“It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”
A lesson from childhood—but one that defines diplomacy and trade today.
For years, American media voices like Lou Dobbs warned about the dangers of outsourcing, trade imbalances, and corporate greed. Corporate America, chasing cheap labor, moved manufacturing overseas. Short-term profits soared—but long-term resilience declined.
As U.S. industries hollowed out, policies like AGOA aimed to export democracy and goodwill. But was this generosity one-sided? Did tariff-free access to U.S. markets weaken America’s own trade balance? And how can the U.S. reconcile its dual identity—global democracy promoter and corporate champion?
Meanwhile, Africa stands at a crossroads. We must move beyond assembly plants. Manufacturing cannot stop at cheap labor and raw material extraction. Africa deserves industrial ecosystems that serve its people and future.
China saw this early. In response to 1980s U.S. quotas, it pivoted—investing $5 billion to expand trade with Africa the very day of the 1987 U.S. market crash. That foresight reshaped global trade. America is only now catching up.
In development, ‘cheaper’ in the short to medium term doesn’t always mean better in the long term. Understanding the distinction between ‘expense’ and ‘ investment makes all the difference. Now, on hindsight, what America saw as an ‘expense’ to be outsourced, China, India, Indonesia, and Vietnam saw this as an ‘investment’ in capacity with eyes on the long term. The rest is history, as we now see it – another generation of Asian manufacturing tigers.
Therefore, this should be a lesson on how Africa positions itself to lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The time for responsible capitalism and mutual development is now.
Let’s ask the hard questions—and chart a better path.