The temptation for many to merely compare Ghana with Singapore or South Korea or Malaysia misses the more compelling comparison: Africa with China. When Kwame Nkrumah declared Ghana’s independence meaningless unless it linked all Africa, the powers of the United States of America (USA) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) were the solid examples he witnessed on the geo-political scene and admired. He wished Africa to emulate those two powers for the future. The European nations - as individualistic haughty enclaves - did not impress him that much. As potent as they seemed to be in colonizing Africa, they fell like dominoes – in one swoop after the other - from attacks by Germany’s Adolf Hitler, the Fuehrer. They were loose communities, disjointed and aloof; and Hitler’s dismemberment of them was successful for their lack of unity. Possibly, the lessons of World War ll informed the European Union formation as we see today; they also instilled in Nkrumah the unquestioned power in continental unity. Nkrumah’s other model was the potential saw in the looming giant, China. That particular lodestone caught his imagination, and steered his mind’s compass. China, as he foresaw it, was a comrade in Africa’s progress. It really didn’t matter to him the innuendoes and sarcasms of the ideological kinds which the western press heaped on China. China pre-occupied the minds of the earlier Pan-African thinkers – including W.E.B. Du Bois, George Padmore, and possibly Nnamdi Azikiwe. Even World War I, recalling the first Pan-African congress, no one who was serious enough about Africa’s emancipation and future progress would suggest that the continent would thrive as mere inconsequential units of feeble sovereignties. The main reasons for the comparison with China were that her scope of experiences and challenges were too similar to Africa’s colonial experiences. First, China had revolted against colonialism and emerged from foreign domination by World War ll, and the Chinese determination and successes offered fruitful lessons and motivation for Africa’s continental freedom struggles. Foreign interventions in China resulting in the Opium wars (1840), Open Door Policy (1888), the Boxer Rebellion (1900), and the era of Gun Boat Diplomacy were similar to various controlling devices that broke Africa up after the Berlin Conference (1844) that divided the continent and shared the pieces among some European nations. Second, China was faced with the huge task of educating the masses into a productive work force even at the time of Sub-Sahara Africa’s independence led by Ghana in 1957. Confucian ideas had moulded the Chinese mindset for about 2,500 years. And Chairman Mao’s little red book was more for armed struggle than the Science and Technology needed for moving the giant economically forward. Lastly, China possessed a great potential to emerge as a powerful global force to be reckoned with in the geo-political and economic spheres. And so did Africa considering her size and mineral worth. How things have changed for China! Today, China is in the U.S. with one of its banks having signed an agreement that would make it the first Beijing controlled financial institution to acquire retail bank branches in the U.S. The Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, (ICBC) is regarded by some measures as the world’s largest bank. A newspaper (January 22, 2011) said, “Signed in Chicago on the last day of the Chinese President Hu Jintao’s state visit to the U.S., the move, comes as both Beijing and Washington are calling for greater commercial ties between the two countries.” The “giant signing ceremony” reflected the expansion overseas in light of “the huge foreign-exchange reserves” China has. Perhaps, soon, Americans could walk into the retail branches, open checking and savings accounts and, most significantly for many investors, open “Yuan” accounts to trade currency. In Africa, having come from the same historical basis - and with Africa dragging a guzzling, unconvertible, frustrating, tribal array of currencies: ekuelas, lilangenis, ouguiyas, dinars, dirhams, dalasis, nairas, cedis, francs, rafkas, birrs, kwazas, shillings, zaires, rands, pulas, dobras, leones, escodos, pounds – the question that comes to mind is simply this: Wither the continent? Further, according to a Washington Post article (Jan 2, 2011), “In 2010, China matched the United States in the number of rocket launches into space. For the first in history, the United States was equalled in the 15 launches. To shed some light and appreciate the foresight of Du Bois, Padmore, and Nkrumah – one has only to see China’s indomitable competitive influence today as the earlier thinkers foresaw it, and envisioned Africa in that same meritorious context. The visionary insight was so elusive to many then, and to many today still. While China has solidified and earned its rightful place as a most potent force, what we see in Africa is disfigured array of inconsequential states – a genocide in Rwanda, tussles in Somali, secession in Sudan, electoral chaos in Cote d’Ivoire, brawls in Tunisia and Egypt, on and on, with more to brew not too far off. When will all this confusion end? Africa’s lifelines are lost to tribes, despots, and greed. And the continent misses the greater opportunities for every African in the bigger picture. China cleared those hurdles long ago; and is, today, reaping the benefit of a giant that knows its place in history, and thinks farther into the future for the benefit of raising living standards for her people. Though the Chinese themselves probably hardly talk about it much, China’s history with the former colonial powers is not a lovely one, but it informed the leadership to resolve to bind as one – in spite of their trials and errors, personal ambitions and internal animosities. In writing about China and Africa, Barack Obama’s speech at the Accra International Conference Center - July 11, 2009 - comes to mind. He said: just as it is important to emerge from the control of another nation, it is even more important to build one’s own. Only this time, it will not be giants like Kwame Nkrumah and Jomo Kenyatta who will determine Africa’s future. It will be you. That responsibility can only be met by Africans themselves starting with the investments in the education of Africa’s youth. Though he would not say so explicitly by virtue of the dictates of his position, he saw Africa – just as he saw America at its core, a great united nation. The inference was an unmistakable hint about similar possibilities for Africa. And, he confirmed this when he added: “I have the blood of Africa within me, and my family’s own history encompasses both the tragedies and triumphs of the larger African story.” That was a thinking man talking, and he wasn’t referring to a tribe or religion in Kenya. Obama’s speech about Africa could easily be adapted to fit the history of China, except where the script must read: “It will not be the giants like Mao Tse-tung and Chiang K’ai-shek who will determine China’s future, but by the investments in the education of China’s youth.” Du Bois, Padmore, Nkrumah and others were much too exposed and insightful to ignore the flow of history. They were too concerned about the plight of the African at the hands of raw geo-political interests, not to see how one African state after the other could be used, abused, and tossed. We are in the solid throes of history, and the path forward can’t be much clearer. Written by Anis Haffar Youth Leadership Forum email: anishaffar@yahoo.com