies."

"But the fact remains that these multinational companies with their financial might end up having the same control over local resources that the French secure through direct involvement," the bishop noted.

Bibi also touched upon the role of international organizations, saying that some of them "like the United Nations have not succeeded to stop neo-colonization and for obvious reasons."

According to him, "this unfortunate world order" is promoted by the leading countries in this organization.

"Can the African Union be more forceful in its condemnation of this phenomenon? Can they be more direct in their condemnation of those foreign powers that are promoting this 'economic colonization' of Africa?" Bibi questioned.

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Earlier, in an interview with Crux, the bishop also stigmatized the Francophonie and the Commonwealth of Nations as instruments in the hands of western powers used to interfere in African affairs.

However, Bibi believes African countries need to do many things to stop former colonies' interference.

He asserted that Africa has to make its own economic decisions and stop relying on foreigners for this. There is a need for the continent to negotiate with the "former colonial masters (especially France)" to get rid of direct interference.

"Some, like Mali and Burkina Faso in recent times are doing so by sending away the French soldiers and severing ties with France," the bishop stated. "This is understandable, considering the bitterness in francophone Africans towards France and the length of time this exploitation has been going on, but we wonder whether we cannot find a better way to do this."

Cameroonian Bishop: Africa Must Be Courageous to Take Back Privileges from 'Colonial Masters'