Vanessa Curney

Admittedly I’m only halfway through reading this erudite and compelling book that traces the roots of globalisation and finance through time. But why am I already a tad disgruntled with it?

The sentence that probably sums it up for me is: ‘Of the earliest recorded migrations, one of the most fascinating is the spread of the Aryans, now generally believed to be the original ancestors of all the Indo-European  peoples in the world.’ This book is a tale that excludes a whole race, of ‘my kind’. The ‘masters of the universe’ aren’t very interested in exploring contributions to globalisation and trade made by sub-Saharan Africa and its descendents. I’m not talking about the North African/Arab impact either, but the influence of certain Central, East and West African states/kingdoms in the 11-16^th centuries. European historians have rather dismissed African contributions to history:

Does the following sound like a description of a former Africa you recognize?

‘There were many fair houses of stone and mortar, well organised in streets. Around it were streams and orchards with many channels of sweet water…‘They were finely clad in (wore) many rich clothes of gold and silk, and cotton, and the women as well; also with much gold and silver in chains and bracelets, which they wore on their legs and arms, and many jewelled earrings in their ears.’

-          The Portuguese trader Duarte Barboosa, of the east African city Kilwa, in the early 16^th century

And by the way, should a state’s power, success and justification for admiration always be measured by its expansion, acquisition and conquest?

As I’ve said, I’m only halfway through the book and my perceptions may change, but my guess is that later chapters will only depict Africa’s real contribution to global ‘success’ in its ‘tragic’ tale of poverty, warfare, corruption and ruin.

I’m sure Mr Green, Chairman of HSBC, will discuss the pain meted out by modern globalisation and trade, and the cost to thousands and millions of lives in the quest for money and world greatness/domination. And I say this as a fan of the positive aspects of globalisation (culture sharing, advancement in technology…) But that cost can be tasted in the unpalatable fruits of discontent today.

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