Matatu-Riding American President And The World Economic Melt Down

Kumekucha stood alone for a long time predicting Barrack Obama’s march to the White House. Now the people who were telling me that I do not understand American politics are bold supporters of the Senator who came from nowhere and will remind nobody of their earlier views.

After the debate between Obama and McCain a few hours ago, all indications are that this man of Kenyan descent will be the next president of the United States of America.

However my big concern just now is the kind of world that Obama will walk into as President next January. It seems to me that the odds are all stacked very heavily against him. No previous American president has ever had to face what Obama will have on his plate in a few months time. While I wish him the best and will be rooting for him all the way, I just wonder…

Obama’s ascension to the highest office in the land will also mark the most dramatic shift in the fortunes of Africa ever witnessed in history. There are some economic pundits who believe that the world economic melt down is already ushering in a new world economic order that will greatly favor Africa for the first time. Personally I see plenty of evidence to support that kind of thinking.

Kindly bear with me for a few minutes. I know how boring economics is, more so in a hot political site like Kumekucha, but I believe this is important.

This is the second time that greed and speculation are bringing the world economy to its’ knees. Chances are that we may just go back to the old ways like having gold in a central bank to back the currency out there. My view is that the sophisticated bail outs will not work and that even if there is a brief initial respite, things will only get worse.

Africans are poised to be major players in the world economic order because trends clearly show that food prices will continue to head North and since the continent is primarily agricultural country, I see farming becoming more profitable than it has ever been in history. Then there is the continent’s highly skillful labour force that has for a long time been locked out of Western economies. Whatever happens, that valuable resource will greatly benefit the continent in the years to come even if it is in the form of repatriated earnings (although I have a feeling that it will be much more than that). In Africa Kenya is clearly the country to watch here.

Then there is the World Wide Web and the cell phones which have given Africa instant infrastructure that is already fuelling unprecedented economic activity on the continent.

The world as we knew it has changed forever and Africans and especially Kenyans need to follow Senator Obama’s example and rise up to the occasion. This is our time.

Some Obama articles in Kumekucha from the past

President of the US who rode in a matatu

Predictions of democratic nomination for Obama

All Kenyan blogs except Kumekucha said Obama had no chance

Affordable shrink wrapping packaging machines to help you launch your small business