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THE COLONIALISTS IN AFRICA

Grave foe Coion.al sm

“Til stay here ...and no matter what happens... I’ll never move out.”

China Youth Daily

Canada is haven f

or loot

of Congo colonialists

Fags according to our}

prime minister, ~can spare no capital to develop the new Congo republic — Canada is too poor.

But- Canada, “developing” on the basis of foreign capital imports, word “develop- ing” above millions of dollars of Congo capital to en- ter Canada.

Today the Congo is ‘tempor-

(the

oll ry allowing

arily poor because of the huge-|

profits drained out of its. eco- nomy by the Union du Haut-Katanga and because of the taken by the Belgians_ before

leaving (the phrase is that of}

the Globe and Mail) which consisted in carrying off. the Congo gold reserve, in collect- ing all taxes up to the day of the hand-over, and paying as few bills as possible.

by the Societe Belgique, a rapidly expanding group whose expansion_is. fin-

anced by the exploitation. of}

the Congo. The Rockefeller in-

terests and British capital have-| fingers in this rich pie through }

but in the show.

yNcessions

Tanganyika Cc the Belgians rv

The Societe Generale is re} investing its profits in “safer’-+| countries, in Belgium itself

and elsewhere, nada.

They have set up a Canadian holding and investment com- pany, Sogemines Ltd., closely associated with the Royal Bank

ineluding Ca-

of Canada. In 1959, the then !

is a contradiction) is not}

Miniere.|

“certain precautions’*}

+ witk Mining & Smelting, Brit-

: : Se 5 +tion-and is associated with the The Union Miniere is owned |

Generale de |

president-of the Royal Bank, James Muir, and its vice-presi- dent}-.-W. H. Howard, Q.C.,

Feb. 18) was -said .to’ have agreed- with Brunswick Mining and Smelting to spend $17.5

were-~directors of Sogemines,! million to-put the company’s

fas -~was “F. C. Cope, Q.C., a,

partner in the Howard legal film, who are the solicitors for the Royal Bank.

Other Canadian directors of | Sogemines are J. R. Timmins | (Néranda; Hollinger, Tron |; Oré Co. ‘of Canada, Trans- Canada Pipe Line, Imperial Bank, “éte.), Jean Raymond (Néfanda, Canadian Celanese, Canadian International Paper, Banque Canadienne Nationale, Wete,).and W. L. Forster, a dir- Lector. of the Montreal invest- ment firm of W. C. Pitfield & Co.

Sogemines has a number of irons in the fire, Canadian Pet- rofina, Inland Cement, Bruns-

t

+ ish» Newfoundland Corpora-

Rie Tinto mining interests.

Of the 15 Canadian Petro- fina directors, six are directors of Sogemines: W. H, Howard, Jean Raymond, Jules R. Tim- mins, W.-L. Forster, and two Belgians. Petrofina assets are $158 million.

Sogemines also interlocks | -with Dosco, the A. V. Roe-con- trolled steel producer, through the presence of F. C. Cope and Jean Raymond on the Dosco board. Sogemines ‘and Dosco | are reported to be joining in the construction of a new $70 million steel mill on the south shore of the St. Lawrence op- | posite Montreal.

. Sogemines (Globe and Mail,

soil.

yearly income per head Kenya $42, Nigera $56, Nort! Wages of most. Afticans

Alongside of the terrible is the great wealth of the powers have taken billions.

Africa's Average Income From $22 to $120 a Year

ORE than four-fifths of the African peoples are peasants, eking out a bare existence (and often less) from the

‘hey live from day to day with little or no money to spend. Official reports for the year 1954 give the average

tion level. The British Monthly Digest of Statistics (October 1959) gives the average monthly wage in Uganda in 1957 at just over $8.40. Kenya about $14, Tanganyika only $5.60, rising to $22.40 in Northern Rhodesia.

for Tanganyika at $22.40, 1 Rhodesia $120.40.

are everywhere on. a starva-

poverty of: the African people

N.B. mine into operation.

The Societe Generale, acting through a company known as CBR (United Cement & Brick), has recently paid $50 million to take over the construction and cement business owned by

(Le Devoir, July 19).

All these millions that are “developing” Canada (helping develop. it- into a country whose economy is dominated by outside interests) are com- ing from the Congo profits of Union Miniere, estimated by the Globe and Mail (July 26) at three billion francs (some- thing like $60 million) a year:

Having access to all these facts the Globe & Mail can then comment editorally (Aug. 2), basing itself on a polite re- mark by Prime Minister Lum- umba, that the Congo looks to Canada for aid (unsuccessful- ly as it turns out) because, ac- cording to the Globe, Canada is “fa middle power which has never held any colonies.”

The Globe has busied itself in making a fine and mean- ingless distinction. It is a bad thing to hold colonies; Canada has never done that, and the Globe is content. But the Ca- nadian government allows the profits of colonial exploitation to come freely into ‘“‘safe’’ Ca- nada, Canadian financial groups form part of the Bel- gian system. and the Globe finds that quite normal.

Is there really. such a’ sub- stantial diffesence between the thief and: his.friends who receive .the stolen: goods :

In the time of difficulties in

gian colonials, the ~ least the Prime . Minister. of. Canada could say is that. Canada would

|refuse to allow. more Congo

profits to find. a haven in Ca-

| nada,

A prime . minister “whose government ‘was. free of en- tangling: alliances with Cana- dian and Belgian financial cir-

country. from which colonial

| cles might have done that. Mr. | Diefenbaker did not.

AFRI

‘Her Land One of Richest

the Miron brothers of Montreal |

lat three times that of Europe — and equal to two-fifths ”

the>Congo, caused by the’ Bel- }

Her People Among Poorest

Africa is a- continent with great natural wealth on the on hand and a poverty stricken people on the other. She is one ? the richest mineral.‘regions in the world.

Mineral Resources

| two-fifths of its chrome ore, over a third of its manganese;

| third of its phospate rock, more than a quarter of its coppe a sixth of its asbestos, a seventh of its tin; a tenth of its lea and zinc—apart from iron ore, bauxite, nickel, coal and-oil. TH uranium output is kept secret. .

} The ‘Sahara is believed to have oil reserves no less a | portant than those of the Arab peninsula, while its c0 reserves are. estimated at 4,500 million tons annual output. Africa’s potential iron ore reserves are believé to be the biggest in the world.

Agrarian Products

Africa iis rich, too, in a whole range of agricultural pt” ducts. She leads the capitalist world in production. of coco

| sisal, palm oil, and produces large supplies of peanuts, coffe&)

| olive oil, tobacco, rice, tea, barley, wool, cotton, maize, rubb& | wheat and cloves. ;

j Her, timber reserves are estimated at over a quarter of oh | world’s forests. And her water-power potential has been PU

f the world’s resources.

Why Africans Are Poor

Despite great wealth African people have among the lowes! living standards in the world. According ‘to a recent United # tions report they are worse fed than before. Why is this 5” There are two main reasons:

First, despite her great natural resources only a small part of them are being used.

Second, even the wealth that is produced is largely tale’ away. Practically all the mineral wealth is drained out © Africa. The same with agricultural products, which are pro duced almost entirely for western countries.

In other words, African people are poor because the continent is robbed and they themselves denied the right © utilize and develop their own. resources for their own indus tries and their own consumption.

When Africa demands freedom she is demanding the sight to end her poverty and her economic backwardness, a ? which, in justice, no one can deny her.

cate

All over Africa people are declaring their independent Above is a celebration held in the Mali. Federation W” was declared an independent state June 20: People shown wearing national costumes in a parade.

el acrey he September 23, 1960—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—P42°

She is the capitalist world’s greatest producer of diamonds} cobalt, and gold. She produces over two-fifths of its antimoDyi)

20 times Britail;)