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February 17, 2022 - 1:04pm
Today African leaders are arriving in Brussels for a summit to discuss everything from vaccines to counter-terrorism efforts with EU leaders. As the FT reports, Charles Michel, president of the European Council, wants a “new alliance between Africa and Europe” while French president Emmanuel Macron announced, with Rooseveltian flourish, that the bloc was seeking a “New Deal with Africa”.
It is a highly ambitious plan, not least because relations between the two continents have soured during the pandemic for a whole host of reasons. As the FT notes, there is resentment among African leaders about the discriminatory travel bans against certain African countries late last year as well as helping to fuel to “vaccine apartheid” by hoarding Covid vaccines.
But this is where the FT is incorrect. In fact, Africa has had far more success than Europe in its handling of the Covid pandemic, and vaccines have not played a central part in that. Only 11% of the continent is vaccinated, and yet it has fared much better in terms of deaths, hospitalisations and case numbers than Europe. So why is there such a big push for delivering vaccines to Africa?
In fact, whenever Africa has adopted European-style practices during the pandemic, things have turned out much worse. Thanks to night curfews, border closures and heavy restrictions, large swathes of the African continent have suffered immensely, with hundreds of thousands slipping below the poverty line. Consequently, the continent is now suffering from 10-year high food prices, the effects of which have been especially punishing in African countries that have pursued more stringent lockdown measures. According to a new WSJ report, in Uganda, for instance, “trucks have been backed up for weeks along [the country’s] border with Kenya since new COVID-19 rules came into force at the beginning of the year”.
This is why the western narrative, promoted by the likes of the FT, Bill Gates and the EU, that Africa needs vaccines to overcome the pandemic is so misguided. Africa does not face the same problems as the West. Different continents — and countries — require different policies: a vaccine may work for countries with elderly populations, but it is not needed in Africa, has a much younger population.
It is therefore absolutely misleading to suggest that increasing vaccination of Africans is what will serve as a panacea to her increasing economic challenges. Indeed, Africa is dealing with a number of problems, ranging from a spate of coups across the continent to soaring food prices. But the idea that vaccines will deliver us from all these dangers is completely non-sensical and harmful. Such narratives are harmful to the continent, and I hope that African leaders will say as much to EU leaders today.
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SubscribeThe casual racism of progressives when it comes to Africa never fails to amuse.
Reminds me of Band Aid, which utterly ignored African music.
Completely agree with the main thread of the article here.
I have lived in East Africa for 5 years. The economic devastation caused by African governments copying the West’s reaction to the pandemic has caused far far more harm than the virus itself: for thousands of school children this damage is irreparable.
There is also a suspicion in a couple of countries here that aid / loans are tied to vaccine uptake, and of course, that the West doesn’t really care about vaccinating Africans to protect Africans (they already are protected it seems); more that it wants to stop another variant emerging from our ‘backwards’ nations that will affect the more-elderly west: with all the concomitant echoes of colonial self-interest that that entails.
Note also the fact that hailing African success in dealing with the pandemic almost always comes with the caveat that ‘their testing systems are no good, so the real numbers are much higher’, as if people are disappointed that Africa hasn’t suffered as much as other continents in the pandemic.
Inflation, is really hurting where I am, although links are never made to the restrictions that were imposed. So I echo the writer’s hopes that the leaders assembled in Europe will share some of these truths. However, I remain unconvinced that the current crop of leaders will do so. I dearly hope to be proved wrong.
George Gammon (makes great economic conspiracy videos – but where there is smoke there usually is fire) says the IMF is causing the third and developing world to implement lockdowns and vax for nefarious purposes. And at a huge negative cost to themselves.
Basically his position is the developing world are utterly dependent on a hard money supply to pay their $$ Debts, which were given so freely (and other hard currencies debt). As their economies are weakened by Western lockdowns, and the consequential reduced global economic activity, their currencies fall in value. Then they have to buy $ on the world markets with their currencies to pay their $ debts – so devalue their currencies even more – and so a death spiral became inevitable.
The IMF is the only way they can avoid this, by more $ loans – but the IMF is totally owned by the Elites of the WEF – and their policy is 100% ALL MUST VAX, and Lockdown. (this is their tool to capture the Western economies – see the $ Trillions squandered, the people paid to not produce wile still consuming, interest kept zero wile inflation rages, the acceptance of loss of rights and freedoms…)
THUS the IMF told the developing world that if they hoped for a bailout in the coming years they must Lockdown and Vax now – to keep the Global Covid Agenda alive! (If all the developing world continued as normal – and had no covid issues without the vax – the Westerners would come to doubt the mandates, so they must lock+vax too – although it damages then vastly – otherwise no more $ loans to make their $ debt payments…)
Gammon has several IMF/WEF videos in his library on youtube – here is one, a quick scan through them will show several more…They tell of the two being one. This is IMF and vax. So – the third world is wrecked – to maintain the Plandemic lies……. as lockdowns and vax are destructive to them. The vax risk/benefit measure is Hugely different to every nation – and individual, and the vax only fits as a positive in this measure for a tiny minority….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28Xd8gTcH8Q
Watch the video to see not all is as it is presented by the establishment –
(I expect to one day be in detention for my posts here – the secret police are being directed to domestic wrong thinkers)
Excellent summary Galeti. George Gammon has a superb way of explaining pretty complex macro economics, and related topics, in a way that others can understand. In doing so he also sets of many light bulb moments in his viewers as many have not previously connected the dots.
Sounds about right
It is about the digital ID. It has nothing to do with the “vaccine”
The EU has bigger problems than Covid..
Covid never was the problem to any nation. Early treatments (see Dr McCullough and Dr Malone and Dr Kory, and many more – search Joe Rogan for their nefarious 3 hour long interviews)
The dr McCullough Early Treatment Protocols would have saved 90% of all who died of covid if taken up by the West – instead early treatment was forbidden!
https://covid19.onedaymd.com/2021/11/dr-peter-mccullough-early-treatment.html
The West had it where one stayed home doing NOTHING till your lips turned blue, then went to hospital to be given remdesivir and 25% die for no reason. NO disease is refused early treatment But For COVID. This is to make it deadly, to force the Vax Uptake agenda.
Sorry – this is the IMF covid lockdown Gammon video where he explains how the IMF may have forced the third/developing world to lockdown and vax – a must watch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIJPl5SrxNo
We totally fixed on the West – but what is going on is Global…
Hear hear. In South Africa food prices have rocketed and availability of produce has declined… including fruit and veg. Why? Why is a sweet melon smaller and way more expensive? They grow here, the soil hasn’t changed.
Something is wrong. In South Africa there is a dull zoom class (and/or fat bank account class) and a bloated, lazy, nose picking civil servants class and large organisational class who have been constantly ‘self isolating’. These people have sailed through the pandemic getting paid, while kicking back in their pyjams, telling people that they are immoral if they don’t support lockdowns and multiple jabs and masks and the like. Occasionally on phoning these organisations you are redirected to one of the WFH representatives, who have a bad crackly home line and speak as though they are inside a tin can. I get angry even remembering some of these unacceptable wasteful experiences. This is not work, it is a farce.
These people haven’t even had the wit to look further than MSM when lolling around on their couches munching on chips and occasionally swiping an oily finger across an iPad screen or keyboard. I actually saw a video of Dr Susan Vosloo – a well known cardiac surgeon who controversially made her challenging views public via a zoom meeting that went viral. The one woman involved was laughing like a neighing horse, talking to people offscreen and then tellingly reached offscreen and brought back a half glass of red wine, which she slugged back. She was drunk. Not that I particularly mind a bit of drunkenness, but not when the stakes are that high in a work meeting.
We want to be able to travel. We want to build the economy. We want normal life to resume. We don’t want to be jabbed anymore. We want rid of these masks and restrictions. So says the bulk of the population – excluding the elite zoomers, many blood sucking civil servants (may they rot in hell for what they have put us through) and some random low-functioning middle classers who love the fear, drama and panic and think the are super clever and the arbiters of all things moral.
I am wearing the mask lower and lower if at all and am actively pushing back against hand sanitizer. How dare they spray me with their random strong scented, chemical potions.
I digress. Africa – push back!
Get rid of the elite and all your problems will be over
Dear Africa–Solve Your Own Problems!
I have no desire to help Africans; time for them to help themselves! Is anyone surprised that European intervention has made things worse?
I’m constantly told how smart, industrious, capable, and resourceful Africans are–in the US, in Europe, in Africa–everywhere.
So get on with it!
Agree. Absolutly. Every pixel right on.
By your skillful manipulating where your place of birth was – all your life has been pleasant and wealthy.
“Cecil Rhodes said, “you are an Englishman, and have subsequently drawn the greatest prize in the lottery of life.””
The stupid Developing world people did not bother to be born into wealth and freedom, having chosen to be born into poverty and despotism instead – so deserve their poverty – Right? Isn’t that what your up voters are saying?
What do you know about the place or circumstances of my birth?
But despite this, such keen insight into the mind of UnHerd commentators! Well done, you!
The poor will be far better off without you liberals constantly knee capping them.
Actually they should be helping us.
Completely agree. The developing world has suffered more from covid restrictions than from the disease itself, mainly for the reason you state, that their populations are much younger than in Western countries, age being a major risk factor for serious illness with covid. Africa has much bigger problems to deal with.
Not only that, but mass vaccination in the developing world is a pipe dream, involving as it does rapid roll-out dependent on robust infrastructure, and this would need to happen repeatedly given that the vaccine’s waning protection needs to be topped up continually. It took months to vaccinate the majority of the UK’s population even with our infrastructure and relatively concentrated population – how long would it take in Africa!? And that’s before you consider other factors such as cost and the high levels of vaccine hesitancy in many countries, usually far higher than the UK’s.
I’m pro-vaccination, but it has its limits and it just isn’t the solution in large parts of the world.
‘So why is there such a big push for delivering vaccines to Africa?’ So the vaccine manufacturers get paid.
Writing from South Africa where there are far more vaccines than patients interested in taking them yet ‘cases’ and hospitalisations and deaths from Covid are low. Unemployment, homelessness, TB, AIDS, hunger, lack of education, crumbling infrastructure, failing service delivery… these are high. Just a snippet: because of lockdowns over 47% of small businesses have failed; youth unemployment over 60%… But wear a mask and get vaccinated against a disease you’ve probably already had without even noticing and you’ll be fine. It’s just a game to try and get the African masses registered, chipped, jabbed and herded into line along with the rest of the world. It won’t work.
Different places, different circumstances, different solutions. It seems a simple concept, but that sort is difficult to express to the clever and well-educated, who only seem to understand complicated and convoluted concepts. How odd! 😉
Since when did the West care about Africa except for exploiting its resources. Look at Libya!
We won’t bother then.