A Pan-African reflection on the burden of “Paying to Survive, Paying to Exist” towards determining our destiny and owning the future
The phrase “paying to survive, paying to exist” captures a growing frustration felt across the world.
Paul T. Shipale (with inputs by Folito Nghitongovali Diawara Gaspar)
The phrase “paying to survive, paying to exist” captures a growing frustration felt across the world.
Yet in Africa in general and Namibia in particular, despite the latter being ranked as one of Africa’s top performing countries, climbing from 15th to third place after South Africa and Mauritius according to the French publications Jeune Afrique and The Africa Report, there is a growing frustration that points toward an even deeper truth.
It seems the issue is not simply about the cost of living but about the cost of powerlessness.
Indeed, across the world, a growing number of people express a common frustration that they feel as though they are paying simply to survive.
This reality is often explained through inflation, economic crises, or the rising cost of living.
While these factors are important, they do not answer a more fundamental question such as why survival itself has become increasingly expensive in societies that are supposedly becoming more productive, technologically advanced, and wealthier.
This question acquires even greater significance when viewed through an African lens.
Across the continent, millions of citizens wake each day to a relentless cycle of economic obligations. They pay for transportation, water, electricity, healthcare, education, communication, food, housing, and taxes.
