GLOBALIZATION AND THE THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES

Globalization according to International Monetary fund defines it as “a historical process involving the increasing integration of economies around the world, particularly through trade and financial flows”.

Globalization refers to an extension beyond national boundaries of age-old market forces; it refers sometimes to the mobilization of people (Labour) and knowledge (Technology) across international borders, and besides, it has a broader reference to cultural, environmental, and political activities with world wide dimensions. Globalization existed to ensure increase integration of economies around the world especially by way of trade and financial market on a global scale through modern electronic communication technology.¹

The term Third was coined originally in the time of cold war, to distinguish those nations that are neither aligned with the west (NATO) nor with the East, the communist bloc. Today it’s used to describe the developing countries of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. These countries are described so as a result of their political rights and civil liberties, in terms of their Gross National Income (GNI), human developments, in terms of poverty as well as press freedom.²

Globalization was viewed as a means through which high rate of poverty can be reduced; standard of living strengthened etc. However, globalization activist argued that globalization which is an economic integration favours the already wealthy countries than the developing countries, contradicting the anti-globalization movement claims. For example, in Sub-Saharan Africa 75% household thought that multinational corporations had a positive influence on their country compared to only 54% in rich countries. Of the 38,000 people in 44 nations surveyed, those in the developing world, generally blamed their local government and not globalization for their country ills. There is however, no ground for complacency with 12 billion still living below the poverty line. Dollar says “the world needs more international and national actions including enhanced market access for developing countries, improved investment climates and effective delivery of health and education.³

Economically speaking, globalization entails the integration of world trade and financial market but given that developing countries are not really catching up with the advanced level of globalization, the impact of globalization on the third world countries leaves much to be desired. For instance, in the arena of trade it was noticed that the share of primary commodities in world, exports of items such as food and raw materials has declined relatively in recent times. In the area of capital movement, it is noticed that the net official flows of “aid or development assistance from the advanced countries to the third world countries have dwindled significantly since the early 1980s. As a result of that, people moves or migrates form poor zones to richer zones. For example in Nigeria, it was noticed that there is an increased in the number of workers who migrates to the developed countries in search of greener pastures that is a better paying job opportunity; and many world blame the poor home economic situation on adverse effects of globalization.⁴

Indeed, through the existence of globalization third world countries experienced positive as well as negative changes in their economy. These changes have helped to raise the standard of living of the people. On the other hand, it has equally driven the economy of the people deeper into poverty. This Poverty level made it difficult for the third world countries to update their technologies. This made it difficult also for them to compete with the multinational wealthy nations. They are forced to do business locally importing most of their household goods which helped to make their economy dwindled and not able to reach their full potentials. Thus, technological, there are advancement made daily throughout the world, though, it’s expensive to rapidly make and deliver these advances globally. The production cost causes the consumers price to be unnecessarily high. Today, there are many countries in the world that cannot afford to pay such a high price for the latest technology and by the time they will afford to pay many more advanced technologies exists. The democratization of technology benefits mainly the wealthier country(s). And with this happening it makes the poor countries more poor and the rich richer. For instance, when these wealthier countries investors invest on the internet, on the telephone and through facsimile machines the profit of their companies will increase greatly. The invention of telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 was to allow information to be sent around the world; considerable more than before, when it will take days, weeks, months even years to courier documents around the world. Today, with these technology advances one can communicates, transacts and pass information to another country within few seconds or minutes.⁵

Also, globalization has increased the standard of living of more people of the third world countries higher and faster than the previous five hundred years. It increased the number of “have – not” through the dramatic increase of the number of “haves”. It has also driven the poor further into poverty, making it more and more unlikely that they will never recover. It equally creates tension for the third world countries that have skills and resources to compete in the global market and those who do not. For instance, when internet was first introduced globally, some of the developing countries of the third world were able to incorporate it into their economy, while some could not. Some of these countries become richer than the others while some become poor and these poor countries cannot be able to compete in the global market. Even when they could be able to buy computers and pay for internet access, the wealthier countries which were opportune to have access to the internet first must have been on the profit side as they advanced forward while the third world countries are new in the system.

In the transportation industries, technology advances had improved the economy of the developed and developing countries. When automobile and air plane are produced the advanced countries benefited because the resource with which is needed to acquire them are there. Though, by then the third world country could not afford to acquire those advance transportation technology. This helped to bring distance or to create gap between the have and the have not. The poor countries could not meet up with the same number of business returns as the developed countries because what would have taken three days with the help of modern transportation will cost them months or weeks with out dated transportation. Also the lack of modern transportation facilities made the advanced countries not willing to establish or create their ware house in the developing countries nation. However, this made the economy of the developing countries to be left with much to desire. And the level of inexperience and poverty that exists in some of these developing countries made them be at the mercies of the developed countries, while these developed countries took it as advantage in order to enrich them selves.⁶

Furthermore, in order to ensure that global market benefited many counties in the world some institutions were created as well as some polices like IMF, WORLD BANK, TARIFF etc. The creation of these institutions is good but there are some existing polices with which these institutions are been run or operated which made many accused it as been largely responsible for the rather deplorable economic woes and backwardness of many third world countries Nigeria included. Global market placed needs to be appropriately controlled by the forces of society and by the state, so as to guarantee that the basic needs of the whole society are satisfied. Globalization when not carried out in the right spirit of humane solidarity, could very easily become a mega bombshell of exploitation of the already economically, technologically and socially disadvantages third world countries.

Globalization – a new Version of Colonialism

The 19^th century colonialism was the expansion of capitalism accompanied with industrial revolution, which was aided by the government and armies of the colonial powers. The countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America were mostly the victim of invasion of the armies of the colonial masters. The government of the colonial powers took over administration of the colonial territories. Colonial powers had to maintain colonial administration, colonial courts, colonial armies and other tools of oppression and exploitation and therefore incurred financial expenses. With administrative set-ups, the infrastructural facilities geared to the exploitation of the natural and manpower resources, they controlled the movements of the natives and the acquisition of the markets of the colonial territory. The exploitation of the mineral resources of South Africa by forced labour was a quoted case of the time. It must be known that the industrialization process of the powers (colonial masters) was accelerated by the natural and manpower resource of the colonial territories. The aims and objectives of globalization are not different from those of 19^th century colonial arrangement. The little difference is that globalization is expensive while colonialism is exploitative. The national government bears all the expenses of law keeping and order maintenance⁷.

Globalization simply exploits the natural and manpower resources of the developing countries. Globalization which is the new version of colonialism does not use military force because military force will cost human life and financial resources. Globalization uses a well developed, well organized financial and economic, well orchestrated diplomatic pressures. The main forces and the main attention of globalization new version of colonialism is Africa. Globalization as the rapid expansion through which giant multi-national companies of capitalist to several areas of the world refers to deregulation of global poverty by the North or core countries, and also the exportation of under development and squalor through multi-national companies. Globalization fare the embers of African sell-out who connive with the west to perpetuate modern colonialism. There have been a growing revolt and protect against globalization especially by Africans. They protest against globalization as a new wave of colonialism which is still a hook on their neck. “…. More than fifty thousand people gathered to protest against the loss of decent paying jobs, proliferation of sweet-shop Labour, growing poverty and social inequality, mounting environmental devastation, and diminution of national sovereignty resulting from the W.T.O’s ‘free trade” policies which is an agent of globalization-----“.⁸

As globalization have progressed its living conditions (particularly when measured by broader indicators of well being) it has improved significantly in virtually all countries. However, the strongest gains have been made by the advanced countries and only some of the developing countries were part of the most economic gained countries. Globalization like Colonialism isolated Africans. The global age introduced a technological caste system. It makes the third world countries in general impotent in global reckoning. Globalization like colonialism created some policies which is difficult for the third world countries but favorable to the advanced countries. These policies are favorable to the advanced countries being advanced in their economy, industry as well as technology than some of these third world countries. They can be able to compete and maintain global market. Although, some institutions were established such as IMF, World Bank etc to help the third world countries collect loans in order to meet up in the global market but it was not favorable to them rather, it make their economy dwindled. The institutions created policies that made it difficult for these developing countries to be stable economically and as a result of that it becomes difficult for them to meet up to the needs of their people.⁹

Moreover, the third world countries especially the African are expected to abide on the same policy as it’s also expected those of advanced countries. They forget that before equality could be achieved economically, which was the reason for integration-global market, the developing countries should be at the mercy of the advanced countries. The invention of technology was as a result of globalization, but it was at the favor of wealthy countries because they can afford to get them as desired than the poor or developing countries as well as colonialism. Colonialism brought about the existence of some infrastructural facilities like roads, railways, ships, hospitals, schools etc, but it was noticed that these infrastructures were invented by the colonial powers. The similarities are that the rich or wealthier countries can afford to invent and as well install and operate them better than the African counter part. Globalization and colonialism saw to the existence of many policies economically that affected many countries positively and negatively as well. The job opportunities or employment globalization brought can as well be like that provided or obtained during colonialism. The Africans for instance, were employed to do the hard Labour especially in plantation, railways and roads construction, mines and in building of bridges while the super powers who are in charge monitor and supervise. The Africans were not given opportunity to handle, conduct and supervise. They were not trained in such a way they can be able to open their own industries, mastermind a contract in a superior way, that is why today many African countries like Nigeria depends on many import materials for a finished goods. Another affected part of it is that in Nigeria for example there are many foreign multi-national companies that exist. They made good money from the countries resources but had little or nothing to offer the nation. The citizens of the country are employed only to work as a servant and not as cooperators of the company. The most investment made by these multinational companies was based in their mother countries and not in the residential country.

In Nigeria we are blessed with natural resources like petroleum but we lack good or better refinery and knowledge of how to handle our resource for our own advantage. Globalization as well as colonialism makes it possible for many African countries to unite and relate with other countries of the world. Also, it was the existence of colonialism that led to the existence of globalization after the Breton wood conference held in the 19^th century. It was initiated after many colonial powers lost their colonial territory. Though globalization has been in existence but was modernized and introduced to some third world countries that have known about its existence. Globalization especially economic globalization uses transnational corporations as its instrument. The average per capital income in the most advanced country is now 58 times that of the least developed country. Over half of the third world population lives on 5.6 percent of the world’s income. The inequality continued in health section mortality tables show 18.1 greater chance of dying before the age of 5 in poor countries and life expectancy of 54 years compared with 80 years. This is as a result of inability of the developing countries to have access to modern infrastructures which can help to improve the peoples’ standard of living. Also, the income gap between high-income and low income country earners has grown wider and it’s a concern because the number of the third world’s citizens in abject poverty is deeply disturbing. But it’s wrong to jump into conclusion that globalization has caused the divergence, or that nothing can be done to improve the situation. To the contrary, low income countries have not been able to integrate with the global economy as quickly as others, partly because of their chosen policies and partly because of factors outside their control. No country, least of all the poorest, can afford to remains isolated from the world economy every country should seek to reduce poverty.¹⁰ The international community should endeavor by strengthening the international financial system, through trade in order to help the poorest countries integrate into the world economy, grow more rapidly and reduce poverty. This is the way to ensure that all people in all countries have access to the benefits of globalization because the forces of globalization increases both benefits of good polices and the cost of failures. Countries that can not keep pace with change can be or not hurt by the process. If globalization cannot work for the poor, then it will be very harmful to the continent that shelters the poorest of the world’s poor.¹¹

Finally, in the 1950’s and 1960s most colonized countries and territories across the world threw off the yolk of colonialism, there was tremendous hope and anticipation that new era of hope, freedom, independence and self-determination was about to unfold. In most cases it was of great reluctant that the colonial masters granted independence to their colonial territory. It’s only means they had generated and held control of their human and material resources and perpetuate them selves in the social-economic and political lives of their subjects. For instance, some African countries like Kenya. Algeria etc, it was with greater violence that its independence was won. However, this independence had led to the result of many changes. These colonial masters put in place much mechanism to ensure that the new created states fail in order to continue to control them; even after their independence. Thus, relating to the existing economic ties that exist between the new created countries and their colonial master for instance in Nigeria and Britain.¹² Moreover, as the world continues to experience changes, newer and more sophisticated yet, more subtle movements are taking over, the most important of which is globalization becomes the new global colonialism, based on the historical structure of capitalism and is a process that executes the objectives of colonialism with greater efficiency and rationalism.

END NOTES

1. Mr. L.E. Egware, ‘Institutional Agents of globalization

CBN, Economic and financial Review’, Vol. 36, No. 4.

2. Http://www.Investopedia.com/terms/d/developed

economy asp # ax221leg08010

3. Http:/www.yabeglobal.yale:edu/conent/prov. Globalization.

4. Albrow Martin and Elisabeth King (ed) Globalization,

knowledge and society (London 1990), p.92.

5. Levitt, Theodore, the globalization of market (Harvard

Review, May – June 1983), p.6

6. Ibid p. 72

7. Awake ‘Globailization-curse or cure?’(May 2000), P.3-4.