Page 174 - Afrika Must Unite

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL INTEGRATION 159
But in the face of the enormous requirements of industrial
development, these are infinitesimal in size and restricted in
character. O ut of the applications submitted, the projects so far
approved ignore the requests for the establishment of industries
and concentrate on social projects and the building of roads,
railways and ports. These, it is true, are necessary to fuller
development and the raising of welfare, and undoubtedly are
welcome additions to the economic and social base. But it is
wishful thinking not to recognize them as the bribes they
are, and to suppose that the European Common M arket, which
is devised to increase the welfare of the European member
countries, should conscientiously promote industrialization in
the raw material producing countries of Africa. It is equally
romantic to think that the Development Fund could ever be big
enough to provide anything like the investment capital the
African states require for substantial development. As is only to
be expected, emphasis is placed upon modernization and im­
provement schemes that will increase European economic
strength,1 and widen still more the productivity gap between
Europe and Africa.
The enticement of aid which the European Common M arket
holds out demands close examination and it is particularly
curious that M r Leopold Senghor, President of the Republic of
Senegal, should lend himself to a subtle appeal to the English­
speaking countries to enter. In an interview appended to an
article in International Affairs for April 1962, President Senghor
expresses his pleasure about it,

above all for Africa, because we ourselves, a French-speaking
state, are associated with the Common Market, and I think that,
if Britain joins in, the English-speaking countries of Africa will
wish to do so too. From a purely selfish point of view that might
not be entirely to our advantage, for the greater number of par­
ticipants, the smaller the individual share in the European fund.
But I think there is a more important side to it: what we lose on
the level of material aid, we gain on the level of cohesion and
co-operation. We shall then be able to harmonize our technical

1 Stuart de la Mahoti£re: The Common Market, Hodder & Stoughton 1961,
pp. 30-48. This book offers a comprehensive survey of the subject from a
European supporter.