Well, you can't say that they (CNBC) did not try. In this challenging economic climate, it makes sense that investors worldwide are looking for opportunities to turn their bad luck into fresh profit. Yet compounding the sense of urgency and desperation is the American media, witnessed in large part through "documentaries" such as this one.Several dangerous observations can be made throughout this informative piece of journalism. Foremost, by labeling the entire continent of Africa "the most dangerous place in the world for business", host Erin Burnett immediately implies that the entire Middle East, the cities of South America, and North Korea are somehow less dangerous than an entire continent of people. Moreover, the utilization of specific "tribal" themed imagery and music to communicate the primal nature of the continent is insulting, to say the very least. Disney ran into a great deal of trouble utilizing similar elements in the film, "The Lion King". By focusing on the indigenous aspects of pan-african culture, the producers of this program automatically imply the non-presence of modern civilization as we know it.In contrast, the continent that Burnett refers to as the "most dangerous place in the world" boasts several developed countries, including Egypt, Libya, and the Republic of South Africa. With that in mind, it is especially interesting to consider Primo's commentary, that "Africa is finally ready for "big-time development" in this century. Might one then consider the lasting effects of the 1886 Berlin Conference, wherein the continent was split up according to natural resources, and territories allocated to European nation-states. As a result of this presence, Firestone made its billions in the rubber industry throughout central Africa. The English and German were given the go-ahead to institutionalize the diamond mines of RSA, combining into the tour de force of DeBeers during the 20th century. Eventually, the establishment of apartheid by Afrikaaner politicians served local and foreign interests by keeping this industry in place. As for Nigerian oil and Zaire's copper, the United States has had a hand in these industries for over 100 years now. None of this is news.Thus I find it hard to believe that having an African-American president has alone "awakened interest in this continent", as spoken by Primo to Burnett. Rather, I think that programs such as this one serve to re-write the history of foreign investment throughout the continent, and to paint a pedestrian image of a more pleasant, less invasive history. To hear the president of Black Entertainment Television encourage fellow investors to "take advantage of [African] resources and minerals" is a painful realization that many people don't know the real history--the real pain that their own ancestors underwent for our gain in the United States.Likewise, my encouragement to all viewers is to take this program with a grain of salt, and to support sustainable, local ventures throughout the continent. To strip people of their motivation to make money for themselves is to strip them of opportunity, and robs them of the chance to ever realize their unique potential to improve the world around them. Simple business ethics knows no borders.















Now playing

