Jumoke Balogun writes:
Sometimes development is uneven.
This statement, uttered by a businessman working towards a “cashless Nigeria,” led to the realization that my worker-centered philosophy was incompatible with those of the other attendees at the Columbia African Economic Forum gala.
My question, on how “cashless societies” and other business ventures that obviously only benefited those already at the top of the economic food chain, was met with the unsatisfying response of uneven development, and an assertion that we have to start somewhere. Surrounded by would be venture capitalists, financiers, and Wall Street drones, it seemed obvious that Nigeria was already a cashless society; most of its citizens don’t have any.
However, for upwardly mobile cosmopolitan Africans like the gentleman at the gala, Africa is no longer the poverty-stricken panderer of yesteryears, and a hopeful phase of dramatic economic growth signals a new dawn. Articles from renowned publications and projections from the IMF validate the so called “rise.” In addition to the growth of the telecommunication industry, an expanding consumer class, new natural resource reserves, and a surge in foreign direct investment, the new emerging African economy is a triumphant story that many in the Diaspora promulgate and celebrate...[continue reading]
Sometimes development is uneven.
This statement, uttered by a businessman working towards a “cashless Nigeria,” led to the realization that my worker-centered philosophy was incompatible with those of the other attendees at the Columbia African Economic Forum gala.
My question, on how “cashless societies” and other business ventures that obviously only benefited those already at the top of the economic food chain, was met with the unsatisfying response of uneven development, and an assertion that we have to start somewhere. Surrounded by would be venture capitalists, financiers, and Wall Street drones, it seemed obvious that Nigeria was already a cashless society; most of its citizens don’t have any.
However, for upwardly mobile cosmopolitan Africans like the gentleman at the gala, Africa is no longer the poverty-stricken panderer of yesteryears, and a hopeful phase of dramatic economic growth signals a new dawn. Articles from renowned publications and projections from the IMF validate the so called “rise.” In addition to the growth of the telecommunication industry, an expanding consumer class, new natural resource reserves, and a surge in foreign direct investment, the new emerging African economy is a triumphant story that many in the Diaspora promulgate and celebrate...[continue reading]