There are alternative models for partnerships between Africa and the rest of the world. Three developments, each fostered by the U. Taiwan has invested heavily in education, building technical training schools to develop a skilled workforce that can locally produce products once imported from China. Somaliland can build similar institutions to supplement and feed into its universities in Hargeisa.
A student exchange program with Taiwan could provide more than scholarships for Somalilanders to study in Taiwanese universities, which would boost the proportion of Africans among the foreign university student population in Taiwan from the dismal current rate of 1.
There is certainly no shortage of talented students. Abaarso , a science and technology secondary school in Hargeisa, alone has graduated over 80 students who have gone on to pursue university abroad, including at Ivy League universities. International Development Finance Corporation, which partner with both the private sector and governments. Somaliland could similarly avail itself of private-public partnerships to finance industry and productive infrastructure.
Investment could contribute to electricity generation, light manufacturing, and highway construction with the goal of improving value and supply chains, substituting imports, and boosting net domestic capital formation in productive sectors livestock, agriculture, fisheries, etc.
This will attract Taiwanese companies to set up export-driven industries that produce high-demand products for East Africa and Gulf countries e. These could compete against Chinese imports, create local jobs, and result in the transfer of technology to locals, thereby helping them to become self-reliant. At various points throughout the 21st century, the industry has fallen victim to draconian restrictions from Gulf countries that were encouraged by the Somali government as part of its economic campaign against Somaliland.
The industry has proved resilient, and in , 3. In addition, livestock can also be a source of value beyond just meat by converting their waste into bioenergy, hides into leather products, and bones into beauty and hygiene products.
Despite Taiwan's continued dominance in chip manufacturing and the information and communications technology ICT sector, profit margins have diminished due to Chinese government subsidies and cheap labor. Diplomatic relations between Taiwan and Somaliland mark a watershed, not only for the Horn of Africa, but also for the globe: an African lion cub and Asian tiger rebuffed intimidation from the Chinese dragon.
African countries must make diplomatic decisions based on economic calculations. Currently, they are stuck between a West that is investing less and less in Africa — the U. But China is an unforgiving creditor; it has refused to provide any debt forgiveness to African countries for fear that improved debt-to-GDP ratios would give them access to credit markets beyond China, threatening Beijing's extraction economy in Africa. The Kuomintang regime had to escape China after losing during the China Civil War and decided to establish a parallel government exiled in Taiwan.
Fortunately for the Chinese immigrants, the island already had basic industrial and agricultural infrastructure set up by the Japanese, in addition to the food and chemical reserves the Japanese had left.
Upon settling in Taiwan, the regime began a series of reforms, the first being land reforms that oversaw the abolishing of the traditional landlord land system and the resulting increase in small-scale farmers and increased agricultural production.
The government also made the business environment flexible, allowing domestic companies quick to adapt to changes in the international market, in a special brand of capitalism where the government completely protected the market.
The Taiwanese government also focused on importing the latest industrial technologies from foreign countries, an act which accelerated the development of the country. The enabling business environment and political goodwill from the government to support businesses triggered a mass exodus of businesses and firms from mainland China who settled in Taiwan.
The movement of businesses also pulled with it Chinese business elites and intellectuals to the island. The conflict between China and Japan ravaged the land, and the Chinese Civil War that followed brought about even more destruction. So, how did prosperity in Taiwan develop so quickly? After the war, nations, especially the United States, provided aid for hundreds of millions. From to , U. Aid accounted for roughly 6. When the Japanese occupied Taiwan, they established a tenant farming system.
The distribution of land, wealth and power was absurdly unequal.
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