Question #2: Issues that have impacted Africa and played a role towards its efforts of global integration with non African countries and regional integration within the continent in the last 5 years
Africa has long been thought of as a place where trade could not happen, especially on an international level. With the problems that occur, many of which are usually highlighted on western media on the news and even in movies, it reminds people the past of a troubled continent. Corruption, exploitation of resources and children, warfare and political instability has made it appear virtually impossible to invest in the countries of this continent and made doing so taboo in the business world or the unenlightened investor. Truth is though, the continent is actually one of the most valuable and changes in policy and growing trends towards a more liberal policy on trade in African nations has made it not only attractive to do business there, but even a standard part of the expansion plans of many multinational companies and nations. African governments have tried their hardest to change the general image in the media about Africa and send signals out to the public saying that they are indeed open to trade. To do so, they have used prior examples of success stories in regions that are developing and attempting to apply popular politics to push towards a more business-friendly continent. In a region with huge potential for trade and investment, many companies and countries are either attempting to get involved in recent years, for example China, who are choosing to accept the general thought that the region would be too risky. In no way is this essay going to attempt to state that Africa is an easy region to start up and grow, but it will ...
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...egion with not nearly as many natural resources as African countries. Granted, there are some nations that are not showing any chance of even trying to integrate according to the Ibrahim index, those which are attempting to send the right signals showing they are ready for international and inter regional trade should not disadvantaged. No longer should a few bad apples cause the deterioration of a whole continent with over a billion people. If Western nations can find a way past the business culture of various countries and other African nations can look past their selfish needs against their rival countries, effective trade can be enacted and billions of dollars can be up for grabs in opening new markets. With this, it is possible for Africa to be no longer called “the last investment frontier” (Moneybuilder, 2012) but one of the strongest in the world with time.
It is thought-provoking, in the sense that Africa’s need for foreign created a race to the bottom, much like what Pietra Rivoli described in The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. Due to some African states’ reliance on foreign aid in order to mine and profit on their resources, they allow business standards to be lowered and for Chinese firms to tip the contracts moresoever in the favor of Chinese firms. This lowers the potential earnings of African states by lowering royalty rates, for example. Additionally, Burgis’ research was thorough and transparent. When he did not receive a response or if his questions were dodged, he made it obvious to the readers. Sure, some could view this book as too anecdotal to be used as a credible source of Africa’s situation. However, this is due to the nature of the system Burgis is writing about; after all, they are shadow states for a reason. Some readers will be saddened by this text, others angry, most curious to learn more, but above all, everyone will be intellectually stimulated and
...nturies of both its resources and its people; a continent dived by borders that suited foreign powers, leaving nothing but volatile power vacuums. Those who did somehow manage to receive an education were taught that their heritage and they themselves were inferior. Despite everything Africa has endured, there remains hope. Some form of stability is establishing itself in an increasing number of regions, including Nigeria, with Lagos becoming an economic powerhouse in West Africa. Across the continent more and more economic development projects are being funded by African banks.
With Europe in control, “the policies of the governing powers redirected all African trade to the international export market. Thus today, there is little in the way of inter-African trade, and the pattern of economic dependence continues.” Europeans exported most of the resources in Africa cheaply and sold them costly, which benefited them, but many Africans worked overtime and were not treated with care.
Since 1960, the imposition of colonialism on sub-Saharan Africa has affected the continent in many ways. Pacifically political and economic development. Africa has gone through so much just to become an independent country. Going back 1870 when Belgians began to trade with Africans in the Congo. The other European countries began to worry about missing out on the many amazing raw materials Africa possessed. The most important factor that motivated European colonial expansion was economic gain. This is due to industrial revolution, which began in Britain in the second half of the eighteenth century. The industrial revolution transformed the economy in Western Europe. Also they didn’t want to fall behind in the race to national prominence and
Priscilla. “The World Economy and Africa.” JSpivey – Home – Wikispaces. 2010. 29 January 2010. .
Africa has always been mysterious to the rest of the world. The Greeks and the Romans traded with the peoples of Northern Africa. However, they thought that the land mass went no farther south than present day Somalia. In fact, Alexander the Great even considered shipping supplies for his armies around this smaller Africa to India. This same idea continued well into the 15th and 16th centuries until it was discovered that Africa has an extremely large southern protrusion making the second largest continent in the world after Asia. These vast areas used to bring Africa wealth well into the 18th and 19th centuries, trading gold, salt, and also people. Their greatest wealth actually came from this slave trade; they wouldn’t trade their friends and brothers but the enemies that they captured in their inter-tribal wars. As the slave trade wore down after the 1880’s the Europeans started to take over large swaths of land. Like in Arabia the strongest European countries came together with a map and some straightedges and divided the continent among them. Soon the countries put in provisional governments and wrote up constitutions in French and English and left them on their relative lonesome. Most of the problems associated with Africa are caused by the misconceptions that Africa got poor but that the rest of the world got rich.
In the 1500s to 1967, European Imperialism had a giant negative impact on Africa. They caused many social and economic issues mainly in South Africa, Congo, and West Africa. This rivalry that was created with the Europeans from imperialism caused the Africa to have no way of developing and competing with the rest of the world.
Africa's history has been a rocky one, plagued by various forms of exploitation and imperialism. These blights had a strong negative effect on the development of Africa. While different methods such as slavery, unequal trade and forced ideals were utilised to manipulate Africa and to simplify its imperialism, the end result was the same When the Europeans exploited Africa it experienced a period of terror and imperialism that still echoes within it today.
Another market which currently has interesting Opportunities is Africa. Currently, luxury brands are looking at Africa as the next big market (Paton, 2014). It is estimated that the number of billionaires in Africa will grow up to ’’117% over the next decade’’ This means it has the second-fastest regional rate of growth in the world after Asia. (Business, 2014).
Artadi, Elsa V., and Xavier Sala-i-Martin. The Economic Tragedy of the XXth Century: Growth in Africa. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2003. Print.
The Europeans saw Africa as being a great place to obtain all types of resources from labor to natural materials. Items such as cotton, coal, rubber, copper, tin, gold, and other metals were considered very valuable and readily available in Africa (Nardo). The industrial revolution had already become a strong influence on the countries that attended the Conference. They had spent the past...
The international community have highlighted the benefits that efficient and effective trade in Africa could potentially hold; the G8 in 2005 (and again in...
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney, was one of the most controversial books in the world at the time of its release. The book seeks to argue that European exploitation and involvement in Africa throughout history. This is the cause of current African underdevelopment, and the true path to the development is for Africa to completely sever her ties with the international capitalist economy. Rodney describes his goal in writing the book in the preface: “this book derives from a concern with the contemporary African situation. It delves into the past only because otherwise it would be impossible to understand how the present came into being and what the trends are for the near future” (vii). Rodney writes from a distinctly Marxist perspective by arguing that the inequalities inherent in European capitalism and required exploitation of certain countries in order to sustain capitalism.
There is no doubt that European colonialism has left a grave impact on Africa. Many of Africa’s current and recent issues can trace their roots back to the poor decisions made during the European colonial era. Some good has resulted however, like modern medicine, education, and infrastructure. Africa’s history and culture have also been transformed. It will take many years for the scars left by colonization to fade, but some things may never truly disappear. The fate of the continent may be unclear, but its past provides us with information on why the present is the way it is.
The majority of the continent of Africa has not been as economically progressive as the other continents in today’s world. However, over the past few years, it has been rapidly growing. Although there have been multiple countries in Africa that have reflected a strong growing economy, such as South Africa and Botswana, there are many other countries that are still corrupt and are still struggling to grow as a nation. There are many challenges that are facing Africa currently. Some of these major challenges being, corrupt governments, vicious cycles of aid, and poverty traps. However, among these challenges, there still lies to be great opportunities for Africa within their technology and business sectors.