A United States of Africa: the next China, India, Brazil Addressing a forum on good governance in Dar es Salaam on 14 November 2009, business tycoon Mo Ibrahim underscored the need and urgency of African unification:  "We need African integration and we need that now, not tomorrow," Mo stressed. "Who are we to think that we can have 53 tiny countries and be able to compete with China, India, Europe and America?" Speaking before a group of European investors previous to the Dar event, Mo asked them to raise their hands if they knew Mobutu Sese Seko and Sani Abacha. Everybody did. When he asked whether they knew Festus Mogae, no hand was raised. Africa is famous for the tyranny and corruption of its dictators. The United States of Africa will be a popularly prescribed federal system that will clean up the image of the African continent. That constitutional federation will be the source of an investment-friendly democratic culture founded on the rule of law, citizen participation in the political process and accountable government. A progressive United States of Africa will attract overseas investors and set Africa on a path of accelerated and sustainable economic growth. Economically, the proposed United States of Africa will be the next China, Brazil or India. African unification is driven by the economics of harnessing its natural resources for wealth creation and prosperity Uprooting the causes of poverty  Nelson Mandela, 2008 In order to root out the causes of poverty and starvation in Africa through civic education for constitutional democracy, citizen participation in the political process, accountable government, free and fair elections, correct public spending priorities and eradication of official corruption and impunity, AfricanConstitution.Org advances rural empowerment for the marginalized and impoverished majority of Africans as a strategic initiative toward self-reliance, growth and prosperity. Mandela Foundation) War on famine  On 22 April 2009, Dr. Moyo's critique of foreign aid to Africa was strongly corroborated with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telling the House Foreign Affairs Committee that American development assistance funding to the African continent had failed to achieve its purpose and a majority of Africans were poorer today than they were initially. Why foreign aid has not worked for Africa can be best explained with the true story of an African student in the US in the 1990s who went to the campus clinic with persistent lower abdominal pain. Without diagnosing the cause of his illness, his physician administered the wrong treatment on him. As his pain worsened day in and day out and the physician kept prescribing pain killers to relieve his suffering, the student stormed a local hospital and demanded a CAT scan, which found one of his kidneys to be badly swollen with a huge tumor. The diseased organ was removed and the patient regained his health. Getting to the bottom of the shocking poverty and starvation in Africa and uprooting their causes are how a famine-free Africa can be achieved. Genocide by another name  |
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