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Oppenheimer on Africa
David McKay
Posted: Mon, 04 Jul 2005
[miningmx.com] -- DE BEERS chairman Nicky Oppenheimer isn’t exactly suspicious, but he wonders at the timing of the British government’s Commission for Africa, a 400-page report asking for an extra US$25bn in aid for Africa by 2010. It asks for a further $25bn in aid by 2015, a request at which rich country finance ministers may cavil.
“Why now? Why have they come to Africa now?” asks Oppenheimer. “I have an awful feeling that it suits their domestic agenda.”
Speaking to the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Britain, Oppenheimer was critical of Europe’s blanket version of African life. There was too much misunderstood attention given to its instances of penury and not enough to its successes and diversity. “It [Africa] is much more than just a suitable case for charity,” Oppenheimer said.
“I’m torn about the Africa Commission,” he says. “They love to talk about
Africa. They love to make it a single black hole that’s desperately in need of help. But to resolve some of the problems there needs to be a more considered approach on a country-by-country basis. And then they need to get involved.
“One of the problems of SA is that we’re always looking back – understandably, because of our history. But the aid givers never seem to look back. It’s as if aid had never been given to Africa before. Let’s not repeat the same mistakes again.”
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