Sunday 27 February 2011

Will Lasting Friendship Between Israelis & Arabs Boost Africa's Economy?

As ordinary Libyans struggle to gain their freedom from Gaddafi's tyrannical regime, and their fellow Arabs elsewhere, also use people-power to shake off repressive leaders, one wonders what the future holds for that longed-for Arab-Israeli peace, which people of goodwill worldwide so wish would happen soon.

Israelis and Arabs, are both a noble people, with ancient civilisations. And they both have long and proud histories - and are blessed with societies underpinned by two of the world's most significant religions.

It is such a pity that for so long, there has been such hostility between two such dynamic peoples who have so much to gain, if they could coexist peacefully, and collaborate for their mutual benefit.

One's prayer, is that one of the positive outcomes of the Arab world's people-power revolutions, will be a new climate of goodwill between ordinary Arabs, and the ordinary people of Israel, which will lead to permanent friendship and understanding between the Arab world's new democratic governments, and that of Israel.

The irony, is that Israelis and Palestinians are amongst the cleverest people on the surface of the planet Earth. They could bring prosperity to all of the Middle East, if they ended the ancient grudges that now separate them, and gave peace a chance to flower - in the wake of the democratic tsunami, now sweeping away tyranny, from the Arab world.

Such lasting peace between Israelis and Arabs, can only benefit Africa's economy, particularly its ICT sector, and its Agriculture's farming sector. Israel is a global power in the high-tech industry. It also devotes a significant proportion of its GDP to research and development: in fact in 2008, the percentage of GDP Israel spent on R&D, is reckoned to be the highest of any OECD country - and higher than the European Union target for 2010 of 3% of GDP.

Combining the cutting-edge Israeli high tech sector, with investment for projects in the continent, funded with Arab petro-dollars, could help speed up the growth of Africa's minuscule nascent high-tech sector. An obvious benefit would be collaboration between African research institutions and their Israeli equivalents.

Its solar energy industry is one of the most advanced in the world - and utilising petro-dollars to fund solar energy projects on the continent will benefit all the three peoples.

A particular area in which Africa's economy can benefit from peace between Israelis and Arabs, is utilising the scientific know-how, which has enabled the Israelis to make the desert bloom. Combined with the cash-mountain of Arab petro-dollars, looking for rewarding returns from investment opportunities worldwide, it could create a boom for African agriculture - for the benefit of Africans, Israelis and Arabs. And may that come to pass soon!

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