By Jeremeeh Kousse Founder&CEO Manoka Island Trade and Kryptowaves.
Africa—vast, vibrant, and resource-rich—stands as a paradox on the global stage.
The continent is blessed with fertile land, a youthful population, and immense natural wealth, yet it remains shackled by systemic imbalances that continue to hinder its growth and development. Nowhere is this contradiction more evident than in Black Africa, where the patterns of production and consumption are glaringly misaligned.
At the heart of this dysfunction lies a disturbing reality: Africa exports what it doesn’t consume and imports what it should be producing. Nations across the continent are major producers of coffee, cocoa, and cotton—commodities that are essential to global markets but have little relevance to the daily needs of the average African. Meanwhile, the continent spends billions importing staples like rice, wheat, apples, and even strawberries—crops that could, with proper investment and planning, be cultivated locally.
This imbalance is not merely an economic curiosity; it is a blueprint for underdevelopment.
A Legacy of Colonial Economics
To understand these imbalances, one must confront Africa’s colonial legacy.
European powers designed African economies as extractive tools, focused on producing raw materials for European industries. This model persists today. Countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana produce over 60% of the world’s cocoa, yet local chocolate production is negligible. Similarly, Ethiopia is renowned for its coffee, but its citizens often drink imported soft drinks over locally processed beverages.
Such models were never meant to serve African needs—they were tailored to feed foreign industries and tastes. Post-independence governments, unfortunately, inherited these systems and have often failed to recalibrate them.
Consumption without Control
Instead of reimagining African economies around the needs of their people, many leaders continue to prioritize export crops and foreign investment over domestic sufficiency. The result is a tragic irony: African soil produces enough food to feed the world, but Africans go hungry. Countries rich in arable land still import basic staples, sometimes even receiving food aid, because domestic agriculture is underfunded, mechanization is minimal, and infrastructure is broken.
Supermarkets in Nairobi, Lagos, Douala, and Accra are flooded with foreign goods—European dairy products, Asian rice, American snacks—while local produce is underrepresented, underfunded, and often undervalued.
A Cultural and Psychological Disconnect
There’s also a deeper issue at play: a psychological and cultural disconnection from self-sufficiency. Imported goods are often seen as superior, more refined, and more desirable.
African tastes and aspirations have been shaped by decades of foreign dominance—economically, culturally, and ideologically.
This creates a dangerous feedback loop, where foreign goods are preferred, local products are neglected, and the cycle of dependency continues.
This mindset must change if Africa is to assert its economic sovereignty.
The Way Forward: Rethinking Priorities
The future of Africa hinges on its ability to correct these imbalances. Here are a few imperatives:
Agricultural Revolution: Invest in growing what Africans eat. Irrigation, mechanization, and seed innovation should be prioritized to make Africa self-sufficient in staples like rice, maize, and vegetables.
Industrialization: Move beyond raw material export. Process cocoa into chocolate, cotton into fabric, and coffee into value-added products for local and international markets.
Cultural Reawakening: Rebrand local products as premium, desirable, and modern. Encourage pride in African-made goods and shift consumer preferences.
Policy Overhaul: Governments must align trade, agriculture, and education policies with long-term developmental goals—not short-term foreign profits.
Conclusion: Reclaiming the Narrative
Africa’s imbalances are not immutable. They are the results of choices—some inherited, others sustained. But they can be reversed with vision, courage, and collective will. The question is not whether Africa has the potential. It does. The question is whether it can summon the discipline to serve its own needs before the needs of others.
Until Africa learns to consume what it grows and grow what it consumes, it will remain rich in resources but poor in prosperity.
