Breakthrough For Africa And Caribbean In Science, Technology Require Wider Political, Economic Liberation
Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, has pushed for unrestricted political and economic emancipation as a prerequisite for Africa and the Caribbean to break even in Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI).
Gonsalves presented the 15th convocation address of the Bells University of Technology (Bellstech), Ota, Ogun State, on the theme “Technological Emancipation of Africa and the Caribbean in Digital Space and Global Drive for Reparation” on Friday.
He condemned and blamed the enslavement of millions of Africans by their conquerors and said that the inhumanity stunted the race’s growth and demanded compensation for native genocide and enslavement.
“The difficult issue of Africa’s technological emancipation in the digital age is not so much in the realm of technology as it is in Africa’s political economy and its continued subservient relationship to monopoly capitalism overseas.”
“The unvarnished truth is that, among other things, colonialism, neo-colonialism, and imperialism encumbered development in Africa, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia in specific ways.”
Gonsalves, who urged for greater cooperation between Africa and the Caribbean, underlined the importance of translating shared past and present experiences into shared emotions and constitutionality.
“Slavery’s perpetrators instituted limited education and training in science, technology, and innovation, particularly for the young, ensuring that banking, industrial, and financial capital became fused and resident in the countries of the metropolitan area, placing those of the hinterland in a more or less permanent state of exploited dependency, and establishing a false narrative through the media, universities, and think tanks that the unequal relations betwen
He praised the continent’s digital technology projects and revolutions, citing steady growth in mobile phones and digital payments, and said the foundation of the African Continental Free Trade Area has been a stimulus for governments to restructure their economies.
Gonsalves urges for teamwork to reach an acceptable level of success for the emancipation of Africa and the Caribbean, emphasising the necessity for reparations payments by Denmark, France, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and other European states.
