The Commonwealth: Just Another Form of Colonialism

As the United Kingdom deals with the life out of the European Union (EU) known as Brexit they need new markets and the plan is to go back to old faithful Africans. The British Commonwealth was started as an extension of the imperial British Empire that had its former colonies in chains and under subjugation. Today, it is simply known as the Commonwealth to reflect the modern times. However, what remains unchanged is that the British monarch is the Head of the Organization.

The Commonwealth is a made up of 53 former colonies who have willingly submitted themselves to again accept a subservient role in the British hierarchy. Under the formula of the London Declaration, Queen Elizabeth II is the Head of the Commonwealth, a title that is by law a part of Elizabeth’s royal titles in each of the Commonwealth realms. It is stated that the Queen of England is the head of the Commonwealth only symbolically which begs the question why. If it is an organization of equals why doesn’t the headship rotate from one head of state to another?

There are two former British colonies that are missing from the commonwealth notably Zimbabwe and the United States of America. Both nations regard their sovereignty to be of utmost importance and rejected the idea of the monarchy even on a symbolic level because they understand that symbols are powerful.

The commonwealth is made up of 2.4 billion citizens which is about a third of the world’s population. The people in these countries are potential consumers for British businesses. They say that the purpose of the commonwealth is to strengthen rule of law, democracy, sports and culture but in the post-Brexit world the access to African markets have been even more important. The plan is to increase intra-commonwealth trade to $1TRN by 2020.

60% of the citizens of the commonwealth are under 30 which means youth unemployment is a big issue for the commonwealth. In order to achieve lasting peace in the commonwealth territory youth unemployment has to be addressed and that’s why the Queen’s grandson has been appointed youth ambassador and why his wife to be Meghan Markle has been welcomed into the royal family. The royal family hope that perhaps Markle’s presence will signal to African countries that they have a seat at the table and will open up their market and give preferential treatment such as low taxes and no tarrifs to United Kingdom businesses and revive the ailing British economy. Six of the fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa and present market opportunities for UK.

The Commonwealth feels like just another way for the UK to gain access to and plunder African resources.

Commonwealth Member Countries by region