for all african countries, political independence did not mean economic development as well, because the pattern of economic relationships between them and the developed countries remained the same. africa still depended on the european nations for capital for development and technology. african countries still supplied raw materials to the industrialized nations and in turn she buys from them manufactured goods of all sorts, in fact, the worst part of the arrangement is that africa has no control over the prices of her goods and those she imports. the industrialized nations control both. **what is responsible for this, and what is the way out?

in fact, the worst part of the arrangement is that africa has no control over the prices of her goods

We are free to double the price of Nigerian crude oil if we want to. It's just that no-one would buy it. And do you blame them? Why should someone buy Nigerian oil for $110 when he'she can buy it at Saudi Arabia for much less?

If you want to blame someone for the "low" price of oil, blame the Saudis and Russians for having "too much" oil. Wait a minute, we are guilty of the same crime! Somewhere out there there are oil-producing countries complaining that oil prices will be higher if AMericans buy oil from them at $11o instead of buying it from us at $55.

Do you get what I'm trying to say? No one sets the price of oil. You can set any price you like, but if you don't set a price that is right, no one is going to buy it. If Americans demand a price that's too low, we'l sell to someone else.

and those she imports.

We have 100% control over the prices of the goods we import. Let me explain:

Don't forget, first of all, that importation is a private sector business. Traders (human beings like you and I) are the ones who convert their naira to dollars to try to import various items to satisfy local demand and make profit so they can import more tommorrow. They are free to demand lower prices, but if the prices they demand are too low, they will not be able to import anything. If the prices the sellers demand are too high, they won't buy anything either.

So you see, no one "sets" prices in the real world. If we were to "set" the price of oil, it will be maybe $1 billion per barrel and cocoa will be $1000 per bean. But if we "set" such prices, no one will buy from us. On the other hand, the people buying our exports will like to have it for free, but for the price of $0.00 we will definitely refuse to sell anything. In the proces of negotiation, a price somewhere between what the buyer wants ($0) and what the seller wants ($9999999999999999.99) is agreed upon eventually through bidding and negotiation.

No one can control a market, not even the super-powers of the world. If they could not prevent CHina from thriving, they cannot prevent us from thriving specially when international trade happens to be a win win proposition for both the developing nations and Africans.

The are only two major problems in Africa right now: war and politicians.

seun, please, i beg to disagree with you. have you ever heard of 'dependency'? it is a situation created by colonialism in virtually all African countries. it is a situation in which the economy of African states depends on, and is conditioned by the development and expansion of the economies of Western Europe and America. seun, African states have no control over international markets for their primary products. if you still dont agree, then i'll tell you about 'neo-colonialism'. this is seen as a new imperialist system for holding the developing countries in a state of dependence and exploitation under conditions when direct dominance has been eliminated and the balance of the forces in the world has changed in the favour of socialism. i am open to more suggestions seun.

You need to study O Level Economics.

seun, please, i beg to disagree with you. have you ever heard of 'dependency'?

'Dependency' is what keeps sensible nations from going to war. For example, the Americans can't bomb us to oblivion even though their citizens are being kidnapped in the Niger Delta because they need our oil. And we need their computers and their Internet and their technical knowhow.

Voluntary trade is always win-win because no-one would trade if they weren't gaining from it.

it is a situation in which the economy of African states depends on, and is conditioned by the development and expansion of the economies of Western Europe and America.

All countries depend on many other countries. America depends on Nigeria and Nigeria depends on America.

seun, African states have no control over international markets for their primary products.

The American state doesn't control international markets either. No single entity controls any market anywhere. Markets are controlled by the private buyers and sellers in the market - you and me.

Markets only need willing buyers and sellers, but the evil political class interferes for its own personal gain.

The struggle is not between The West an Africa. It's between the coercive ruling class and its unwilling subjects.

if you still don't agree, then i'll tell you about 'neo-colonialism'. this is seen as a new imperialist system for holding the developing countries in a state of dependence and exploitation under conditions when direct dominance has been eliminated and the balance of the forces in the world has changed in the favour of socialism.

Grammar. If socialism is so wonderful, why don't you just move to Cuba?

i am open to more suggestions seun.

Start a business that addresses a need. Make profit. Reinvest the profits every year to build the business and help more people. If you care about hunger, become a farmer. If you care about malaria, be a mosquito net marketer. Whetever African need it is you care about, start a business that addresses the need in a sustainable (profitable) manner.

That, my friend, is what Africa needs. Politicians can only interfere in this process. They cannot help us.

walaty:
for all african countries, political independence did not mean economic development as well, because the pattern of economic relationships between them and the developed countries remained the same. africa still depended on the european nations for capital for development and technology. african countries still supplied raw materials to the industrialized nations and in turn she buys from them manufactured goods of all sorts, in fact, the worst part of the arrangement is that africa has no control over the prices of her goods and those she imports. the industrialized nations control both. **what is responsible for this, and what is the way out?

This is the kind of threads that should be popular and widely discussed on this platform. Instead only two people took interest in it for over 16 years!

This is the reason Africa continues to be poor: we produce export products to which we add little value. crude oil, raw cocoa, cotton, groundout, coffee, etc. These goods have prices that are regulated on the global stage unlike the goods produced by western countries. Who sets the average price for processes milk or luxury wristwatches and cars?

Seun:

We are free to double the price of Nigerian crude oil if we want to. It's just that no-one would buy it. And do you blame them? Why should someone buy Nigerian oil for $110 when he'she can buy it at Saudi Arabia for much less?

You are wrong at the bolded. Opec largely controls the pricing of crude oil.
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