The Role of Capitalist Exploitation in Africa's Current State
Africa has long been a site of immense foreign interest and influence. Despite its wealth, the continent continues to suffer from chronic poverty, underdevelopment, and exploitation, much of which is deeply tied to historical and ongoing capitalist exploitation. Foreign trade and investment, while often lauded as tools for development, have been shown to exacerbate inequality, drive labor exploitation, and perpetuate neo-colonialism. From agricultural goods like cocoa and coffee to precious minerals such as gold, diamonds, and platinum, Africa’s resources are extracted for the benefit of foreign corporations, leaving the continent and its people to bear the social, economic, and environmental costs. Which is immensely frustrating to the new generation and has us wondering “How did we get here ?”
Foreign Trade as a Form of Exploitation
Foreign trade is a powerful engine that drives labor exploitation in Africa. Unfair trade deals serve as a “device” to entrench neo-colonialism. Under the guise of international trade, African countries have been subjected to lopsided agreements that benefit multinational corporations and foreign powers while undercutting the continent’s capacity to build equitable and sustainable economies. let’s explore some examples
Cocoa: A Legacy of Unfair Trade
West Africa produces one-third of the world’s cocoa, with Ivory Coast and Ghana being major contributors. Yet, the region’s cocoa trade is marked by deeply exploitative practices including but not limited to child labor. A report by the International Cocoa initiative showed that an estimated 1.56 million children were involved in cocoa production in CĂ´te d’Ivoire and Ghana. That’s approximately 45% of children living in cocoa-growing households. Nearly all these children work on family cocoa farms, alongside their parents and other relatives.
When families cannot afford to meet their basic needs, like food, water, or fuel, they may have no choice but to engage their children in farm work to increase household income. Most families want to protect their children from harm but are vulnerable to shocks. When faced with a sudden illness, for example, a household struggling to make ends meet may turn to child labor as a coping strategy. Families may also not have enough income to pay adult laborers to work on their farm and must rely on their children. This may compromise their schooling and can perpetuate poverty across generations.
Large chocolate corporations like Hershey, Mars, and Nestlé that rake in massive profits from the production of cocoa are complicit in this arrangement and by paying the African farmers significantly less than what their labor and produce is worth(less than $1 per day, an income below the extreme poverty line), they guarantee that their products are reliant on child labor. This stark reality highlights how the wealth generated from cocoa, an essential commodity, remains concentrated in the hands of foreign corporations, while local laborers—often children—are subjected to grueling, exploitative conditions.
Coffee: A Global Industry Built on Local Poverty
Ethiopia, the birthplace of Arabica coffee, is Africa’s largest coffee exporter, followed by Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and CĂ´te d’Ivoire. However, African coffee farmers receive only a fraction of the wealth generated by the global coffee trade.
A recent report gives the most recent and ground-up perspective on how Africa’s coffee farmers are exploited to death in an industry that makes billions of dollars every year.
It pointed out that African farmers share in the roasted coffee value chain ranges from 8.7% to 12.6%, with the share being less in major African coffee exporters, Ethiopia and Uganda, being respectively at 12.6% and 10.0% respectively. In comparison, Farmers shares in the roasted coffee value chain are higher outside of Africa with India’s coffee growers getting 15.7% in India and 14.9% in Brazil.“It is estimated that African coffee farmers are losing $1.47 billion every year from exploitative pricing of their crops,” the report said.
Due to unfair trade terms, lost earnings yearly for Ethiopian farmers are 713.1 million USD and 229.7 million USD for farmers in Uganda. In Ethiopia, farmers often earn as little as $4 for a kilogram of coffee, while large multinational corporations such as Starbucks sell the same amount for up to $200. This disparity illustrates how the wealth generated by African resources is funneled into the coffers of foreign corporations, leaving local farmers in poverty and dependent on exploitative systems for survival.
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Gold, Diamonds, and Platinum: Africa’s Wealth, Foreign Profits
Africa’s natural resources—gold, diamonds, and platinum—have long been a magnet for foreign exploitation. British mining companies, for example, control over $1 trillion worth of Africa’s most valuable resources, according to journalist Mark Curtis. Companies like Acacia Mining Plc and Randgold Resources have substantial stakes in Africa’s gold industry, while Anglo American and Petra Diamonds dominate diamond production. In South Africa, platinum mining is similarly controlled by Anglo American and Jubilee Platinum.
These industries operate under the guise of contributing to Africa’s economic development. However, this “development” often benefits foreign investors and leaves local communities impoverished. Many of Africa’s most valuable resources are extracted at the expense of the people who work in the mines, often in dangerous, life-threatening conditions. Children in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, are forced to work in hazardous mines, where tunnel collapses and fatal injuries are all too common.
The involvement of multinational tech giants like Google, Apple, Dell, and Microsoft further compounds the issue. There is evidence to suggest that these companies are aware that the cobalt used in their products is sourced from child labor, yet efforts to address this exploitation remain insufficient. The situation exemplifies how the demand for Africa’s resources fuels labor exploitation and environmental degradation, all in the pursuit of profit for foreign corporations.
Neo-Colonialism and Capitalist Exploitation
The examples of cocoa, coffee, gold, diamonds, and platinum demonstrate how Africa’s wealth is systematically extracted for the benefit of foreign corporations. The continent remains locked in a neo-colonial system, where unfair trade deals and foreign investment schemes disguise what is essentially a continuation of the colonial exploitation that began centuries ago. Multinational corporations control vast amounts of Africa’s resources, and in many cases, African countries are left with little more than the environmental degradation and poverty that come with resource extraction.
Nkrumah’s assertion that foreign trade is a tool of neo-colonialism rings true today. The extraction of Africa’s natural resources continues to be framed as a necessary step for economic development. Yet, in reality, it only serves to perpetuate cycles of poverty, inequality, and exploitation. Africa’s resources—both human and natural—are siphoned off to fuel the wealth and development of foreign nations, while local populations remain marginalized and impoverished.