The prevailing modern world system, which took over half a millennium to reach its current status, has always been saddled with protracted problems ever since its very inception. Among the obvious perennial conundrums, we can mention the continuous polarization amongst nation-states and its corollary–the fledging inequality within nation-states. At the global level, consequences of these operational doctrines are unfolding rather robustly. New forms of resistance that were not anticipated by the rulers of the global order are coming to the fore. For instance, the current global political chaos that emanates from the underlying fallacious dogmas of empire, such as ‘national interest’, and making ‘the world safer for democracy’ etc., are being boldly challenged by non-state actors!
Non-state actors challenging the orthodoxy of global dominant interests have become resourceful and determined in their mission to undermine the lopsided political economy of the world system. The reasons why many of these movements take violent routes is understandable, though some of their actions cannot be condoned. The increased viciousness of the formal states, steered by the now infamous ‘deep state’, is one of the major reasons propelling non-state actors to take up arms! This is clearly visible in the Middle East. A significant portion of the population in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) feels their elites have let them down. To keep on relying on these same elites for salvation is not a project worth pursuing, the populous has surmised. In the process of this protracted struggle many of these movements have developed significant capacity to inflict damage to the well-armed nation states of the region. In this regard, the various Yemeni resistance movements deserve mentioning. The older ones of the Levant: Hezbollah, Al Qaida + affiliates, Islamist Jihad, etc. are already known to many. Coming home to our continent, the destabilization of Libya has given rise to various factions, i.e., non-states actors within the country. These groups are now vying to consolidate power with a view to take over the state. Be that as it may, given the interests of the global power that be, (the very initiators of the chaos) situations might not turn out in favor of the Libyan sheeple (human mass)!
The project to destabilize Syria seems to be on the wane, thanks to concerted efforts by regional and ascending global powers. After the destruction of Libya, China and Russia just refused to go along with NATO’s dismembering ambition of Syria. As a result, there is now a glimpse of peace in that unfortunate country. As we have stated above, the bosses of the world system do not really care about the majority of the inhabitants of the planet. Empire’s major concern is to make sure it (USA, EU and Japan) controls, directly/indirectly, all the resources of the planet.
One need not go back further than the 20th century to reflect on the embedded violence of the world system. WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the various small wars, are clear proof of the system’s violent nature. Empire’s current project, particularly that of the hegemon’s, is to undermine ascending powers by any means necessary (Russia, China, Iran, etc.) Obviously, this strategy can potentially cause immense destruction to the current human ‘civilization’. Here is an extract from ‘War is a Racket’, a lesson from an individual who was very much in the thickest of it all!
“I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.
Beautiful ideals were painted for our boys who were sent out to die. The was the ‘war to end wars.’ This was the ‘war to make the world safe for democracy.’ No one told them that dollars and cents were the real reason. No one mentioned to them, as they marched away, that their going and their dying would mean huge war profits. No one told these American soldiers that they might be shot down by bullets made by their own brothers here. No one told them that the ships on which they were going to cross might be torpedoed by submarines built with United State patents. They were just told it was to be a ‘glorious adventure.’ Thus, having stuffed patriotism down their throats, it was decided to make them help pay for the war, too. So, we gave them the large salary of $30 a month!
All that they had to do for this munificent sum was to leave their dear ones behind, give up their jobs, lie in swampy trenches, eat canned willy (when they could get it) and kill and kill and kill…and be killed”
WAR is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives.
To summarize: Three steps must be taken to smash the war racket. 1. We must take the profit out of war. 2. We must permit the youth of the land who would bear arms to decide whether or not there should be war. 3. We must limit our military forces to home defense purposes.”
Major General Smedley D. Butler, “War is a Racket”: The Antiwar Classic, by America’s Most Decorated Soldier (1935). Good Day!
EMBEDDED VIOLENCE
Ethiopian Airlines asked employees to take their annual leave
The flagship airline Ethiopian Airlines has asked staff to take their annual leave in the coming weeks to help it cope with the impact of the coronavirus from low percentage of passengers.
The airline has offered a special leave scheme to most of the employees in a specific set of time starting from this week on.
Even if as international airlines have canceled their flights to China amid fear over the corona virus, Africa’s largest air carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, has refused to do so. “The airline is seeing a 20% decline in demand, the corona virus is a huge challenge” said Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group on African Aviation week that was held last week in Addis Ababa. The outbreak of the virus demonstrates the resilience of the industry, not just passengers also cargo flights especially to China have been declining.
Due to the high spread of the virus there is a worldwide fear of travel and governments are banning their citizens to move from one parts of the world to the other.
“At such times the air line take this kind of options and helps to minimize the effects, as the situation remains dynamic, our flight schedules may change at short notice to comply with regulatory directives or operational requirements. At all times, we aim to provide the updated information to our esteemed customers as early as possible,” the airlines stated.
Change fees are not applicable to tickets issued anytime for travel from March 1onwards until June 30. If there is a difference in the airfare or applicable taxes, due to the reissue/rerouting of the ticket, the additional amount will need to be collected. Customers can change their booking to travel on/or before December 31, 2020, the airline said in a statement.
Air traffic routes between Africa and Asia grew by five per cent in 2019 – more than the global average. Now, African carriers fear a shortfall of more than $400m (352,3m euro) due to the disruption of services to China alone, a direct result of the Coronavirus outbreak.
Raphaël Kuuchi, vice-president for Africa of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), said that “initial estimates indicate that $400m could be lost” by the continent’s airlines, based on data gathered “in the second week of February” and due solely to the cancellation of services to China.
The data were made public during the Aviation Africa Summit, held 4–5 March in Addis Ababa.
The Coronavirus epidemic has forced almost all African airlines – with the exception of Ethiopian Airlines – to stop flying to China.
Airlines all over the world are hit hard by coronavirus in the past few weeks. The effects are also estimated to wipe out up to USD 113 billion in worldwide revenues this year, a trade group said, a new blow to the industry.
It has been almost 20 years since the aviation industry faced such an existential threat. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, global air travel plummeted, and it took years for airlines to fully recover. Today there are worries that the coronavirus could have a similarly disastrous impact.
“At the end of last week, we started seeing very sharp declines,” Gary Kelly, chief executive of Southwest Airlines, said on CNBC. “It has a 9/11-like feel.”
The aviation industry was already grappling with the worldwide grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max, which has been out of service for a year after two deadly crashes. Losing that one plane sapped some airlines of expected growth, forced them to cancel thousands of flights and resulted in billions of dollars in losses.
The more fundamental issue posed by the coronavirus – that large swaths of the traveling public may simply stay off planes for the foreseeable future – is a far greater threat. Though still in its early stages, there are concerns that a prolonged disruption could do lasting economic damage. Commercial aviation, like the internet, is part of the connective tissue of the global economy.
ECA estimates billions worth of losses in Africa due to COVID-19 impact
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on Friday warned the unfolding coronavirus crisis could seriously dent Africa’s already stagnant growth with oil exporting nations losing up to US 65 billion in revenues as crude oil prices continue to tumble.
Speaking at a press conference, ECA Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe, said having already strongly hit Africa’s major trading partner, China, COVID-19 was inevitably impacting Africa’s trade.
She said although a few COVID-19 cases have been reported in some 15 countries, the crisis was set to deal African economies a severe blow.
“Africa may lose half of its GDP with growth falling from 3.2% to about 2 % due to a number of reasons which include the disruption of global supply chains,” said Songwe, adding the continent’s interconnectedness to affected economies of the European Union, China and the United States was causing ripple effects.
She said the continent would need up to US 10.6 billion in unanticipated increases in health spending to curtail the virus from spreading, while on the other hand revenue losses could lead to unsustainable debt.
COVID-19, Songwe said, could reduce Nigeria’s total exports of crude oil in 2020 by between US 14 billion and US 19 billion.
The ECA estimates COVID-19 could lead to Africa’s export revenues from fuels falling at around US 101 billion in 2020.
Remittances and tourism are also being affected as the virus continues to spread worldwide, resulting in a decline in FDI flows; capital flight; domestic financial market tightening; and a slow-down in investments – hence job losses.
Pharmaceuticals, imported largely from Europe and other COVID-19 affected partners from outside the continent, could see their prices increasing and availability reduced for Africans.
With nearly two-thirds of African countries being net importers of basic food, shortages are feared to severely impact food availability and food security.
Furthermore, negative consequences are expected to worsen, if COVID-19 develops into an outbreak in Africa.
In addition, a decline in commodity prices could lead to fiscal pressures for Africa’s economic power houses such as South Africa, Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Angola.
Stephen Karingi, Director of the ECA’s Regional Integration and Trade Division said there, however, was an opportunity the Continent could take advantage of as trading within the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is set to commence this July.
“The intra-African market could help mitigate some of the negative effects of COVID-19 through limiting dependence on external partners, especially in pharmaceuticals and basic food,” said Karingi, adding diversifying economies away from fuel-driven was vital beyond COVID-19.
He emphasized the need for the continent to urgently implement the AfCFTA as he urged African countries who export drugs to prioritize selling on the African market.
The ECA, in a presentation on the economic effects of the COVID-19 on Africa, suggests African governments could review and revise their budgets to reprioritize spending towards mitigating expected negative impacts from COVID-19 on their economies.
As a safety net, the think tank is urging governments to provide incentives for food importers to quickly forward purchases to ensure sufficient food reserves in key basic foods items.
Karingi said fiscal stimulus packages are also crucial if the continent is to weather the COVID-19 storm which has now claimed over 5,000 lives globally and infected 139,637 people.
Report: It will take 140 years for Africa to achieve gender parity at the current rate of progress
Africa could add USD 316 billion to GDP by 2025 or 10 percent of current GDP if the countries work to progress and advance gender equality, according to a research on advancing women’s equality in Africa conducted by the McKinsey Global Institute in association with McKinsey & Company in Africa entitled the power of parity.
According to the research Africa’s progress towards gender equality is not moving fast enough and that this is potentially costing the continent in lost growth, but advancing women’s equality in Africa could deliver a significant growth.
The research finds that if every country were to match the progress toward gender, however, this is a distant possibility as progress towards gender parity appears to have stalled or even gone backwards on the continent.
As stated on the research, based on data obtained from 39 countries across Africa including Ethiopia on the way governments are leading in helping to advance gender equality, it will take 140 years for Africa to achieve parity at the current rate of progress.
The report stressed that a concerted and coordinated effort from all stakeholders is needed. “The public sector could do on the following five key areas for action to empower women and reinvigorate progress towards parity. Invest in human capital, create economic opportunities, leverage technology, shape attitudes, and enforce laws, policies, and regulations.”
“We believe that there is a real opportunity for governments in Africa to take the lead here. Creating pathways for African women in the workplace and in society to assume a more equal and fulfilling role is a major priority,” further reads the report.
Currently, women account for more than 50 percent of Africa’s combined population, but in 2018 they generated only 33 percent of the continent’s collective GDP.
The research shows that countries that have put deliberate strategies in place to advance gender equality have done well, for example, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and South Africa have clear targets for gender balance in their cabinets.
“In Africa, women are more active as economic agents in Africa than anywhere else in the world. They perform the majority of agricultural activities, own a third of all firms and in some countries, make up some 70 percent of employees according to African Development Bank report. They are central to the household economy and the welfare of their families, and they play a vital,” the report states.
However over and above their income-earning activities, yet across Africa women face an array of barriers to achieving their full potential, from restrictive cultural practices to discriminatory laws and highly segmented labor markets.
In related development, the annual Ring the bell event in Ethiopia was held at Addis Ababa Hilton hotel on March 13, 2020. Due to the corona virus spread the participants from abroad were not able to come to the event.
