George Ayittey: The solutions to Africa's problems lie in Africa - IQ2 debates

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George Ayittey was speaking for the motion "Beware of the dragon: Africa should not look to China" at this IQ2 debate at Cadogan Hall in London on 28th November 2011.
Event info:
We all know that the Chinese are the neo-colonialists of Africa. They've plundered the continent of its natural resources, tossing aside any concern for human rights and doing deals with some of the world's most unsavoury regimes. The relentless pursuit of growth is China's only spur.
But is this picture really fair? In Angola, for example, China's low-interest loans have been tied to a scheme that has ensured that roads, schools and other infrastructure has been built. China has an impressive track record of lifting its own millions out of poverty and can do the same for Africa. And is the West's record in Africa as glowing as we like to think? After decades of pouring aid into Africa, how much have we actually achieved in terms of reducing poverty, corruption and war? So which way should Africa look for salvation -- to the West, to China, or perhaps to its own people? Come to the debate and decide for yourself.

[@blaqrose4832]

The wealth of Africa lies not in the mineral resource but the People

[@chijiokekennedyanoka4844]

I don't know who you are but this statement of yours will go down in history as that which inspired an African in Germany to go back despite the odd to contribute my quota to African development

[@algung2522]

Agreed totally! I googled and found: ...The first Africans to reach the colonies that England was struggling to establish in North America, were a group of some 20 enslaved people who arrived at Point Comfort, Virginia, near Jamestown, in August 1619, brought by British privateers who had seized them from a captured Portuguese slave ship. en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Sla... On the contrary, an ancient CHINESE admiral Zheng He with his 300 fleet voyaged to East coast of Africa in 1412 brought back a giraffe to the Emperor's court, as recorded in a Chinese annual! .🇨🇳

[@darrylcombe2469]

R.I.P. My Ayittey - your great mind will be sorely missed. Maybe one day the people of Africa will actually listen and do.

[@sandal_thong8631]

Western liberals don't believe in the power of radio, despite Rush Limbaugh's influence in America (and his imitators) to create an alt-right media that makes people believe the 2016 election was stolen. Also, the Rwandan genocide was incited over radio. In his talks about his book, _Defeating Dictators_ he said media is one of the core power-bases of the dictators, and if free people can get one of them, then they can undermine the dictator.

[@andylee531]

he is blaming the chinese not doing the buriness in his favorite way, but dares not blaming the west who are exploiting the africa continent and left nothing at all. what an scambag

[@exclamation3mark]

skills transfer is what would make China's presence in Africa right.

[@Whateverrocksyourboat]

The man is saying Africa shouldn't look for solutions from outside. He made his point in the first minute.

[@sandal_thong8631]

That's what he said, but it's a weak argument, and I'm not sure he believed it; however it plays well to Africans. If you believe that a controlled economy is bad, then say that. How many bad governments get a pass because they're not "imperialists?"

[@G.A.M.A-]

Ayittey is right... They usually come back & claim it costs more... Much more!

[@hurdlesharon8187]

This man is telling the truth and I commend him for his speech on Africa basically what he's trying to say and not able to because he's being diplomatic is that Africa needs to build her own self Africa needs to govern her own self Africa needs to come together as one body or continent and set their own standards Africa still has enough oil minerals and resources to govern its own economy point blank

[@trollgod4911]

Not Africans hates each other far to much to be one continent

[@sandal_thong8631]

Framing it as a fight against tyranny seems to be his contribution. One of the things I learned about fascism or fascist-tactics is that their dictatorships foster corruption. But they define "corruption" not as stealing the nations money and resources (which they do) but rather elites corrupting moral values and the social order with women and minorities in positions of power and influence.

[@tawandaemmanuel.7284]

How can Africa develop when tyrants, despots, dictators and puppets are leading us no where, when we have these erroneous and clueless politicians.How?

[@Alfaspring]

Emm china is like ditactor. Look what can china achieve now

[@yawagbesielias985]

@@Alfaspring the dictator thinks about his people unlike our greedy politicians.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I'm watching his videos because I heard about his book, _Defeating Dictators._ Gaining control of one of the state-controlled institutions that they rely on can subvert the regime. But then the opposition has to be united ("by a council of elders") if there are elections. Finally, a key reform has to be made so the regime isn't replaced by another would-be dictator.

[@MunachimOnyia]

Africa is in Her Prime. And has been for a long time. Africa's solution to Africa is refined Africans. Not undermining the proactive part the west had to play. Opinion or not it was worth it. But now it's the people solution. .

[@trollgod4911]

Munachim Onyia if you think Africa is in its prime you have serious issues when most of Africa looks better than Dubai then it still wont be enough

[@PassportGods]

refined Africans? Meaning?

[@tuforu4]

POSH

[@bcquah3891]

May be he expects everything should be given free. What had the Europe done for Africa during the colonised period.

[@Whateverrocksyourboat]

Nigeria does have a choice, leave the project for now, focus on training your own people so they can one day build it themselves.

[@brightabu-sakyi5405]

A very eloquent presentation by Prof Ayittey but i think it was too skewed towards china.. We must address this issue holisitlcally. We should talk about how so called foreign direct investment affects africa negatively through transfer pricing and sophisitcated fiancial transaction that does not help africa

[@sandal_thong8631]

We still haven't had a good explanation of why China is investing in Africa (probably to secure resources for their manufacturing base, much like Japan wanted to do in the 1930s), and why this is bad for Africa and the West (I don't know). He was pretty weak in his Q&A.

[@ernestgbarbea1878]

Smart speaker🏋🏼🙏🏿

[@carlywow]

Beautiful what Africans need to ask is why do they want these materials and when they have the answers build it themselves

[@ivankivinge2987]

Rest in power prof. Ayittey

[@edwardtang1977]

yes. Thank you. We Chinese were also victims of imperialism. But instead of fighting or taking revenge, what we would like to do is to stop it from happening to anyone else. China is on the rise and internationally gaining more power. However , there are limits to what we can do at the momment and we are doing the best we can. Many Chinese are still poorer than many Africans. We will cooperate and make it a reality. We are all Africans to begin with , right?

[@4ablackafrica416]

Truthseeker Wrong! Africa for Africans! Africans First!

[@princejadon2770]

Truthseeker don't mind this US send him to do that

[@JamesDubreze]

oh! ok I understand now, only the beginning is from the Ted Speech. Thank you

[@princejadon2770]

You are sent by Americans to do this but that can't change our relationship with chinese

[@princejadon2770]

@@charlesscott27 yes

[@JackMagatoht]

yes you right but this is not the problem of china the problem is our government so what we have to do as African if we will talk together and to work together we sef our problem brothers we most to stand up we know who we are Africa it's belong to us and we belong to Africa no boy else we need to bull school .

[@gizachewalemnesh1611]

We should accept this problem. Because it was our mistake. I don't want blem western country it's our fault bro.

[@paakwesiewusiesagoe5982]

am from ghana but dont you think china was better than the west

[@Thuon_]

PAA KWESI EWUSIE SAGOE China is good but we should do our things on our own. Who programmed our minds into thinking that we can't do such kinds ourselves! Remember Africa is divided into two, the rich and the poor. These Chinese developments doesn't help the poor by any means. We need agricultural revolution only.

[@florriandong7430]

Tone：You are right. Modern agriculture is based on industry. Better seeds, fertilizers are not homemade things.

[@tbppuglia]

@Bugatti Boss Until you keep calling Freedom a"western value" you will suffer. That is a God-given Right. Until you realize that freedom is more important than wealth, you'll have none.

[@yawadrusdaniel6313]

Paa Sagoe, Ekow Sackey, Accra/ Cape Coast...I take an open stand on these up-goings, Chinese and the West are all excellent in many things for us, But African has many academics and good Technical and Science and Technology Univ., educations About time they made that application towards the conditions and the systems of Africans Laws of Nature and Lands, Allah and God gives us all. Sagoe,( Ekow, Sabah Road,) well-spoken INDEED. LATER.

[@Farhan917]

In this case, the beggar does have a choice. The resources are worth more then the aid. I love china business with Africa, but is it good for the people? Angola for exemple is rich, but yet people living with $2 dollar a day is questionable.

[@antrinh9919]

that is the problem of angola people ... how to use the money .The fact is Angola needs a lot technician,expert on all kinds : education, heath care system, construction ,industries,agriculture ... distributing the oil wealth as chavez did in Venezuela is not the right solution either. Building roads, infrastructure, schools, hospitals ... that's what must be done!

[@AlbertInima]

Wow!

[@kelsfitness]

im highly disappointed on African leaders

[@gizachewalemnesh1611]

Me to bro. They kill us all the time

[@Marxmanmusic]

professor george what have your african leaders,past and present been doing in regards to africa's development for all those years gone bye?what contribution have you make in regards to africa's progress?too me u r one of those what i would call a dry coconut intellectual,brown outside and west inside,if the chinese want to go to africa and make africa appears to be on its way to prosperity,like in the caseof justice,then so be it,they may not be as destructive as the west which u seems to be emulating,mkl said that white supremacy could be as dangerous as black supremacy.

[@trollgod4911]

marx duprey Africa need foreign aid right? because it cant progress on its own

[@simkiankiong3599]

Tibet is not colonized by chinese.......Tibet has always been part of China since the Yuan Dynasty. so why your statement about "not forgetting about Tibet"...thats a very unfair statement.

[@manitchamanitcha1954]

👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿 your speech is perfect!

[@davidsolomon8203]

Why all the vitriol with commenters? Truth is being buried, again!!!

[@DeistMaybe]

It pains me to witness this dark age of Africa after all the Africans accomplished from antiquity all up to the great fall of Mali. Cut off the foreign aid and revise what is salvaged of the ancient cultures and civilizations of that continent. Pan-Africanism is the only avenue for their survival.

[@duguo1968]

古有 “授人以鱼不如授人以渔" 今有”想致富，先修路“ 短视很致命

[@MirlandeButler]

Translation does not make much sense. What do you mean? "Gu You "Teaching people to fish is not as good as teaching people to fish" Today there is "want to get rich, build the road first" Myopia is fatal"

[@duguo1968]

@@MirlandeButler The ancients said, Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Now days people say "Building the road(infrastructure) is the first step to become rich". basically means need to look at the big picture~

[@vivavoce4823]

Lol, this guy was fucked using the Nigerian railway case. Wow, this is how people can twist words to win audience. The only thing that he said is correct is the solution to Africa's problems lie in Africa. The dealings of Western corporations are not any different from the Chinese except that they didn't even built any infrastructures. There is no transparency when Western corporations deal with Africa or middle eas and they had too plundered Africa! As a matter of fact, the west had plundered Africa for centuries. Talking about building palaces for African leaders, please find out how many palaces the Americans had built for the Sheiks in middle east for their oil.

[@tuforu4]

GREED AFRICA

[@ivocossa4381]

listen deal should be about how much is extracted, how much litter of oil is the deal with a maximum limit. how many kilograms of gold or platinum, so forth in all resources. that's the better idea.

[@sandal_thong8631]

I like some of the things he says about undermining dictatorships in other videos, based on his book _Defeating Dictators (2011)._ But he's contradictory in some of the things he says here. (Maybe that's true of all economists?) For instance, he's on a kick about the solution for African nations is within Africa. That plays well to local anti-imperialist feeling. But he means there were local markets and free farmers before communist-style controlled economies were imposed (i.e. price controls) resulting in reduced food production and smuggling. Now some of us have probably heard of China investing in Africa, but the media's stories haven't properly explained why and how this is bad. He seems to suggest it encourages corruption and postpones needed reforms. And during the Q&A he kind of fumbles it. Maybe it's about secret deals? Maybe they will impose harsh terms in the future? Well, it's been 12 years, so is Africa now under China's control?

[@mizushogun]

I just hope that china is there to help the African people, not there for land, power, or resources. The only benefits they should get is trade and allies, that's it nothing else.

[@PappaDocRocRoc]

Land, power, and resources is EXACTLY why China is there. Don't be fooled.

[@tuforu4]

23 trillion $$$$$ of minerals in congo

[@yawadrusdaniel6313]

Sir, with permission and all due respect, An Economist brilliant academic. What are our PHDs and Master in Science and Technology and Advancement in Economics and Social Development on( Ahead Aeons) doing in African Continent, am in agreement of the language used" the solutions to Africans problems are here in Africa) of course, If a Head of States managing an Economy is a Father who has foresighted aims for its country the Welfare States, from ethnicities, Upgrading Agriculture and Farming improvement and attached innovations, Researches in Science and Technology and How to geared-up the Economy for another to take over. and Dwells in the House of "Corruptions and Nepotism and government abuses(likewise no regard for that States of African Legal Laws and Internation Laws) then African Leaders are on "Ego Trips". Absurd "Show Off" and Disgraceful. Permission to all Concern and pardon me for the words. Later Respects all ethnicities, you Rule Over them. please be that Muslims or Christians in Africa. Sack. OSU(Accra)Cape Coast. "Deu reus Upmass" Africa. SACKEY. English@Euros families name ONLY.. Accra(OSU)

[@JamesDubreze]

But George that’s the same speech you gave to Ted. That’ s a repeat… lol

[@monalisawm]

Africa should be one country with different nation....one currency one bank one passport one unity

[@Thuon_]

Monalisa Angelo-Gabriel yeah ma'am.

[@enodd_felix12]

N one quadrillionaire

[@Sophie-iv4ci]

And then lots of internal wars?!

[@edwardtang1977]

africa would sell to China its resources anyway..building infrustructure is a bonus. Would you like China to stop helping you? and do it the western way? China forgave 31 country's debt in Africa. They are not taking your resources for free. They pay for it.

[@andylee531]

do you know how many peopls living homelessly in the USA???

[@tavernburner3066]

No. nor am I interested.

[@Farhan917]

China needs to stay away from corrupt officials in Africa. That's what George is trying to say here, corrupt officials share the blame with the west. Yes, in the past the West were the reason but same goes to the people who sold their land and people.

[@cyelgreen4655]

Has they advanced in the last 10 years.

[@GideonAbochie]

If you read Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins the current African condition will make sense to you.

[@domstano1]

Was the four oil block colateral? Because Nigeria still has to pay $5 billion in loan payments

[@onjilishadrack3508]

I am not sure of that.because China as a country have it's interest.

[@supermans500]

"stephen chan", lol.

[@DBrusco_]

what is wrong with bater?? What presidential palace in Zimbabwe???

[@sergioestevao9262]

He does not know what he is talking about, democracy has failed in Afrika, China does trade and not aid. Nevertheless, changes must be done to the type of trade...

[@edmundlubega9647]

George is an inspiring speaker but I don't subscribe to his Sinophobic sentiments. Anyway time has since proved him wrong on that account demonstrating the positive influence of China in Africa

[@shizzo4nizzo]

How can an African be so critical of issues about Africa while himself residing in the US? selfish well-educated Africans living abroad like Ayittey have a significant contribution to the infamous foreign aid saga in Africa. I think Mr Ayittey is neither a cheetter nor a hippo, but a vulture, spectating from a distance and waiting to scavenge what others a struggling to achieve.

[@iBOXRIVER]

What a bullshit ill thought out attempt to discredit him. He is within in his rights to travel if he wants to. There are millions of African Americans who share the same views and they were born in America and should not leave just because you want then to show and prove.

[@jeviosoorishas181]

Abeg, shut up, what nonsense are you talking about. Anybody who lives in Africa, knows that our African leaders are rubbish, fat and greedy. It is not us in Africa who need to hear that, but you people outside of Africa who think that it is colonization or white supremacy that is causing us to suffer. Maybe if you understand that, you will stop providing them with aid, and force them to have to obey us for their survival.

[@oeu3669]

So Africans must stay in Africa and not go anywhere in the world because you said so?? You sound angry that you yourself cannot travel. imagine discrediting a man because of where he lives. Do you discredit the colonisers living in your country destroying it??? or do you just have this colonised view of your own? If you are NOT AFRICAN - then your brainless and ridiculous comment makes sense.

[@GavinFinley153]

A great presentation, thanks so much. There is more to geography of Africa than just raw materials and Western or Chinese exploitation. There is the problem of disease, of many warring tribal groups, of voodoo, of IQ. Academic elites are usually fixated on economics. They are unable to appreciate Human Resources and what makes for good people and productive citizens. They are unable to evaluate or cherish the spiritual resources that Christian Faith brings to Africa. They are unable to see how this faith brings an array of virtue into a culture to change it for the better.

[@gizachewalemnesh1611]

What good presentaion

[@stymie662]

Why are you even watching this video?

[@gizachewalemnesh1611]

Even you not feel ashamed still disgrow African, Africa is very natural gifted land in the world, have unique nature and animal but no have good leader, corrupted leader the cNcer of the country also for our planet

[@andylee531]

critizing is always the simplest way on solving the problems, but also the most uesless one. what an economist shud do is to present the constructive suggestion. but where was it??? remember rarnon, on this planet only china is willing to and capable of bringing africans the modernization whereas the west are de-industrializing the africa. if he doent like what china has been doing in africa, no problem, cut the tie with china, find his angel in this world, good luck

[@landflame]

there should have been at least one Chinese standing on stage for debates across all these issues...

[@lloydparks450]

Just do it and stop talking about it..

[@gizachewalemnesh1611]

African Union 54 years old but nothing doing. Dull union

[@gizachewalemnesh1611]

54 country present dulls

[@andylee531]

WHO PAYS THE GHANAIAN PROF. GEORGE AYITTEY???????? google it under the title "WHO PAYS THE GHANAIAN PROF. GEORGE AYITTEY" jaja, no kidding：）

[@walter10086]

中国人不愿与你们讨论你们的国家的政治，愿意学谁学谁。中国人关注的是非洲绝大多数底层人的生活，因此建设好了一大批桥梁、公路、铁路。让世界链接非洲。

[@XanaduC919]

He's a bit negative.

[@dkwartdkwart223]

where on earth did this guy learn his english ....

[@CrowdPleeza]

+derrick kwarteng I had no problem understanding him.

[@theimplacableauthoritarian2938]

Babangida boogie, one step forward, three step backward and land on their big fat swiss bank account.

[@domstano1]

What? His English is really good

[@Unclejamsarmy]

derrick kwarteng his English is excellent. He just has an African accent.

[@dcwashingtonpresident5938]

Clear to me and I'm from Washington DC