Robert Beckford’s Documentary: “The Great African Scandal”

In the documentary, “The Great African Scandal”, Dr. Robert Beckford, a black British academic theologian, broadcaster, and a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University, visits Ghana to investigate and document the burden of economic imperialism.

The documentary, sponsored by the Christian Aid, unravels the hidden cost of rice, chocolate and gold”, and Robert asks “why, 50 years after independence, this country (Ghana), which is rich in minerals and is a stable democracy, is still one of the poorest in the world.”

Excerpt from Christian Aid:

On paper, Ghana should be an African success story - rich in minerals, fertile, a stable democracy and free from conflict - so what would I find? My journey began in the hot dry north of Ghana - in the small rice farming village of Gbirima.

I joined the men in their backbreaking effort to clear a new rice paddy. As we worked, they talked about how Ghana used to be nearly 50% sufficient in rice production, partly due to the help offered by government in the form of grants and subsidy.

Such was the success of the rice industry there was even a colloquial saying ‘as rich as a rice farmer’ that signified their prosperity. But as I looked around me, ‘rich as a rice farmer’ was definitely not how it felt any more.

It is a fact that American and European governments offer subsidies to their farmers, yet the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) – appendages of the western economic powers - advised several African nations to drop subsidies to farmers and other goods, and open up their markets to foreign goods. This was the core of their economic messages and structural adjustment programs some decades ago, today; the effects of those measures still resonate.

Robert successfully - and brilliantly too - unraveled the burden of foreign economic policies years after they were implemented, and how they have worked against the people of Ghana. However, his documentary provides an incomplete story, and fails to fully answer the “why-countries-rich-in-minerals-remain-poor-in-Africa question”, just as his push for “trade justice for Africa” comes across a bit simplistic.

Asking for “trade justice for Africa” will certainly be one of the strategies - if one needs to proffer solutions to African continental poverty, especially in todays global market. However, this will have to be complemented by measures that strengthen political institutions and democracy across Africa. Likewise, an assimilation of a continental-wide mentality of zero-tolerance to corruption is mandated.

I can not discount the significance of what Robert “revealed” in this well-directed documentary. Nonetheless, I’m of the opinion that by highlighting only western economic imperialism - which is just one of the great three scandals in Africa (the others being corruption and political irresponsibility) Robert somewhat, inadvertently, followed the “Africa - the victim” track - an old, all-too-familiar, well traveled, route . Shouldn’t Africa be charting new courses in the 21 century?

Maybe a sequel is in the works…

Watch the movie; form, and share your impressions: