Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 13:38:33 +0200
<http://www.africaw.com/the-future-of-africa-the-new-africa> The Future of
Africa: The New Africa
15/09/2014
Is Africa the poorest continent on earth? The answer is NO. Africa is not
the poorest continent on earth. In fact, Asia is far poorer than Africa. The
Indian subcontinent alone contains nearly 50 percent of the total population
of poor people in the world today. Africa and the rest of Asia contain about
40 percent of the world's poor population. Latin America and the rest of the
world contain the remaining 10 percent. So as you can see, Africa contains
just about 20% of the world's poor population. Asia contains at least 60-65%
of the world's poor population. It depends on how you view poverty. If you
are judging continents based on the number of advanced countries, then you
may put Asia ahead of Africa because of countries like Japan and China.
However, if you are judging continents based on the number of poor people
and the intensity/level of poverty, then it is a huge mistake to place Asia
ahead (in the good side) of Africa why because Africa is far better than
Asia in terms of living conditions and the levels of poverty.
According to the new UNDP Human development multidimensional poverty Index
(MPI), there are about 29 different states in India but just 8 states out of
the 29, contain more poor people than 26 poorest countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa combined. According to the report, it is not just the number but also
the intensity/level of poverty. In other words, the poor people in India
live in worse conditions than the poor people in Africa. India is not the
only poor country in Asia. In fact countries like Bangladesh, Nepal,
Cambodia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Burma, etc. are even poorer than India and
they are all in Asia.
There are poor people in Africa and Africa needs help but there are even
poorer people in Asia who need much more help than Africa. The western media
always portray Africa as the dark continent full of nothing but poverty,
hunger, pain and misery which isn't the case. It is true there is poverty in
Africa but not all countries in Africa are poor. Some countries are poorer
than others. A country like South Africa is far more advanced than most
countries in the world today. Even Botswana (a middle income country), Ghana
and other lower middle income countries in Africa are far better than most
countries in the world today. Take China for example. China is an advanced
country but there is extreme poverty in some places especially rural China.
Even in America the richest country on earth, some people sleep on streets
why because they have no place to call their home while the few extremely
rich people continue to pile billions of dollars in their bank accounts.
China is in Africa pretending to help develop but the truth is that, China
is in Africa to outsource. China is in Africa because they need raw
materials to feed their exploding population. China is outsourcing Africa
even worse than the way the United States outsources countries like India
and the Philippines.
Is Africa poor? yes Africa is poor. Are there hungry people in Africa? yes
there are hungry people in some parts of Africa. Why is there still hunger
in Africa? there are many reasons why some people still go to bed hungry in
Africa. I came across this question online "WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE
DONATIONS AND FOREIGN AID THEY'VE BEEN SENDING TO AFRICA?". If you want to
help the poor in the society then always look for the direct means of
contact so you can help the poor and the needy directly. People keep
donating huge amounts of money to charity organizations to help feed the
hungry people in the world today but what do we see? people still go to bed
hungry. If a charity organization makes lets say $50,000 dollars a month and
pays the CEO and other executives $25,000 and the remaining workers $15,000
, It remains just $10,000. The poor do not get all the 10,000 why because
transportation, feeding, and other expenses cut in too. So at the end of the
day, the poor gets nothing out of the $50,000 money the charity organization
received in donations. That is exactly how most charity organizations work
today.
What about the foreign aid? Foreign aid may appear free to some people but
the truth is that, none of the foreign aid poor countries receive is free.
For every dollar ($1) in aid a developing country (such as the poor
countries in Africa) receives, the developing country spends around 25
dollars ($25) in repayment. Foreign aid is worse than regular loans because
of the huge "hidden-interest". Some countries in Africa especially the
war-torn countries like Liberia, Congo, Sudan, etc. have no where else to go
for loans and that is why they still depend on foreign aid. It is like a
financial trap. If you read about debt cancellations for poor countries, you
may think they forgive those poor countries without getting anything in
return but that is not how it works in reality. They may forgive you of the
$100,000 loan but they take about $1 million worth of timber and other
natural resources in return. China is in Africa building bridges and
constructing roads and some people think they are doing it for free which is
not true. For every road China constructs, China will take huge "tons" of
natural resources in return.
Africa is blessed with abundance of natural resources yet people go hungry
in Africa everyday. Why people go hungry despite the abundance of natural
resources? As I mentioned earlier on, some countries (such as China) come to
Africa pretending to help but end up exploiting Africa's natural resources
sometimes free of charge. There are so many foreign companies in Africa
today yet even some workers who work in these foreign companies go to bed
hungry why because those foreign companies are in Africa just to outsource
and the outsourcing in Africa is so bad to the point where even the local
workers working for these companies go hungry. Those foreign companies get
workforce, natural resources, etc. free of charge. People work in these
foreign companies but gain very little not even enough to feed themselves
and their families which is very sad.
Africa has the natural resources and what it takes to be the greatest yet
people still go hungry in Africa. Why do we still go hungry? It is because
we depend on western countries more than ourselves. Instead of putting our
brains together and utilizing the available natural resources to better the
living conditions in Africa, we give these natural resources away almost
free of charge.
Take a country like Ivory coast for example. Ivory Coast is the world's
leading producer of cocoa beans. Children work like slaves in cocoa farms in
Ivory Coast yet most of these children working like slaves in cocoa farms
have not even tasted chocolate before why because Ivory Coast sells the
cocoa beans at very cheap prices to foreign countries who convert the cocoa
beans into chocolate and then sell these chocolates at very expensive prices
to poor countries such as Ivory Coast. Those who work like slaves in the
cocoa farms to produce the cocoa beans cannot even afford to buy chocolate
which is very sad. Meanwhile, if Ivory Coast imports those chocolate-making
machines and start producing the chocolate in Ivory Coast, they could sell
these chocolates at reasonable prices to foreign countries and make more
profit.
Agriculture and education are the backbone of every country on earth yet
most African governments ignore these sectors as if they are unimportant.
Africa has so many fertile lands yet we still go hungry. Instead of
developing Agriculture and improving education, our politicians waste money
on luxurious vacations abroad with their sex partners. Instead of developing
Agriculture and education, African leaders waste precious money and time
developing their goat-bellies. It is time we do away with all these greedy
leaders in Africa and start thinking.
So what is the New Africa? The new Africa is the Africa of hope. The new
Africa is the Africa of bigger dreams. The new Africa is the Africa whereby
people depend on themselves instead of depending on foreign countries.
Africa has all it takes to be the greatest continent on earth in terms of
fighting poverty and hunger. Africa has the brains and the power to do it.
All we need to do is come together as one people. Sometimes they manipulate
us to fight and kill ourselves. The new Africa is the Africa whereby people
cherish peace and prosperity more than anything else. War brings nothing but
destruction. War brings nothing but pain. War brings nothing but misery.
There is nothing good in war and tribal conflicts yet we allow ourselves to
be manipulated and we have given in to manipulation to the point where we
fight and kill our own brothers and sisters for no good reason at all. It is
time we start thinking. The new Africa I see is the Africa whereby people
think for themselves. The new Africa I see is the Africa whereby people see
reason. There is hunger in Africa today why because we spend precious time
and energy fighting and destroying precious lives instead of putting that
energy into good use. Africa has done it before so we can do it again. Lets
come together as one people with a common destiny and fight poverty, hunger,
diseases, and injustice.
african-girlchild
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