It is believed that Africans have never worked together in the fight for economic independence because they don’t have the culture of working together.

On the other hand, it is also believed by some scholars that Africans do have a culture of working together but lack the understanding of a vision and direction.

Whichever one you believe, don’t forget that Africans once united in struggles to win political independence, though this was some years ago. The question now is knowing what to do with this independence and turning it into economic independence that can give rise to prosperity for everyone.

We find ourselves in a tunnel right now, full of flaws and disappointments, but this isn’t something we can finish in a day or two but rather a long term project that must be strategically carried out with one vision and one direction!

Did you know that due to lack of one vision and one direction, about 14 African countries still pay colonial tax to France since their independence till today?

History has it that when Sékou Touré of Guinea decided in 1958 to get out of French colonial empire, and opted for the country’s independence, the French colonial elite in Paris got so furious, and in a historic act of fury, the french administration in Guinea destroyed everything in the country which represented what they called the benefits from french colonisation.

Three thousand French left the country, taking all their property and destroying anything that which could not be moved: schools, nurseries, public administration buildings were crumbled; cars, books, medicine, research institute instruments, tractors were crushed and sabotaged; horses, cows in the farms were killed, and food in warehouses were burned or poisoned.

The purpose of this outrageous act was to send a clear message to all other colonies that the consequences for rejecting France would be very high.

Slowly fear spread trough the African elite, and none of the Guinea events ever found the courage to follow the example of Sékou Touré, whose slogan was ”We prefer freedom in poverty to opulence in slavery.”

Sylvanus Olympio, the first president of the Republic of Togo, a tiny country in west Africa, found a middle ground solution with the French.

He didn’t want his country to continue to be a french dominion, therefore he refused to sign the colonisation continuation pact De Gaule proposed, but agree to pay an annual debt to France for the so called benefits Togo got from french colonization.

It was the only conditions for the French not to destroy the country before leaving. However, the amount estimated by France was so big that the reimbursement of the so-called ”colonial debt” was close to 40 % of the country budget in 1963.

You see how after gaining political independence, they continued to enslave Africans economically and as you can see, the economic war is not an easy one to win without one vision and one direction.

Africans need to create a case-by-case, step-by-step approach and put it into practice unitedly. It’s a good thing coming up with great ideas but these great ideas can only be achieved if we unite and work towards a goal for all.

And I think that’s something that the Black Wall Street has started already, the goal to work in unity with all African countries.

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But now we need to put it into practice, one step at a time. Some countries are ready, some are not, but they may be in the near future. Black Wall Street do understand the enormity of the task – it’s not as though 55 different countries are suddenly going to leap onto the same page and start pulling in the same direction. We’ll start with the ones that are ready, launch initiatives one at a time, and the results will quickly become apparent. Success breeds success, as those who aren’t yet enjoying it will soon want it for themselves.

The Black Wall Street provides a platform for average Africans to profit from investments which is the vaccine for poverty through the revenues of funded corporations listed on its platform “Redirect Mall” by simply buying products made in Africa such as quality mobile Tablet called “No dropout”.

The Black Wall Street is the only stock exchange system in the world that is 100% Risk-free because you only invest in companies through points gained from regular consumer product purchase.

Africa has the means to create small investment funds, strategic funds, and sovereign wealth funds but we just have to start out transparently just as the Black Wall Street has done, keeping a clear strategic focus on one vision, one direction, which are keys to Africa’s economic independence.

This is the type of investment that balances growth, equity and sustainability concerns, including protecting society’s most vulnerable, particularly youth and women, who tend to be left behind during economic transformations.

According to the World Bank, more than 850 million Chinese people have been lifted out of extreme poverty; China’s poverty rate fell from 88 per cent in 1981 to 0.7 per cent in 2015, as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms.

China was able to achieve this because they knew what they wanted, they were focused on one vision and one direction and this can also happen in Africa.

It is a time to act boldly and swiftly to ensure we don’t confine Africa’s youth to the margins of global economic activity.

Vanguard News Nigeria