A Place To Start Helping?

The Germans, Belgians, and French arrived in what is now the Central African Republic in 1885. In 1887 the French signed a convention with Congo giving them control over the Oubangui River. In 1894 the French made Oubangui-Chari one of their territories. In 1910 it became part of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa (A.E.F.). The French instituted a plantation-style economy which stayed in place, gradually weakening, until the Central African Republic declared independence in 1960.

1966 saw Jean-Bédel Bokassa take over the country in a coup, abolish the constitution, and begin rule by decree. Bokassa was supported through coup and assassination attempts by France who needed uranium from the Central African Republic to support their nuclear program. Even after finally supporting a coup against Bokassa in 1979 in favour of David Dacko, France granted Bokassa asylum from charges of treason, murder, cannibalism and embezzlement.

Dacko was overthrown by General André Kolingba who slowly, under political pressure brought democracy to the Central African Republic. In 1993 elections were held and Ange-Félix Patassé won his first six year term as president. Patassé won another six year term in 1999 and, with the help of French and UN forces, held onto power until 2003 when rebels installed General François Bozizé as president. The latest coup took place while the world’s eyes were on Iraq last year. The violence in Central Africa did not make the mainstream news.

That is a short and incomplete history that brings us up to the present. The present is not a wonderful time to be a Central African according to the CIA World Fact Book’s entry for the Central African Republic. AIDS is running between twelve and fifteen percent, life expectancy is just over 41 years, infant mortality is just over 92 deaths per 1,000 births, only about half over the age of fifteen can read and write, and political upheaval in the neighbouring countries of Chad and Sudan have a tendency to bubble over the borders.

In spite of deforestation and desertification being major environmental problems, timber is the main agricultural product for export. There are uranium, diamonds, gold and possibly oil in the Central African Republic, but most of the resources are not being exploited and those that are tend to be exploited in ways that harm the environment. The proceeds from that exploitation stay in the hands of the wealthy (the richest 10% of Central Africans control almost 48% of the wealth). Much of the wealth created by the exploitation of natural resources, mostly diamonds at this point, is taken out of the country by the foreign conglomerates who control the operations. Meanwhile according to the UN 95% of Central Africans live on less than two dollars a day.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank are deeply involved in the region and pushing for the same sort of development, trade, and economic reforms that have caused so many problems elsewhere.

The Central African Republic does have resources to trade and the G8 members involved would very much like to access those resources. There are few roads and little infrastructure but the building of roads and infrastructure risks the possibility of opening the area up to conflict from Sudan, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There are already approximately 200,000 internally displaced persons in the Central African Republic and with the precarious nature of the nation’s food supply, risking further conflict in the area could be a recipe for disaster.

At the same time, the lack of roads and infrastructure mean that 1,000,000 Central Africans live in isolation and do not have access to education and health care. As one of the ten worst affected countries in the HIV/AIDS crisis that has even more dire implications because the crisis cannot be effectively dealt with if health care and education are not readily available.

There are also ecological concerns. A reasonable part of the Central African Republic’s future development could depend on tourism and scientific study. Roads and infrastructure are necessary to accommodate those things, but too much development carried out in the wrong ways can have a serious negative impact on the development of wild life preserves, the continuation of cultural traditions, and the overall supply of basics like potable water. Too often in the rush to develop natural resources or develop an eco-tourism industry, such things are put on the back burner. In the end that undermines attempts to take advantage of those resources to improve the lives of local inhabitants.

The Central African Republic is not immune to the problem of bushmeat being taken and lost 30,000 hectares of forest between 1990 and 2000 according to the World Wildlife Fund and Monga Bay. Child soldiers are also a factor. While these problems are much less in the Central African Republic than other African nations, they can become much worse if the proper steps are not taken.

The Central African Republic’s history is very instructive to those concerned about imperialism. It has suffered greatly in the past under colonial rule. It continues to suffer today under the influence of past colonial masters, and the present funding of the IMF and World Bank. It is presently on the cusp of moving forward, with democratic elections tentatively scheduled for 2005, and the direction the country takes could go either way. We can create another state where civil war runs rampant and poverty, disease, violence, and terror are constant companions. We can allow yet another state to fail because of economic concerns.

We can also work with the people of the Central African Republic to create an example of how to do things properly. Canada has a considerable expertise in mining in remote areas. While our environmental record is far from immaculate, or even good, we also have considerable knowledge in that area. A prominent Canadian, Stephen Lewis, is the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. Paul Martin seems to have somewhat of a relationship with Bono, who has chosen to champion not only AIDS, but debt relief for countries that have fallen in to straits they cannot escape under the current system. Perhaps Bono can have a chat with Mr. Martin about the importance of African states overcoming their problems and succeeding. We can push for debt reduction and for loans from the International Monetary Fund to be forgiven and for economic restructuring not to be based on the usual model of subservient client state selling raw materials to the developed world at discount prices.

Canada has expertise in rural development and water purification. We are proficient in technology. We have an abundance of educated people who can teach what we’ve learned to the people of the Central African Republic.

Canada is already somewhat involved in the Central African Republic. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) is already involved in a program to demobilise soldiers there. They provide a transitional allowance and some business training to soldiers who will put down their weapons. It is an important program but we need to do more if the Central African Republic is to succeed.

If Canada wants to move forward in the world while helping others, and we continue to at least pay lip service to those goals, there are worse places to start than the Central African Republic. The problems they are facing are not yet insurmountable and they can become an example of how to do things right.

By helping the Central African Republic we can show the world that there is a better way, that something can be done.

Note: Central African Republic Jean-Bédel Bokassa entry International Monetary ... World Bank problems bushmeat 30,000 hectares factor Stephen Lewis AIDS debt relief expertise The Canadian Internati...