The re-colonization of Africa

[Stranger]

It’s happening the same way the European kingdoms once colonized the world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/feedarticle?id=7243159

Dubai World in $800 mln Senegal economic zone deal

• Reuters
• Monday January 21 2008

(Adds details)
By Daniel Flynn
DAKAR, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Dubai World Group’s Jafza subsidiary signed an $800 million deal on Monday to build and run a special economic zone in Senegal, the latest in a series of Arab investments in the West African country.
Dubai World Chairman Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem said construction would start before the end of the year on the first phase of the project, covering 650 hectares next to a planned international airport 45 km (28 miles) from the capital Dakar.
Operations are due to begin in 2010 and should attract 1,000 companies and create some 30,000 direct jobs, Bin Sulayem said.
“This will be an example to many African countries that when free trade operates with government support, you will see that businesses will come,” Bin Sulayem told a news conference.
Senegal hopes its strategic location between markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia will entice businesses to the low-tax area, one of the first of its kind on the continent.
The government has reserved a total of 10,000 hectares for the expansion of the zone, with the possibility of constructing a power station and refinery nearby to tackle a shortage of electricity capacity which has been one of the main obstacles to foreign investment, officials said.
The special economic zone, and other infrastructure projects including a new airport and port, are part of the government’s accelerated growth strategy to help lift economic expansion above 7 percent a year. The economy currently relies on foreign aid, tourism, fishing, exports of phosphates and peanuts.
Salma Hareb, CEO of Jafza and Economic Zones World, cited the example of the Jebel Ali free zone in Dubai, which had grown in just over 20 years to provide 26 percent of the economy of the emirate and employ a tenth of its population.

STABILITY
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[DBratton]

Well it’s not quite the same though is it? Dubai doesn’t have battleships parked in the harbor during negotiations.

[Stranger]

The first colonies did not involve battleships in the harbor, but trading posts.

Battleships is what you get when the colony is well-established.