The Development of Modern Africa
There are over 40 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the wealth of natural resources and the prevalence of wealth in the northern segments of Africa have led many to speculate about the equity and economic development in the sub-Sahara. Unfortunately, the progression of economic, political and social factors in this region have done little to improve the overall conditions, and have instead demonstrated a consistent bias towards the government and the social elites that has impacted the chances of successful development in the region. Since the end of World War II, changes in the infrastructure, the political forces, and in the capacity for collective action in many of these countries has underscored what some have described as the “Africa crisis” (Stryker, 1986).
One of the major issues that still remain in this region is the history of development in the sub-Sahara, generally traced back to the history of British rule, and the relinquishing of colonial control which led to greater regionalization. But there was little in place in terms of expansion planning or economic development in the period following the end of the Second World War, and it can be argued that the struggle for economic development is linked to existing and maintained inequities, based both on social conditioning and political control, that has weakened the agrarian force and impacted the development of industrialization.
During the 1980s, when many countries through out the world were experiencing the successful pull away from years of recession, the countries of the African sub-Sahara were not impacted by this positive transformation, and instead, it was posited that the decline in economic conditions would result in years of continued recession (Stryker, 1986). A number of theorists have attributed this crisis to different components of the politics, the economic base, and the social perspectives, as well as basic problems like the lowest world-wide life expectancy, lowest nutritional and literacy rates, lack of access to medical care, safe water supplies, and support services, and high population growth coupled by the highest infant mortality rates in the world (Stryker, 1986). It has been recognized that of the 40-50 poorest counties of the world, most (2/3) are located in the sub-Saha...
... middle of paper ...
...ility, the perception that reforms could somehow promote a major transformation within the varied communities of the sub-Sahara placed too great an emphasis on the process of development and too little emphasis on the impact that the division itself would have on existing communities.
Bibliography
Berry, Sara (1992, Summer). Hegemony on a shoestring: indirect rule and access to agricultural land. Africa, v62 n3, pp. 327(29).
Gyimah-Brempong, Kwabena (1992, May). Do African governments favor defense in budgeting? Journal of Peace Research, v29 n2, pp. 191(16).
Jaycox, Edward (1993, March). Structural adjustment spurs African development. Africa News, v38 n2-3, pp. 14(1).
Lonsdale, J.M. (1970). Nationalism and Traditionalism in East Africa. in Collins, R., Ed. Problems in the History of Colonial Africa, 1860-1960. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Seitz, Steven (1991, January-April). The military in black African politics. Journal of Asian and African Studies, v26 n1-2, pp. 61(15).
Stryker, Richard (1986). Poverty, inequality, and development choices in contemporary Africa. in Martin, P. and O’Meara, P., Eds. Africa. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
The impact of the Structural Adjustment Programs imposed by International Financial Intuitions (IFIs) such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on the developing countries of Africa has led to the destruction of Africa’s social sectors and has handicapped Africa in its fight with poverty, the AIDS pandemic, and keeping children in school.
The Web. 25 Apr. 2014. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. "Nationalism in Africa - African Nationalism After World War II." Colonial, Pan, Rule, and Nkrumah.
Priscilla. “The World Economy and Africa.” JSpivey – Home – Wikispaces. 2010. 29 January 2010. .
Trupin, James E. West Africa - A Background Book from Ancient Kingdoms to Modern Times, Parent's Magazine Press. New York, 1991.
Africa in all its existence to Europe has relied on others to decide what’s best for them. Africa is now in a Western style mode. This does not mean it should be there but it is now. The government has to start taking advantage of today’s capitalist economy. Money tends to keep people of all nations happier. With money everyone is guaranteed food, a home and a better chance at democracy.
"News." Africa Continues to Grow Strongly but Poverty and Inequality Remain Persistently High. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2013.
Over one billion people are living in poverty, lacking safe water, housing, food, and the ability to read. There is a high concentration of communities in poverty in Africa; particularly Central Africa. States that are considered in Central Africa are the following: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Republic of Africa, Chad, Equatorial Guinea and the Congo. The majority of these Central African states’ economies are dependent on agriculture. As a result of this dependency, natural disasters, droughts and wars can displace subsistence farmer from their land resulting in poverty becoming even more prevalent and harder to come back from. Also with a history of dependency on farming there tends to be the trend of education not being a primary focus for the youth which is another factor into the stagnant poverty trend in Central Africa.
As the Europeans started to invade Africa and split up the land, they paid no attention to the already existing natural boundaries. Over time, villages with different cultures had set these boundaries. The Europeans ignored these invisible borders as they invaded. This caused soci...
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.
Africa’s struggle to maintain their sovereignty amidst the encroaching Europeans is as much a psychological battle as it is an economic and political one. The spillover effects the system of racial superiority had on the African continent fractured ...
Growth in Africa is not enough for its people to grow, which is leading to poverty and hunger in Africa. Today Africa is one of the leading countries having poverty and economic problems. One half of the Africans live below the poverty line which leads to low human development in Africa. The main cause of poverty in Africa is a problem in its economic system and environmental factors. Because of poverty people of Africa remain hungry as they don’t have enough money to buy their food and their basic needs. Some of the African countries have less poverty rate than others due to good government and economic system in those countries. Most of the African is facing challenges to survive and keep their family healthy.
In Africa, one important feature of the urbanization process is that a lot of the growth is taking place in the industrial increase. Urbanization also finds expression in external expansion of the built-up area and the changing of prime agricultural lands into residential and industrial uses (Saundry, 2008). An alternate to the present expansion of the urban population across a wide area of the country in order to save crucial land for agriculture is to construct high-rise buildings and support commercial development in specific zones, which would depend on efficiency, and the right technology and resources (Hanson, 2011). In Africa, the urbanization processes are largely driven by market forces and government policies. This will lead to methods at the same time of change in incomes, land use, health and natural resources management including water, soil and forests and often reactive changes in local governments (The Economist, 2010). So this is saying that government development policies and budget divisions, in which urban residents are often favorites over rural areas and will tend to pull more people into the urban areas. I...
Throughout the centuries Africa has been a continent of agricultural achievement and plenty. Agrarian practices and technologies developed in Africa were emulated by the world’s great civilizations and radiated to every corner of the world. It’s speculated by many naturalist (most notably Charles R. Darwin) that modern agriculture originated in Africa. Ancient cave paintings discovered by archeologist in Africa are certainly some of the earliest evidences of plant and animal domestication. Arabic and European historical accounts agree that African diets were varied and abundant from the beginning of recorded history up until the middle ages. The African continent is rich with natural and intellectual resources. Northern Africa has rich oil deposits that, once discovered, have made billions of dollars. Sub-Sahara Africa is rich with deposits of precious minerals such as gold and diamonds. Throughout much of history Africa has been thought of as a rich land. But the Africa we know today as being plagued by famine, poverty and war came about at a much later date. These tragic circumstances could have been partly caused by the massive economic dislocation caused by the slave trade and colonization of the 19th and 20th century (Hopkins 13). Colonial powers representing outside interest setup “extractive institutions” across Africa. These “Extractive Institutions” refer to those entities that exist for the sole purpose of pull resources out of a country. Now that many of the colonialist powers have left, these “European-style institutions” still exist well into the turn of the century.
The New Imperialism and the Scramble for Africa 1880-1914. Jeff Taylor, n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
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.