Negative propaganda and its devastating effects on Africa’s development
Some in the African media business have not fully comprehended the effects of negative propaganda on the continent’s development. Many African countries still linger dependent on the financial support of western donors and aid agencies to survive and to develop their economies. It is also a fact that many African policies are still defined by those who provide assistance in the form of aid and loans. When policies are defined in such a way, consideration is first and foremost given to how the donor country can benefit. And sometimes the criteria are solidly based on the untapped resources of the recipient country. There could be other strategic reasons why a country can also benefit from direct financial assistance. Whether the country offers a strategic military potential in that country’s defense policy can also be a determining factor. For instance, the United States of America has military bases in some African countries to help in its fight against the so-called terror.
In some cases, western donor countries can use this advantage to have leverage on how a country can govern itself and its people. The human rights and democracy card is always at the heart of this political game of chess. And sometimes that can also be used to camouflage the donor country’s real intentions, while behind the scenes they could be pressuring the recipient country to deliver on their demands. Many countries have in a way suffered and benefited from this. Deliberate attempt is sometimes made to use rogue regimes to access much needed resources to satisfy the donor country’s industrial sector demands. In such cases, the political make-up of the recipient country becomes irrelevant; only the direct economic benefit becomes vital.
In such cases aid recipient countries are denied to chart out and executed their home made programs. They have to follow rules and guidelines designed for them from the so called donors. The western media has a big role to play in this instance; portraying Africa as poor, unable to manage its own affairs, and often relying from the west for survival and existence.
Many African media outlets are often heard and observed admiring the so and so country for its miraculous performance in developing the country and for the happy go easy life style of its citizens. They don’t dare to mention that the so called developed country they admire is developing and feeding its people through mercilessly ransacking the natural resources of many African countries.
There are some media outlets that try to speak the truth and inform their citizens the reality of the effect of neo-colonialism and the negative media campaigns to spoil the image of Africa and there by hindering the development process in pursuit to fulfilling their special interests. Such media outlets are considered as enemies and on the line to be discredited and sometimes prone to be blackout through the infamous jamming.
The special interest groups and the media corporates are one and the same when it comes to securing their interests. No one should be on their way either to criticize or try to stop them. They combine their available arsenal, the special interest groups through manipulation and intimidation while the media corporates through defamation and spreading lies, to destroy the image of that country and if they could deny its existence on the world map.
Most of these have become now obsolete and most people in the globe have come to understand the motives. They could not play around ransacking the resources of the poor countries as they used to do a decade back. The awareness of people is ever increasing and ultimately denying them any room to maneuver.