Remembering the victims of slavery – and learning from them

Every year, 25 March marks International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. As we mark this day, under the theme “Remember Slavery: Triumphs and Struggles for Freedom and Equality”, let this African proverb guide us: “The child you give birth to has given birth to you.” In the modern-day context, this proverb tells us one thing: All problems that are of human making – including slavery and neo-slavery – will not defeat us unless we allow them to.

The Transatlantic slave trade was a horrendous crime against humanity, systematically perpetrated against people of African descent; against an entire continent. The gravity of the prejudice and bigotry involved in slavery had all the hallmarks of genocide. It was simply unspeakable.

All problems that are of human making – including slavery and neo-slavery – will not defeat us unless we allow them to.

But as we gather in 2018, knowing full well that “every adversity carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit”, we draw on the lessons of slavery and use that as a source of encouragement in the charting of a truly emancipated Africa. The Africa we want, eloquently envisioned in the African Union Agenda 2063, is one where no one is left behind, as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proclaim; where no one experiences deprivation that cripples and disarms people physically, emotionally and mentally, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. Neo-slavery is a reality, and solving it is the challenge of our time. 

Hope backed by hard work 

Our ancestors, who endured the dehumanisation of slavery, left us invaluable lessons, namely that of hope in adversity. This is not empty hope, but hope backed by commitment and selfless hard work to achieve the desired aspirations.

Stone-Town-Slave-Trade-Sculpture from-Flickr

We are reminded of Harriet Ann Jacobs, one of the most important female anti-slavery activists. This extraordinary woman managed to escape slavery and become a prominent abolitionist speaker and reformer.

We are reminded of Frederick Douglass, who rose to become the first black nominee for US Vice President. His famous remark “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong” speaks of a moral tenacity; a commitment to give all for the good of his people.

Neo-slavery is a reality, and solving it is the challenge of our time.    

We are reminded of the courage of Gaspar Yanga, a would-be slave from Gabon, whose valiant fight against slavery earned him the undisputed title of the First Liberator of the Americas. These icons of morality amidst decadence; of tenacity, commitment and the drive to do right against tremendous odds; of courage amidst adversity, squarely confront us today. They ask what we are doing when our youth, the embodiment of Africa’s sovereign capital, driven by hopelessness and despair, risk life, limb and dignity to cross the treacherous Mediterranean Sea in search of the elusive green pastures overseas. So many have been taken by the Mediterranean, and many more are sold in modern-day slave markets. Yet they are leaving behind, right here in Africa, the opportunity to create a US$1trillion dollar agro-industry. That is a travesty indeed. 

They ask what we are doing when mothers bury their 5-year-old children, dead from malnutrition on a continent blessed with 65% of the globe’s arable land. 

Child slave in a cocoa farm. Photo: TheIndependent.sg

They ask what we are doing when 12 million of our youth compete for just 3 million jobs, even when the 365 days of sunshine we enjoy on this continent could be harnessed in solar micro-grids to power agro-industries capable of creating more than 17 million jobs.

Overshadowing all these challenges, with a compounding effect, is climate change, the elephant in the room, which threatens to shrink the economies of developing countries – most of which are in Africa – by a whopping 75%.     

As the African proverb goes, “There is a time to gather stones and a time to scatter them.” With the challenges we face today on one hand, and the lessons of courage, selflessness, commitment, morality, hard work and dedication amidst adversity that our heroes and heroines of slavery left us, we must draw the proverbial line in the sand now! Are we going to gather these stones of courage, selflessness, commitment, hard work and morality and use them as building blocks in solving the challenges we face today? Or are we going to scatter them to the detriment of ourselves, those generations yet to be born and the planet we live on? I choose the former – and so do millions of others across the continent and the world. Let’s use the lessons taught by our heroes and heroines of the transatlantic slave trade to solve the core challenge of neo-slavery by creating inclusive wealth opportunities under the changing climate. 

Read: Slavery crisis in Libya: Questioning the AU’s urgency

Beating neo-slavery by creating opportunities for inclusive wealth

To create inclusive wealth opportunities under the changing climate, a three-pronged strategy needs to guide us all. Firstly, we need to maximise the productivity of Africa’s catalytic sectors. Catalytic sectors are those sectors of the economy that can create socioeconomic opportunities for the majority while simultaneously enhancing ecosystems resilience and mitigating carbon to combat climate change. Clean Energy and Ecosystems Based Adaptation (EBA) driven agriculture are strategic sectors in the acceleration of development on the African continent. These sectors are given priority in the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063. If we are driven by passion and commitment – just as our slavery heroes were – to maximise the productivity of these sectors, making them operate in a complementary way and not as separate silos or as sectorial developments, then we have the potential to maximise the productivity of agriculture through value addition and by cutting post-harvest losses by as much as US$48 billion annually. If we consider Africa’s food import bill, which stands at US$35 billion, reversing post-harvest losses means improving food security for over 48 million additional people while injecting an extra US$35 billion annually. This cash injection could be used to fund sectors that are critical to equality, like universal education – for which Africa needs US$26 billion annually.

The second part of the strategy is regional integration. If we want to improve the productivity of the catalytic sectors mentioned above, then we must consolidate regional markets for goods and services.  Consolidating the financial, labour, goods and services markets is critically important if we want to free the potential of Africa’s catalytic sectors and maximise incomes, reduce vulnerabilities and vanquish neo-slavery.

Strength in unity: the African Continental Free Trade Area

“Cross the river in a crowd and the crocodile won’t eat you.” This African proverb speaks of strength in unity. Just a few days ago, African heads of state and government demonstrated lessons of selfless commitment when they signed the historic African Continental Free Trade Area. Already signed by 44 of the 55 African Union countries, this agreement is set to consolidate a market that is 1,2 billion people strong and has a combined GDP of over US$2,3 trillion. It is projected to increase intra-Africa trade, which is currently at a mere 12% – the lowest of all continents globally – by a whopping 53% by 2022, taking it to 70%. If we put this agreement into action, it will almost immediately position the continent to leverage its 300 million-strong middle class, which is demanding more value-added and differentiated agro-products. This translates to more than US$20 billion annually that is added to the continent’s economy immediately and up to US$150 billion in the next few years. This is the demand market that will fuel agro-value addition industries to create the jobs and the incomes that will stop our youth from taking the dangerous journey over the Mediterranean and the Sahara Desert and entering a life of neo-slavery.

Read:Remembering slavery: Recognising legacy and contributions of people of African descent

The third part of the strategy, and perhaps the most important, is leveraging on Africa’s sovereign wealth – its people, especially the over 200 million-strong youthful population – as the primary resource in driving the above. The skills, talents, energy, passion and networks of Africa’s people – young and old alike – adequately harnessed and optimally deployed, represent a priceless resource; one that money can’t buy. It is here, in engaging Africa’s sovereign capital, its people, that the rubber meets the road in making the lessons of the transatlantic slave trade count in 2018.

Let us all use the lessons of commitment, passion, courage, selflessness, hard work and morality – handed down by our slave heroes and heroines – to drive the above strategy and create wealth that will include all.

Dr Richard Munang is Africa Climate Change & Development Policy Expert. He tweets as @RichardMunang

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the institution with which he is affiliated.