Whose Responsibility Is Africa?

Today, Africa has one of the most significant human trafficking problems in the world, especially in labor industries. Why is slavery still flourishing in Africa? The international community talks a big game about aid to Africa to combat poverty, HIV/AIDS, and civil unrest. Yet, we allow multinational corporations to continue to enslave Africa's people, often exacerbating these problems.  When it comes to the problems in Africa, especially modern-day slavery who's fault is it really?

One theory is that, as a continent, Africa is rich in natural resources, such as rubber (which companies like Firestone exploit) and diamonds, as in "conflict diamonds" and "blood diamonds".  These resources coupled with the relative poverty of many African nations and the frequent civil unrest in many African countries make the continent attractive to corporations looking for cheap or free labor.  Many of Africa's conflicts and the poverty that results from them can be traced back to resource conflicts, both between groups of Africans and between Africans and Westerners. So did these corporations make the conflict in Africa, or are they merely reaping the benefits from it?  Or both?

Modern-day slavery in Africa is not a new phenomenon.  It's part of a 500 year history of exploitation of the African continent, including both its people and its resources. The face of slavery may have changed and the practice may have gone underground, but the lives of Africans in bonded labor in the diamond mines and the cocoa fields in Africa today are just as unfree as the lives of slaves in the cotton fields of Georgia were 200 years ago. African people will continue to be enslaved and trafficked as long as there are entities  willing to enslave them, be it individuals or corporations. And there will be corporations willing to enslave and traffic as long as the international community lets them get away with it and consumers buy their products.  We have been part of the problem of slavery in Africa for too long, but now we can be part of the solution.

So how can you take responsibility? For a start, you can buy conflict-free Canadian diamonds from Brilliant Earth and recycled tires. You can shop for products that use Fair Trade certified cocoa. You can also tell Firestone to stop their unacceptable use of child slaves in producing tires.  You can argue about whose fault it is, or you can decide whose responsibility it is: ours.

Photo credit: Peter Ito