Page 128 - Afrika Must Unite

TOWARDS ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE

self-confidence to observe our own people helping to control the
intricate mechanisms involved in the functioning of our own
airways services, and we certainly experience a glow of pride in
seeing our flag flying on planes and ships travelling to other
countries. But again, we must encourage every kind of project
that will add to our technical skills and national experience, and
the operation of our own airlines and shipping makes a valuable
contribution to this end.
We are at present planning to chart routes which will connect
up the more im portant cities and towns of Africa. One of the
factors making contact between Africans difficult is the absence
of proper and plentiful means of communication. At the present
time, Africa’s communications look outward and not inward.
They connect us rather with countries overseas than with our­
selves. Shipping is not planned to go all the way round the coast,
connecting roads criss-crossing the continent are non-existent,
and the established routings operated by the existing inter­
national airlines are planned to serve travellers from Europe
rather than Africans wishing to go from one part of this continent
to another.
The routings of the European airlines frequently make it
necessary for us to go, for instance, from North or East to West
Africa by way of Europe. The absurdity of this is too obvious to
need stressing. Almost every country in Europe has its own air­
line and the routes over the European continent are many and
well-served, and no one thinks it at all strange that B.E.A., for
example, duplicates some of Sabena’s services. Therefore, the
contention that we young nations on other continents should
refrain from entering this vital field of communications smacks
to us of the old imperialist attitude. Africa is a considerably larger
continent than Europe, and there is more than enough reason for
us African nations to develop communications between ourselves
as a means of bringing us closer together and making our
common intercourse easier and more fruitful.
The difficulties in getting our Black Star shipping line started
have been successfully overcome and we are now enlarging it
with a num ber of vessels whose keels have been laid in Germany,
England, Holland and other countries. An efficient and adequate
shipping fleet of our own will establish a powerful instrument to