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On Wednesday 12th August, I was among the few Tanzanian college and university students who attended the global seminar series at the Tanzania Global Development Learning Centre (TGDLC) under the World Bank’s sponsorship. On that day we heard from Mr. Vinay Bhargava, who is the Bank’s senior consultant. Among other things he spoke on the Bank’s ownership, aims, goals and objectives and on how it works.
Mr Bhargava told us that the World Bank is owned by 184 governments across the globe and that its members appoint their governors. The President of the World Bank is selected after the owning government proposes a candidate. He reports to the body of directors.
Mr Bhargava added that the bank was set up in 1944 to help in the financial reconstruction and development of nations affected by the Second World War (WWII) and that Germany and France succeeded in receiving aid for the reconstruction of their affected areas of economy. That’s when the question arose in my heart: "Why does Africa never succeed in receiving loans?" The answer was simple and clear. The World Bank was set up to help the reconstruction of the nations affected by world war.
It is a wonder to see African nations relying on the bank, yet the continent never suffered the two so-called world wars (the Mzungu wars). In my opinion, the continent suffered the Scramble for and Partition of Africa, the Berlin conference and the slave trade. This means the World Bank was set to continue the exploitation of Africa in order to reconstruct the WWII-affected nations (-European nations?). That is why over 50 years after the bank’s formation, Africa has not yet been able to take any step ahead in development. Among the policies of the World Bank adopted by Tanzania, is privatization. Tanzania is said to be among the third world countries doing well in privatization. Where is thie evidence for this? In the three percent corporate tax assessed after the unobserved sales of our precious minerals? In timber sales? In the sale of fish from the lakes?
In addition, Mr Bhargava talked on the current vision of the Bank i.e. to reduce poverty by 2015. Here I was again shocked to hear the illusion that countries which have no say in determining prices could reduce poverty. African nations need to understand that the main aim of the World Bank was to help countries which suffered world wars, and to reconstruct them economically. Not so those that suffered the slave trade. Therefore we need to establish our own body to reconstruct the countries affected by slavery.
The last and wonderful question posed was why were the headquarters of the World Bank in New York in the USA? Why not elsewhere in the world like Tanzania, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia or even in China? Mr Bhargava replied that it was an accidental decision. One can wonder why accidental decisions like that fall in USA and not in Africa. We see Africa facing various accidents why not the decision of the World Bank’s headquarters? I think Africa needs to think critically before following any trends and needs to make actions which are useful. We should stop expecting anyone outside Africa to make decisions for us, especially in this capitalist economy.
Also, Mr Bhargava spoke on the process of long term loans and technical advice for developing countries; this reflects that the World Bank’s advice and loans are underdeveloping Africa instead of developing it. For years now Africa has been following technical advice from abroad but it has been fruitless. Yet the so-called long term loans are becoming bitter to swallow when the time comes for paying back with unaffordable interest. This is the time to regard the World Bank’s loans and advice as a failure to Africa. It is claimed to work and make world a better place for life but as time goes by, the situation is becoming bitter.
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