Another path to decolonization: manumission? (continued)

Hello everyone,

The APROFED association is back with you this weekend as part of the month of remembrance of slavery, the slave trade, and its abolition in mainland France and the overseas territories.

In this respect, the association returns to the example of the island of Haiti , about which we had already written an article in November 2024 (see Another path to decolonization: manumission? – APROFED ) in order to continue to explore another life of decolonization for New Caledonia, that of emancipation.

We invite you to watch an excellent documentary on Haiti broadcast this week on France 2 at the following link: Haiti, the price of independence

Although it can be considered to be from another era, the solution of manumission nevertheless corresponds to the colonial period , when States sold or bought territories from each other, to the period of slavery , when human beings were bought and sold, like furniture. In this respect, it should be noted that the “Black Code”, established in 1685, which governed the practice of slavery in the French colonies has still not been abolished to this day in France (see François Bayrou announces a law to soon repeal the Black Code ).

As a reminder, colonization is nothing other than domestic slavery , where individuals in a territory are dispossessed of their land and annihilated in order to allow the conquerors (looters) to seize the wealth emanating from this territory. Some decolonizations were made possible following the departure of the plunderer after realizing that there was no or no longer any wealth and therefore no interest in remaining in the said territory. This then represented a burden rather than a benefit to preserve it. This is unfortunately not the case for New Caledonia, which is currently one of the richest overseas territories in France, like Haiti in its time , possessing almost a quarter of the world’s nickel reserves, unlike Vanuatu, the Comoros, etc., which only possessed manioc and bananas according to Eugène Claudius-Petit, vice-president of the National Assembly in 1971.

Although the solution of having to pay one’s thief, one’s enslaver in order to regain one’s freedom may seem paradoxical, it remains that this is perhaps one of the last peaceful possibilities (besides civil disobedience) offered to the independence supporters to submit to the French State having rejected during the last visit of its Minister of Overseas Territories the 3 options which were: federalism, the associated State and independence. It is still necessary for the State (the master) to accept. The irony of the situation lies in the fact of renewing for the State its will to keep New Caledonia within France in this month of May, month of remembrance of slavery as mentioned above, thus denoting the cynicism and hypocrisy of the State apparatus towards its populations for whom it in reality cares absolutely nothing, thinking again and again only of its interests.

It would have been interesting to see what the outcome might have been, surely different, if the three self-determination referendums had been conducted at the national level. The French people have demonstrated on numerous occasions that they are not on the same wavelength as these leaders.

Returning to the solution of manumission, and based on the Haitian model, this would represent 50 to 100 billion euros for New Caledonia to pay to France, or 5 to 10 years of New Caledonian GDP. The repayment period is yet to be defined.

While this sum may seem colossal, the AI ​​we used to help us quantify this solution reminds us that France currently transfers around €1.3 to €1.5 billion per year to New Caledonia (via state aid, the civil service, social solidarity, etc.). So, over a 10-20 year horizon, this would represent nearly €30 billion in savings for France.

The revival of the Nickel sector with the establishment of a cartel allowing a price as desired by the manufacturers at around 25,000 dollars per tonne would allow a gross margin for the territory of the order of 2 billion per year, or over 20 years, depending on taxation, more than 20 billion €.

By integrating, as proposed in its solution No. 2, a sort of “United States of Oceania”, New Caledonia could again, through a free trade agreement between Oceania and the European Union, allow the latter to save on customs duties in the order of €5 to €10 billion, still over 20 years. Integration within an entity with Australia and New Zealand would also allow, through debt mutualization, not only New Caledonia but also all the Pacific islands to benefit from a more significant repayment schedule as well as an alternative source of public aid to that currently proposed by the Middle Kingdom, which is displeasing to Westerners.

It should also be remembered that nearly one billion euros of capital leaves the territory each year (see Dossier: taxation in New Caledonia ). With appropriate taxation, this would again allow the recovery of between 5 and 10 billion euros over a period of 20 years.

The figures cited above being based on 20 years, it could be multiplied by 2 or more for a repayment period of 40 years or more.

Thus, the option of manumission remains an avenue to be studied and favored over the current status quo or the violent option which risks reappearing given the little choice that the administering power leaves to the first people.

It should be noted that once independent, unless it is integrated into a larger group as in our solution no. 2, New Caledonia risks experiencing the same setbacks as Africa, which continues to suffer the horrors of colonization.

With a total external debt, at the end of 2023, estimated at around 1,152 billion US dollars , according to the African Development Bank ( African Development Bank Group+1Capmad.com+ ) , corresponding to almost half of the continent’s GDP, Africa continues to experience capital flight via multinationals, as suggested by AI, which estimates the phenomenon as massive, although difficult to quantify precisely. Several reports from international organizations give an estimate of what leaves the continent each year, including via:

• • transfers of profits to the headquarters or shareholders of multinationals (dividends, royalties, transfer prices, etc.),

• • tax optimization (via tax havens),

• • illicit flows (fraud, corruption, false invoicing).

Main estimates

1. 1. United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) – Mbeki Report (2015):

1. 1. • USD 50 to 80 billion a year flees Africa through illicit financial flows , much of which comes from transfer pricing manipulation by multinationals.

1. 1. Global Financial Integrity (GFI) :

1. 1. • Estimates that sub-Saharan Africa loses between USD 60 and 90 billion annually due to illicit business practices (falsified invoicing, tax evasion, etc.).

1. 1. UNCTAD – 2020 Report:

1. 1. • Between USD 88.6 billion per year leaves Africa (on average between 2013 and 2015) via illicit financial flows , or 3.7% of African GDP .

1. 1. • The majority of these flows are linked to the extraction of natural resources.

1. 1. Oxfam and other NGOs :

1. 1. • They point out that multinational companies repatriate a very significant share of profits , often more than they invest locally.

1. 1. • Some studies estimate that rich countries receive more money from Africa than they send in the form of aid or investments .

Conclusion

 Between 80 and 100 billion dollars leave Africa each year , mainly through:

• • profits repatriated by multinationals,

• • tax optimization and evasion,

• • transfer pricing manipulation.

A large part of these sums ends up in developed countries , notably in Europe, the United States and in tax havens, to remunerate shareholders or inflate the balance sheets of parent companies, leaving the continent in a situation of underdevelopment.

We wish you a good read and remind you that federalism is the only solution to reconcile unity in diversity.

The APROFED association