One African entrepreneur’s comments on the impacts of colonization on the whole of Africa’s economic state are drumming up some opposition online.
Speaker and serial entrepreneur Magatte Wade posted a clip of those comments on her Twitter account which quickly amassed many comments and shares. That clip is just a snippet from her interview on the Jordan B. Peterson Podcast in July 2022.
“When I hear people telling me today, ‘Oh, Africa is poor because of colonization,’ please, let’s move on from that,” Wade says in the clip.
Wade stated this after alluding to the fact that Singapore’s economy is beating out its former colonizer Great Britain.
While Singapore is an Asian country and not an African one, Wade uses the country and its historical similarities to African nations as an example of how the effects of the colonial age haven’t hindered Africa’s overall wealth and prosperity.
“What resources does Singapore has to be exploited? They even import water,” one person wrote on Twitter in response to Wade’s statements. “Singapore fought off the colonizers, and they don’t go to Chatham House to campaign during their elections. Africa is not poor because of colonization!”
Chatham House is a policy institute headquartered in London that’s hosted numerous campaign events and other appearances over the last 20 years from politicians and presidential candidates in several African nations.
Many online also thought her comments came off as uninformed and somewhat insensitive, especially in light of the dozens of leaders and heroes who martyred themselves to free Africa from the shackles of colonialism, like Thomas Sankara and Patrice Lumumba.
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