Lisbon - Africa must stop blaming its colonial past for its problems and instead point the finger at the continent's leaders, says the prime minister of the west African archipelago of Cape Verde.

Prime Minister Jose Maria das Neves said colonialism and its legacy of slavery played "an important role in the deterioration of the situation in Africa".

He said: "But, Africans have had Africa in their hands for half a century. You can't continue to justify the current situation of the continent with colonialism, slavery and unfair trading terms.

"Responsibility for the current state of affairs in the African continent lies firstly in the hands of African leaders, who must assume their responsibility to develop a clear strategy for Africa's future that takes advantage of all of its human capabilities and natural resources."

Shackles of colonialism

Of all the nations of Africa, only Ethiopia and Liberia escaped the shackles of colonialism.

In 1975, Ghana became the first African nation to obtain independence when it broke free from British control. Dozens of other former African colonies followed its example over the coming years.

Many analysts argued that corruption and despotic regimes in many African nations had their roots in the colonial era when colonial governments had absolute power.

Cape Verde, an arid archipelago in the Atlantic about 500km off the coast of Africa, was seen by many international donors as a model state since it gained independence from Portugal in 1975.

While the country had a high unemployment rate, it was seen as politically stable with an emerging prosperity. The International Monetary Fund estimated that it would post economic growth of 5.5% in 2006.

Source: news24.com

Apesar de eu concordar com o Primeiro Ministro, acho que mais uma vez ele esta usando umas das suas jogadas: vai para os Estados Unidos e diz coisas que os americanos gostariam de ouvir; vem aqui para a Eurupa e diz coisas que os Europeus gostariam de ouvir. Tenho a certeza de que quando ele for para Africa, nunca usaria este tipo de discurso.

Isto se chama de camalhaonice e nao sou muito fa deste tipo de comportamento. Um lider tem que ter firme conviccoes e nao dancar conforme a musica que se esta a tocar.

Though Prime Minister Neves message is on point, we can not deny that 500 years of colonialsim is going to be eradicated in 50 years! Today Africa is suffering from Neo-colonialism in which the flies have changed but we still have the same sh*@! No doubt that many of Africa's leaders deserve fault for shoddy and self interest governing. The people also deserve some fault for not aggressively adopting democratic principles to rid themselves of these corrupt leaders. I am ashamed everytime a movie comes out and all they show is severe violence, cruel tribal genocide and ignorant leadership. I am not naive in thinking that this does go on in Africa, but it not the only thing happening on this vast and diverse continent. True that we don't have leaders in the same spirit as Cabral, Lumumba, Nkrumah and Mandela today, but there are many in Africa that are representing their countries with a better moral compass. Why don't we hear of them? Why don't we hear of any positive news coming out of Africa? Is it because the West wants to continue to paint the continent and its people as savages so they can continue to rape it of its vast resources?
Yes PM Neves, African leaders must step up their game, but let us not ignore that colonialism and its ugly legacy is still very much influencing Africa's plight.

That is one of the best thing the honorable Neves could ever have said. Its time for Africa to go for what it wants. Africa needs to look towards the future and not dwell so much on the past. It is important to know one's history it is also important not to be stuck in history.