I find it very worrying when world leaders preach to Africans about democracy, but say very little about economic democracy. If democracy in Africa means we must be guided by norms and standards established outside of the African continent and remain economically enslaved to colonial structures, then how do we become "free"?It's time for Africa to move towards a genuine economic democracy, one in which the African people benefit from the natural resources of their continent.Economic and political decisions should be entirely local without any opportunistic interference by the rest of the world.And let the people and workers of Africa be involved in the business decisions.There will be no true or meaningful change in Africa until its people have economic freedom.And Africa will never be economically free while our own political leaders take money from big corporate companies in order to safeguard the latter's business interests on the continent.Consider the case of South Africa. Though much has changed, black South Africans only received political democracy in 1994, not economic democracy - hence why this country has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world.Economic democracy is the only way forward to restore African pride.We need an Africa created by Africans and run and managed by Africans.Then we can enjoy true economic growth that favours the African people.The current way of doing things has not helped to economically liberate us.African people have been cajoled into thinking that political freedom is all we need.But those who control the economy essentially control the country politically.For this reason, it is fundamentally important to build economic democratic states in Africa or else face the prospect of playing second fiddle to the rest of the world forever. ..