The EU. Does it really help African Countries?

Imagine the value of the dollar bill in your pocket decreasingly less than twelve hours. Imagine your country taking a loan that they can never repay. The taxation on exporting certain items, increasing then falling, not knowing if your paycheck will ever be steady. The economy in Sub-Saharan Africa is changing; sometimes this change is for the better when other times it is for the worse. The European Union has helped these countries in many ways, but how can an organization that is over four thousand miles away, help people?

The “aid and debt relief made Western actions appear to be chiefly responsible for poverty alleviation in Africa” (Tupy), meaning that organizations like the EU have not been very effective to help poverty. The EU's, help need not aid all the African countries because they only want to focus on the nations that need the most help. But once the EU stops giving out loans to the countries, the African countries struggle to keep their economy afloat.

Once these loans stop helping the African nations, the countries who have gone deeper into poverty because they have been “declining from above, rather than being stuck in it from below [...] The identity of who is in the poverty trap keeps changing, [so it] must not be [...] a trap” (Tupy). To help the economy of the entire African continent, the EU and other multinational organizations, need to find ways that would benefit all the nations, not just the ones that they choose. Also, to help increase the economy, each African government can start by managing to keep stable jobs to reduce their poverty. They must focus on jobs that would help the economy, like manufacturing and agriculture (Said). The EU has harmed more than it has helped Africa entire because of the decisions that the countries that are involved make.

Even though Brexit was a decision that the UK made, it still had an almost instant effect on African countries. South Africa was the first one to experience the impact of it (Tan). The value of the South African rand, 0.069 US dollars, decreased by 8% in less than a day with Brexit (Tan), hurting the countries' economy. The lack of British participation has affected the EU’s participation in helping the few countries that the EU have helped (Tan). In response to Brexit, the EU has had to put more taxes on the products being exported from Africa. For example, if coffee beans are roasted there is a 7.5 percent tax on it compared to non-roasted caffeinated coffee tax-free.

The EU has not made it very easy for African countries to progress economically. “South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya - are not on that United Nations list of [Least Developed Countries because] they are bigger economic players and there is more to be gained from commercial relations with them" (Walker). The more economic profit the EU can make from the African countries, the better it is for the EU.

Said, Jonathan, and Claudia Fife. "How to achieve inclusive growth in Africa." New African, Oct. 2018, p. 36+. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A561565169/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=5f5fded7.

Tan, Amelia. “Africa after Brexit | Africa Renewal.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/august-2016/africa-after-brexit.

Tupy, Marian L. “Africa Needs to Expand Free Trade.” Africa, edited by David Haugen and Susan Musser, Greenhaven Press, 2012. Opposing Viewpoint. Opposing Viewpoints in context, https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010216291/OVIC?u=los42754&sid=OVIC&xid=bf7bfd61. Accessed 11 Mar. 2019. Originally published as “The False Promise of Gleneagles: Misguided at the Heart of the New Push of African Development,” CATO Development Policy Analysis, no. 9, 24 Apr. 2009.

Walker, Andrew. “Reality Check: What Are the Tariffs on Trade with Africa?” BBC News, BBC, 31 Aug. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/business-45342607.