Blogs
Who really built the developed world?
If importing people and resources from the “Third World” automatically made countries poorer, much of the developed world would never have become developed. The Third World did not simply arrive at the First World’s doorstep. In many ways, it helped build it, Keith Moses Ssebuliba Jr
Keith Moses Ssebuliba Jr. (File)
By: Admin ., Journalist @New Vision
____________________
OPINION
By Keith Moses Ssebuliba Jr.
As immigration debates intensify in Europe, particularly in France, Belgium, Italy and Spain, one slogan has caught my attention: “Import the Third World, become the Third World.” It made me wonder: where was this statement 400 years ago?
Where was it when our African forefathers were forcibly transported across the Atlantic to work on plantations in the Americas? Their unpaid labour produced cotton for textile industries, sugar for commerce and wealth that helped fuel economic growth. Did importing Africans make those societies poorer, or did exploiting their labour help make them richer?
And what about the Windrush Generation? In 1948, Caribbean migrants began arriving in Britain, helping a country recovering from the Second World War. They worked in hospitals, public transport, factories and other essential services. Decades later, the Windrush scandal exposed how long-established residents were wrongly denied rights and services or threatened with removal. The people, once welcomed to fill labour shortages, were later forced to prove they belonged. Where was the slogan when Britain needed their labour?
Where was it when gold from present-day Ghana was shipped abroad or when African ivory and other commodities enriched overseas trade?
Where was it when colonial powers extracted resources while leaving producing communities with little say over the wealth generated?
Today, consider the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its cobalt contributes to rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electronic devices. African resources continue to power global industries, yet too often the greater share of processing, manufacturing and profit takes place elsewhere. How can the world welcome our resources but speak so dismissively of our people? We celebrate the finished phone or electric car, but rarely ask how much value returns to the communities where those minerals came from.
Where was it when gold from present-day Ghana was shipped abroad or when African ivory and other commodities enriched overseas trade?
Where was it when colonial powers extracted resources while leaving producing communities with little say over the wealth generated?
Today, consider the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its cobalt contributes to rechargeable batteries used in electric vehicles and electronic devices. African resources continue to power global industries, yet too often the greater share of processing, manufacturing and profit takes place elsewhere. How can the world welcome our resources but speak so dismissively of our people? We celebrate the finished phone or electric car, but rarely ask how much value returns to the communities where those minerals came from.
This does not mean immigration creates no difficulties. Housing, public services, employment and integration require serious planning, and countries have a right to enforce fair immigration laws. But it is unfair to portray people from poorer countries as inherently responsible for national decline. Migrants are also doctors, engineers, researchers, carers and entrepreneurs who contribute to the economies they join.
Being born in the Global South is not a choice. Nor should birthplace determine whether a person’s contribution is valued. The prosperity of the Global North did not emerge in isolation; centuries of exchange, exploitation and migration connected it to societies now labelled “Third World.” A fairer debate should recognise that history without pretending every present problem has a simple historical explanation. It should also demand fair trade, skills partnerships and investment that allows more people to prosper where they live.
At the same time, Africa must confront its own failures. We cannot speak only of historical extraction while ignoring corruption, conflict, weak institutions and insufficient investment in education and industry. Our minerals should not always leave as raw materials and return as expensive finished products. Our young scientists and engineers deserve opportunities to innovate at home.
Perhaps it is time to replace the mantra with something more useful: “Stop corruption, become First World. Stop fighting, become First World. Promote research and innovation, become First World.” Add to that good governance, education and industrial development.
If importing people and resources from the “Third World” automatically made countries poorer, much of the developed world would never have become developed. The Third World did not simply arrive at the First World’s doorstep. In many ways, it helped build it.
The writer is a final-year electrical engineering student at Makerere University
Being born in the Global South is not a choice. Nor should birthplace determine whether a person’s contribution is valued. The prosperity of the Global North did not emerge in isolation; centuries of exchange, exploitation and migration connected it to societies now labelled “Third World.” A fairer debate should recognise that history without pretending every present problem has a simple historical explanation. It should also demand fair trade, skills partnerships and investment that allows more people to prosper where they live.
At the same time, Africa must confront its own failures. We cannot speak only of historical extraction while ignoring corruption, conflict, weak institutions and insufficient investment in education and industry. Our minerals should not always leave as raw materials and return as expensive finished products. Our young scientists and engineers deserve opportunities to innovate at home.
Perhaps it is time to replace the mantra with something more useful: “Stop corruption, become First World. Stop fighting, become First World. Promote research and innovation, become First World.” Add to that good governance, education and industrial development.
If importing people and resources from the “Third World” automatically made countries poorer, much of the developed world would never have become developed. The Third World did not simply arrive at the First World’s doorstep. In many ways, it helped build it.
The writer is a final-year electrical engineering student at Makerere University