Economically Challenged

By Manzi Mugisha Prince.

My article today will be a reference to the thirteenth chapter of the book ‘What is wrong with being Black’ written by Matthew Ashimolowo. It is a great book that reflects on the general African behavior, ranging from our spending habits to ways of living and so on. The book starts off with him giving a History lesson about how prosperous and rich the African continent was in ancient times but factors like slavery changed the mindset of the African society. I will not give a detailed review of the book (I will prepare it for another time) however, I will emphasize on the chapter entitled ‘Economically Challenged.’

The author's first point is that Africans have a habit of collecting liabilities. What is a liability? A liability is anything that you spend money on and does not increase in value. The author gives an example of how most African-Americans spend most of their earnings on trainers and sneakers which, as time goes on do not appreciate. To complement this, I feel that such a habit is based on the sake of pleasing the public eye but to be sincere, the public will never be pleased.

Blacks are also economically challenged because they do not invest. Whether it be on an individual level or household level, the spending habits of Blacks outgrows their saving and investing. Most individuals are even caught up in debt because they tend to spend way over their budget line and so, find themselves falling backward. Even when they do save, it is in places where the money can easily be accessed.

It is sad to say that there is no sense of unity among Black people. To put it in the economic sense, we do not practice group economics. There has never been any effort in the Black community to join hands and work together. In my opinion, we possess a sort of competition. Not the healthy one! The kind that if so and so has purchased this car, I want to buy a better one just to show them. You overlook the fact that it is maybe out of your means but you just want to show that you are better. When it eventually doesn't work out, you are going to sit back and judge.

The Blacks were shaped, by colonialism to be more of job seekers than job creators. Looking back to the education system that is quite similar to the current one, students were trained to do well, prepare their resumes and secure good jobs. If you are currently studying, I want you to ask yourself this question and be sincere when answering ‘Am I studying to work for someone else or want to be my own boss?’ If you are studying to be employed by someone else, then you are just the typical African.

In my review today, I highlighted four points. There is so much more but I will resume in my next post. However, I want you the reader today, to reflect on the four factors I pointed out here. If they apply heavily to your day-to-day life, then make some reforms. Let it not be just another piece of information that is read and kept at the back of your mind. Read it, interpret it, and put it into action. It is said that a person who has such information but doesn’t apply it in daily life is no different from the one who knows nothing at all.