Africa: Propitious Omens
Further to my post “Africa Calling”. I wanted to know more
about the massive continent its economic potential and scope for development. An in depth study has clearly depicted the
nuances the continent is facing. Some critics have hyped up the whole
turn events in Africa during the past decade and predicted that it is going to
compete with tigers of Asia for investment.
I was greatly surprised by the veracity of the continent at
the first instance. Africa is too big to follow a single script. Hence instead
of making a sweeping statement on the scenario of the entire continent as
such, it would be prudent to talk about the countries in Africa. It is huge
continent with 55 countries and each of them at various tiers of the
development.
Some of the land-locked and central African countries like
Niger, Algeria, Libya, Congo , Egypt and
Sudan are at the lowest tier of development and ranked lowest in UN’s Global
human-development index. These have abysmally low literacy rates, coupled with
high infant mortality and dire poverty. They are conflict ridden and suffer
from terrible poverty. Some of countries like Niger, Chad, Congo, central
African Republic have huge reserves of Gold, Oil and other valuable resources.
The money earned by the Government from these resources does not reach the needy
people. The story in all of these countries is different but the current
situation is more or less the same. Bad governance coupled with war has been detrimental
to their growth process. Rebels and Government closely weigh for the resources
and each of them ends -up buying more arms to keep a check on each other’s
activities. Some respite in the form of uprising in Egypt brought some beacon
of hope. The process of public uprising is slowly spreading to other countries and
few could revive their governments bringing a palpable change in economies.
Ivory coast, Ghana, Nigeria has a different story to unfold.
Their land is endowed with rich resources but most of their investments are in
the form of building big football stadiums and dams. Resources are diverted for
creation of big elephants. Growth in these nations has been largely
non-inclusive, though a change in the perception of the people is noticeable
and evident. There are numerous short comings and allegations of corruptions.
Ethiopia and Kenya are striking good growth rate. But their growth is uneven.
South Africa is known as the land of rich and affluent. It is suffering from
huge income disparities between the rich and the poor which is becoming increasingly
unbridgeable. Unemployment rate stands at 40%. Industrialization has stalled
and economic growth has stagnated. Guinea-Bissau, Guinea and Sierra Leone are
tired of wars. Several infightings have died down. But most of the economies
are ravaged by war and states are rendered dysfunctional by violent disorder. Kenya on the other hand has the highest level
of mobile penetration and nearly 70% of trade transactions are carried out
through mobiles. Senegal has a vibrant democracy. Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana
have huge riches beneath with huge haul of minerals and metals. In reality many
African countries are relying heavily on the sudden boom of the commodities. People
have realized the importance of good governance and most of them are opting for
democratic systems.
The three crucial elements brought a robust change in Africa
- the Western aid agencies, Chinese mining companies and UN peacekeeping
force. But the real saviours of the continent have been the people who have
relentlessly worked towards a new change and a new dawn. They started aspiring
for new technology, voting out for the right leaders and urging their leaders
to work for them. Most of the indicators of the human development have
improved. Life expectancy rose by tenth, infant mortality has come down, more
children started going to schools, HIV infection rates have fallen, deaths due
to malaria has reduced, foreign direct investments tripled.
But on the flip side, commodity boom has inflated some of
the economies. Majority of their exports include agricultural commodities and
the resources dug out from beneath.
These resources are not going to last longer and climate plays a major
havoc for a reliable cultivation. Africa is slated to be continent which will
be worst hit due to climate change. Savannah's are steadily depleting, water
tables are sinking and rains have become too erratic. Further, the continent is
expected to nearly double by 2050. Unless the state is capable of providing a
stable employment to the masses, it is sure to fall back to the trap of
internal fighting. Some of countries are still marred by violence and under
constant threat of growing Islam extremism.
A way forward for it should be improving the governance by
making use of the youthful population, lifting restriction on the employing
migrants and land ownership. Better
economic management, by aiming at inclusive growth, investing in core sectors
which can fuel the economy with regular returns. Infrastructure, Urbanisation,
better technology can steer the growth. Africa
is right now pitted against Asia as a future leader. But still there are miles
to go !!!!!!!!!!!
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