Africa Needs a Renewal

[explorerx7]

I am unable to understand the current situation in Africa. Many of the African countries had been colonized by foreigners. Now that the colonizers are no more present, there has not been much improvement in the affairs of these countries. In many instances, the hostilities have escalated because they have turned against each others; crippling the economy, decimating the population, and causing widespread sufferation.
The level of cooperation to enable the continent to realize its full potential is just not present. the people of Africa have no one the to blame but themselves. The power is in their hands to change the situation.
They need a renewal in thinking and actions to turn things round.

 

[djdefense]

There are bigger forces at work in Africa. China and US have had proxy forces in a variety of African countries. However, today most of the external interference in Africa is by China because of its extensive interest in the resources of that continent. There's diamond and uranium in large quantities and Chinese companies have a strong hold on local economies now. Its an undeclared colonization of sorts. A destabilized region has its own perks- you get safe passage way for raw materials by paying little amounts instead of paying massive amounts of duty.

 

[Corzhens]

I had read that in some parts of Africa, like Somalia, the rebels are more powerful than the government. And without foreign support, the government would surely collapse. Maybe it is not yet the time of Africa to have absolute freedom from foreign control. It seems that they cannot rule themselves and their government will just crumble to give way to chaos.

 

[Redheart]

What gives people a sense of "oneness" is cultural and racial homogeneity. Question though is why was Europe unable to unite even though most Europeans were Caucasian [300 or so years ago]? There were cultural differences. The French hated the English. The French hated the English. The Germans . . .

Same differences exist in Africa. Thousands of different ethnic groups. Worse still they all speak different languages.The different communities/tribes can't work together because they hated each other long before the Colonists arrived in Africa. The Colonists noticing the existing hatred used it to their advantage and made things worse than they originally were.

What would work for Africa is using the existing differences to build stronger countries. Each country needs Federal government. Each community can govern itself as it pleases or even better autonomy for all regions that don't want to be part of a country because they feel they are different. That IMHO is what might save Africa.

 

[JulianWilliams]

They have horrible infrastructure, corrupt governments, poor education systems, lots of bureaucracy, basically everything one needs to prevent an economy from doing well. Their economies also suffer from all the aid that gets pumped into their countries which serve to undermine their local producers.

 

[djdefense]

I think even with those cultural differences, countries should be able to unite. In India, culture, language, dressing styles, ethnicities differ, sometimes within miles. Its still one because of strong leaders who did not fill their own coffers and instead created a system where no one will ever have "absolute" power. And English is the only common language in India.

I think even with those cultural differences, countries should be able to unite. In India, culture, language, dressing styles, ethnicities differ, sometimes within miles. Its still one because of strong leaders who did not fill their own coffers and instead created a system where no one will ever have "absolute" power. And English is the only common language in India.

 

[xTinx]

There's no need to generalize all African countries, you know. Each country has undergone a different political history. So South Africa's polical-economic narrative is rather different from that of Namibia, Egypt and Zaire to name a few. There were colonizers, yes, but these racial issues were more pronounced in South Africa. Other African countries had problems with dictators, government corruption and tribal rivalries.

 

[Redheart]

When the Colonists left, Africa was left with incompetent leaders who didn't know how they could govern a country. Their predecessors learned nothing from them and they have been making the same mistakes over and over and over. More [quality] education might be the answer to all of Africa's problems.

 

[JulianWilliams]

I think even with those cultural differences, countries should be able to unite. In India, culture, language, dressing styles, ethnicities differ, sometimes within miles. Its still one because of strong leaders who did not fill their own coffers and instead created a system where no one will ever have "absolute" power. And English is the only common language in India.

I think even with those cultural differences, countries should be able to unite. In India, culture, language, dressing styles, ethnicities differ, sometimes within miles. Its still one because of strong leaders who did not fill their own coffers and instead created a system where no one will ever have "absolute" power. And English is the only common language in India.

What benefit would there be in multiple countries uniting? Such a country would be less democratic due to the voices of its people being so much more diluted among the larger population, and governing such a place would be more difficult.

 

[darkrebelchild]

African leaders need to be schooled. What is ruining the continent is mere corruption. It actually begins with the common man; lack of love and unity exists among Africans. We do not want our neighbor to rise above us or be more successful than we are which is wrong and is a backward movement for people seeking development.