In this highly
globalised world, competition from foreigners within respective national
economies are not only inevitable, but they can also be very beneficial for the
host economy. They have their own benefits of, among others, increased skill
and knowledge transfer. But for nations which strategically put their own
selves—their own citizenry and businesses—in positions of ‘second-class
citizens’, such infiltrations by such foreign entities can only spell doom.
Indeed, when
you take the world's leading industries, such as mining, telecommunications,
construction, manufacturing, etc., what do we see prevailing in the Ghanaian
ecosystem? Regrettably, these sectors are often dominated by foreign entities,
while Ghanaians are relegated to the margins, competing for very limited
opportunities—in their very own home! But you take developed nations like the
United State of America, and what do you find?
In sharp
contrast, this nation’s top companies are American-owned (or largely
American-owned)—from Apple to Microsoft, Nvidia (the world’s leading AI
company), Alphabet (owners of Google), Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Berkshire
Hathaway, Eli Lilly (a leading pharmaceutical company), Broadcom, Tesla,
Walmart, JPMorgan Chase, Visa, UnitedHealth, Exxon Mobil, Mastercard, Oracle,
etc. And there is a reason for this: it is local businesses that build great
nations. Every other factor—external factors to boot—are merely complementary.
The World Bank, put this perfectly when it wrote regarding the
African continent’s mining sector specifically (in an article titled ‘Can
Natural Resources Pave the Road to Africa’s Industrialization?’):
“Even if rising demand for raw materials from the booming cities of
China and India, among others, has driven growth in Africa’s mining sector,
most of the continent has not yet translated mineral wealth into
industrialization and widespread economic development. Most African countries
continue to export raw materials and then pay a premium to import the products
made with them.”
Indeed, African
countries—resource-rich African nations—are not living up to their fullest
potentials. This is because they are not their own topmost producers. They run
a highly-reliant foreign-business regime.
And this is why
the continent is not succeeding at the pace it should. Because here is the
thing about foreign entities: it is in their nature, quite understandably, to
operate a system of ‘grab and go’. It is in no foreign business’s
organisational mission and vision statements to ultimately see to the
socio-economic wellbeing and advancement of their host countries.
Any nationalistic goal they may have—going
beyond their own organisational goal—will always be for their own home nations.
Unlike homegrown companies, foreign companies often have no interest in
re-investing in their host nations, nor diversifying into other sectors so as
to cause further growth and increased employment in their host nations. On the
other hand, re-investments and diversifications are the first languages of
homegrown companies.
Yet, the
Ghanaian businessman and woman find themselves always on tenuous grounds in
their own home. They do not have the benefit of an ease of survival as their foreign competitors, as discussed in
last week’s article. Yet after navigating these many challenges, the very few
Ghanaian businesses that manage to survive, are left to face yet another
hurdle—one which can only be described as
self-hate.
Sadly, we often leave these very important national conversations
to get lost in political noise. Because there you have an individual as
prominent in the Ghanaian business ecosystem for many years like the CEO of the
McDan Group, Dr. Daniel McKorley recently lamenting the lack of support or the
availability of very limited support to Ghanaian businesses by, among others,
Ghanaian governments... During the Ghana CEO Presidential Gala, an event which
happened on the 7th November, 2024, Dr. McKorley noted, “I will be
very blunt… Government policies have really not helped the private sector. That
is where we are sitting right now, and we have to be frank about it.”
But some political forces—and Ghanaians, in fact—choose to dismiss
this as an Oliver asking for more, Yet, this does not take away from this very
ingrained, broader national issue. And the issue is this: it is way too
difficult for Ghanaian businesses to find successes and longevity in this
country of ours.
Yet, after
painstakingly navigating these endless hurdles, the Ghanaian is faced with yet
another set of hurdles. A set of hurdles which isn’t particularly easily
discernible by the naked eye. This particular set of hurdles is much more
covert in its methods. It often comes in the guise of serving the ‘public
good’. But really, when those actors and actions are keenly investigated, you
find lying behind it all, a concerted effort by Ghanaians—empowered by foreign
forces—to strategically bring fellow Ghanaians down. Either intentionally or
unintentionally. An action unmistakably reminiscent of the colonial era.
Fuelled by foreign
energy
When you find certain organisations, entities, CSOs, etc., that are
largely financed by foreign entities, purporting to be conducting certain
activities towards the public good, you have every reason to be reflective—and
question the real intentions behind their operations and the intentions of
their financiers. This is because many a time, these foreign financiers have
been known to finance certain operations, so-called public-geared initiatives,
and certain CSOs with their own ruthless and clandestine objectives and
interests in mind. Neocolonialism at its very best!
For instance, in the 1990s, a Nestlé salesman in the developing
country of Pakistan, whistle-blowed on Nestlé’s unethical and illegal practice
of bribing Pakistani doctors to push Nestlé’s baby formulas to mothers—by very
incorrectly and heartlessly recommending these formulas as being more
beneficial to their babies than breast milk. Since 2011, the company has been
under investigation in China over the same allegation. The company was also
found to have bribed a certain Ernest W. Lefever, an American political
theorist and foreign affairs expert and founder of the Ethics and Public Policy
Center, USA to influence a then medical report his institution was undertaking
on medical care in developing countries, such as ours.
Yes, this multinational giant, literally, countlessly bought and
paid for scientists to do their bidding.
That is why as Africans, as Ghanaians as we are, looking at the
history we have had as a people, we have every reason to be investigative and
doubtful of those organisations and entities who tend to be largely funded by
foreign forces. We have every reason to be wary, for we as a people know what
our weaknesses are—our tendencies towards neocolonialism… Our tendencies
towards falling as victims of neocolonialism. So much so that you can easily
transport this case of Nestlé in Pakistan and China to Ghana and see, very
blatantly, a similar situation ensuing without hesitation.
How robustly have we as a people built ourselves against being used
as puppets by the puppeteers of the developed world? How well can you trust
your fellow Ghanaian to have built themselves from being used as same? I can
only guess that your faith in us as a people is low—and with reason.
That is why when we hear these instances of such Ghanaian
organisations rallying behind foreign entities in their fight against certain
local competitors, you as a Ghanaian, have every reason to be reflective—to
look at the issues more keenly, read between the lines to sniff out any neo-colonialist
plot that may be at play.
>>>the writer is a media & political
communication analyst. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Media,
Arts & Communication
