Page 125 - Afrika Must Unite

n o AFRICA MUST UNITE
direction of the market processes under the impact of which they
have hitherto remained backward,5 maintains G unnar M yrdal.1
This is a reality which we recognize, and we are using the inter­
national organizations and other media to exert pressures in our
favour. Nevertheless, the richer countries are still in a position to
limit the returns we obtain for our prim ary products, and we
would seem to be more strategically placed as the major pro­
ducer of a single raw material, either agricultural or extractive,
for which there is a heavy world demand. O ur cocoa production
has hitherto given us such a commanding position but, with
other comers tending to equalize the field, we are discovering
that a satisfactory price level can be held only by agreement with
the other large producers, such as Brazil, Nigeria, and others.
W ith judicious use of our joint bargaining power, we may
continue to use our exports of prim ary products to assist our
industrialization.
Fluctuations in prim ary product prices are one of the
insecurities in planning for less developed countries. Yet this
cannot invalidate planning, which is the prime medium by
which development can be undertaken in the given conditions.
The government has to take the place of the adventurous
entrepreneurs who created the capital basis of industrialization
in the advanced countries.
The fishing industry has also benefited from government
planning. A local building yard is turning out high-standard,
powered fishing vessels to increase the scope of our fishing fleets.
Complementing it, is a partnership association with overseas
interests in a storage and refrigeration plant to take vegetables
and other perishable goods as well as fish. A fishing harbour has
been built at Elmina near Cape Coast, at one time a thriving
Portuguese slaving and trading fort. A far larger fishing harbour
has been constructed at our new coastal town of Tema. We hope
that these two harbours, with adequate refrigeration facilities,
will not only provide an adequate supply of high protein food for
our people but enough fish to give work to a canning factory, the
output from which will swell our exports.
In the industrial sphere, our aim has been to encourage the
1 Gunner M yrdal: Economic Theory and Under-Developed Regions, Gerald
Duckworth & Co. Ltd, p. 66.