Dr. Gamel Nasser Adam has said the economic and political elite in Africa today are heirs to a long history of exploitation established by colonialism.
Speaking at the opening of the Fifth Pan-African Congress 80th anniversary conference in Accra on the topic, “Africa’s underdevelopment: from Colonialism to Neo-Colonialism,” Dr. Adam traced the continuity of imperialism from slavery through colonialism to modern neo-colonial practices.
“Those who lived during the transatlantic slave trade, the slave hunters of that time, they took for granted the social context in which they plied their trade. And we’re very happy with the gains from the sale of the human merchandise, completely adamant to the terrible tragedy inflicted on their victims,” he said.
He pointed out that today’s African elite are direct descendants of those who collaborated with imperial powers. “They are today’s Africa’s political, economic, intellectual, and social elite. Why Africa today is pillaged, not of its human beings, but of its natural resources, its minerals.”
Dr. Adam highlighted the role of Western corporations and corrupt African elites in facilitating resource extraction. “Africa is losing between $50 billion and $150 billion per annum… through crimes such as tax evasion, corruption, and other criminal activities perpetrated mainly by Western multinational corporations in active collaboration with African politicians, African tax advisors, African lawyers, African accountants, African bankers, and other financial institutions.”
The two-day event, organized by the Pan-African Progressive Front (PPF), aims to develop the Accra Declaration and a reparations plan that recognizes historical injustice and seeks accountability from both African and global actors.
