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Debate: Are foreign firms exploiting Niger?
Uranium mining is central to Niger's economy and the revenues it generates could lift the country out of poverty, but critics say the government is allowing foreign mining companies to plunder the country's natural resources. Areva, a mining multinational based in France, Niger's former colonial ruler, pays less than market price for the uranium it recovers. Do you think Niger is getting a raw deal from international mining companies?
tALLAHhassee: Thanks for your brilliant analysis! I quite agree that imperial Europe wiped out African history. Africa was to them a 'dark' continent, as symbolized by the racist 'Heart of Darkness' by
Conrad. Rodney has discussed this aspect of European imperialism. However, victor do not distort history of the victims but also their own. They seek pedigree to justify their present domination. And connecting
with ancient Greeks and Romans is an effort in that direction. Ancient Greece had more in common with Africa than hinterland Europe, where was Alexandria, not in Paris! Edward Said discusses how imperial writers in the 19th century deliberately distorted Greek history to 'europofy' it. European racism it seems is a more recent
phenomenon. Its sole aim is to justify plunder of other societies. (Racism without economic domination is vacuous.) The modern (dominant) European culture is as old as the trade routes they forced open less than 500 years ago, the rest is make-believe.
SKS, Bangalore, India
Added: Friday, 18 July 2008, 01:26 AM Mecca time, 10:26 PM GMT
Depends on what you mean by foreign. Often it is firms set up in one country like the uk, but are run by those with descent from the country they are trying to exploit. It isn't so black and white. Although i do accept that there are some in the likes of the uk, like there would be some in the third world even who would see others exploited if it meant that they became welathy, as people are such a mixed bag
JohnBoy27, Leicester, Great Britain (UK)
Added: Thursday, 17 July 2008, 04:58 PM Mecca time, 01:58 PM GMT
Zorro, Canada: You need to read a bit more on world and Canadian history. Try learning the truth, not just what you want to believe.
Robwash, Los Angeles, United States
Added: Thursday, 17 July 2008, 12:08 AM Mecca time, 09:08 PM GMT
Chris, Who says bronze age 3000 b.c, or iron age 1200 b.c, probably the same people who say Iraq is in the Middle east (middle from where?), and China is in the Far east (far from where? Sweden). In Southern Africa, Africans were mining iron over 40,000 years ago, and the mines were about 150 feet deep, I can appreciate that, but you say with typical racist language (they were just digging in the dirt). Europeans often minimize African acclomplishments while at the same time spying and learning from Africans to advance Europe, and who defines ''common speech'', or what is classified as mining and what is not? Probably the same ones who write the laws. The more Europeans ''explore'' and dig in Africa, the further Africans fall behind our own grandfathers, while Europeans surpass their grandfathers. Now the Greeks were thieves, Aristotle is credited with authoring some 400 books 322 b.c, am I to believe this without a xerox machine? What Aristotle did is symbolic of Europe's role in history.
tALLAHhassee Florida, Detroit, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 11:14 PM Mecca time, 08:14 PM GMT
Killergnome, I never said Arabs invented the binary code, I said the language origin is of Arabic origin 'wahid=one', 'ithnain=two', 'thalatha=three','arba'a=four', etc. The point is that Europeans have stolen the legacies of all those they come into contact with, then they force the children to believe that Whites originated the sciences. Western African people who were colonized by the French were ripped off during colonialism, and post colonialism resulted in Africans being educated in France to rule African countries with European minds, they are just masked men, ruling in the place of Europe. When France was in Senegal, they grew groundnuts with African labour but were careful to ship the peanuts raw to Europe to provide jobs and financial security to France. Peanuts can be used to make over 325 products as discovered by George Washington Carver, an African American agriculturalist.They do the same thing today, take the raw materials out and ship finished goods back at inflated prices.
tALLAHhassee Florida, Detroit, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 08:39 PM Mecca time, 05:39 PM GMT
My apologies for the omission Mike, please add Canada, Japan and China to that shameful list too, however the Natives here fare better than their fellow Natives in the US.
Zorro, Toronto, Canada
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 07:30 PM Mecca time, 04:30 PM GMT
Zorro, Toronto, Canada Can I assume you are not Canadian educated. Much of the Native American population of NA, both in Canada and the US were and are mistreated, even killed. Not excusable, but before you spout off get the facts. And of course Asian countries like Japan, and China never exploited other countries. Ask their neighbors.
Mike Barry, Rochester, NY , United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 06:44 PM Mecca time, 03:44 PM GMT
J, LA: your question, can someone explain to me why Niger doesn''t shop around for higher bidders? Because they do not have a governing system it still tiribal and premitive society. I say a bribary happening at the Navajo indian reservation near Framington, in NM. Daah.
Aladdin, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 01:19 PM Mecca time, 10:19 AM GMT
Again... I know very little about this situation- can someone explain to me why Niger doesn't shop around for higher bidders?
J., LA, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 11:30 AM Mecca time, 08:30 AM GMT
Robwash: By reducing import duties, the price of uranium will decrease in the importing country. You might think this would improve the supply situation but the real problem of Niger is: what export duties and taxes to charge the mining company. In IMF-WTO regime, these duties are decreasing. In your view, these should anyway be set to zero, which would mean lose of income for an already impoverished Niger. Your view that this would solve problems in the long run is to think
that a piece of silicon can turn into a pentium chip on its own! Complex situations require complex solutions. While I don't doubt the sincerity of your view, you will do well to study how vested interests propound simple theories to meet their own ends. And free market theorists are a prime example of that.
SKS, Bangalore, India
tALLAHhassee: Thanks for your brilliant analysis! I quite agree that imperial Europe wiped out African history. Africa was to them a 'dark' continent, as symbolized by the racist 'Heart of Darkness' by
Conrad. Rodney has discussed this aspect of European imperialism. However, victor do not distort history of the victims but also their own. They seek pedigree to justify their present domination. And connecting
with ancient Greeks and Romans is an effort in that direction. Ancient Greece had more in common with Africa than hinterland Europe, where was Alexandria, not in Paris! Edward Said discusses how imperial writers in the 19th century deliberately distorted Greek history to 'europofy' it. European racism it seems is a more recent
phenomenon. Its sole aim is to justify plunder of other societies. (Racism without economic domination is vacuous.) The modern (dominant) European culture is as old as the trade routes they forced open less than 500 years ago, the rest is make-believe.
SKS, Bangalore, India
Added: Friday, 18 July 2008, 01:26 AM Mecca time, 10:26 PM GMT
Depends on what you mean by foreign. Often it is firms set up in one country like the uk, but are run by those with descent from the country they are trying to exploit. It isn't so black and white. Although i do accept that there are some in the likes of the uk, like there would be some in the third world even who would see others exploited if it meant that they became welathy, as people are such a mixed bag
JohnBoy27, Leicester, Great Britain (UK)
Added: Thursday, 17 July 2008, 04:58 PM Mecca time, 01:58 PM GMT
Zorro, Canada: You need to read a bit more on world and Canadian history. Try learning the truth, not just what you want to believe.
Robwash, Los Angeles, United States
Added: Thursday, 17 July 2008, 12:08 AM Mecca time, 09:08 PM GMT
Chris, Who says bronze age 3000 b.c, or iron age 1200 b.c, probably the same people who say Iraq is in the Middle east (middle from where?), and China is in the Far east (far from where? Sweden). In Southern Africa, Africans were mining iron over 40,000 years ago, and the mines were about 150 feet deep, I can appreciate that, but you say with typical racist language (they were just digging in the dirt). Europeans often minimize African acclomplishments while at the same time spying and learning from Africans to advance Europe, and who defines ''common speech'', or what is classified as mining and what is not? Probably the same ones who write the laws. The more Europeans ''explore'' and dig in Africa, the further Africans fall behind our own grandfathers, while Europeans surpass their grandfathers. Now the Greeks were thieves, Aristotle is credited with authoring some 400 books 322 b.c, am I to believe this without a xerox machine? What Aristotle did is symbolic of Europe's role in history.
tALLAHhassee Florida, Detroit, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 11:14 PM Mecca time, 08:14 PM GMT
Killergnome, I never said Arabs invented the binary code, I said the language origin is of Arabic origin 'wahid=one', 'ithnain=two', 'thalatha=three','arba'a=four', etc. The point is that Europeans have stolen the legacies of all those they come into contact with, then they force the children to believe that Whites originated the sciences. Western African people who were colonized by the French were ripped off during colonialism, and post colonialism resulted in Africans being educated in France to rule African countries with European minds, they are just masked men, ruling in the place of Europe. When France was in Senegal, they grew groundnuts with African labour but were careful to ship the peanuts raw to Europe to provide jobs and financial security to France. Peanuts can be used to make over 325 products as discovered by George Washington Carver, an African American agriculturalist.They do the same thing today, take the raw materials out and ship finished goods back at inflated prices.
tALLAHhassee Florida, Detroit, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 08:39 PM Mecca time, 05:39 PM GMT
My apologies for the omission Mike, please add Canada, Japan and China to that shameful list too, however the Natives here fare better than their fellow Natives in the US.
Zorro, Toronto, Canada
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 07:30 PM Mecca time, 04:30 PM GMT
Zorro, Toronto, Canada Can I assume you are not Canadian educated. Much of the Native American population of NA, both in Canada and the US were and are mistreated, even killed. Not excusable, but before you spout off get the facts. And of course Asian countries like Japan, and China never exploited other countries. Ask their neighbors.
Mike Barry, Rochester, NY , United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 06:44 PM Mecca time, 03:44 PM GMT
J, LA: your question, can someone explain to me why Niger doesn''t shop around for higher bidders? Because they do not have a governing system it still tiribal and premitive society. I say a bribary happening at the Navajo indian reservation near Framington, in NM. Daah.
Aladdin, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 01:19 PM Mecca time, 10:19 AM GMT
Again... I know very little about this situation- can someone explain to me why Niger doesn't shop around for higher bidders?
J., LA, United States
Added: Wednesday, 16 July 2008, 11:30 AM Mecca time, 08:30 AM GMT
Robwash: By reducing import duties, the price of uranium will decrease in the importing country. You might think this would improve the supply situation but the real problem of Niger is: what export duties and taxes to charge the mining company. In IMF-WTO regime, these duties are decreasing. In your view, these should anyway be set to zero, which would mean lose of income for an already impoverished Niger. Your view that this would solve problems in the long run is to think
that a piece of silicon can turn into a pentium chip on its own! Complex situations require complex solutions. While I don't doubt the sincerity of your view, you will do well to study how vested interests propound simple theories to meet their own ends. And free market theorists are a prime example of that.
SKS, Bangalore, India
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