The Country Of Ghana And Nigeria Essay

Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.

The relationship between the geography of West Africa and the development of the Kingdom of Ghana go hand in hand. It was a great place for civilization because it flourished over time. The Kingdom of Ghana’s development was helped because of trade and wealth.

Africa has the majority of the poorest countries in the world. With that being said, the overall African income levels have been dropping moderately to the rest of the world. Statistics show that in Sub-Saharan Africa, only 15% of women are agriculture landowners.

Africa nowadays is viewed as a pretty poor continent, but if it were not for a single event, it wouldn’t be in the shape it is today. This event is best known as the scramble for Africa. The European powers had begun taking land after King Léopold the second claimed that initial piece of land. European powers gathered in 1884 to discuss which part of Africa were theirs to avoid fighting, however this was done between European countries, and the thought of even inviting a spokesperson from Africa was beyond them. The people of Africa were enslaved and forced to work the land for natural resources such as rubber and diamond. After the European powers claimed all that they could, two independent countries remained. These two countries were Liberia and Ethiopia. The “Eurocentric” perspective that the European powers had at the time allowed for them to commit these horrible acts and see nothing wrong with what they had

City of Ghana consists of two towns lying on a plain, inhabited by Muslims, a mosque for Friday prayer, each having a prayer leaders.

Imperialism in Ghana: British Footprints on African Soil The “Scramble for Africa” has undoubtedly left Africa scrambled up even decades after the continent had been fully decolonized. Ghana, especially, was once a thriving empire in Africa. In terms of economic development and civilian health, the region was right on par with all other global regions. However, as European colonizers began to exploit African states, the structure of its economy was altered to one that operated for the sole benefit of the Industrial Revolution.

Ghana was the first great African empire of the western Sudan. Historians believe that a group of

During the mid-1000s, the Empire of Ghana was wealthy and powerful through its control of trade routes. The empire lasted for many centuries until it collapsed in the 1200s. Three major factors contributed to its end. These factors include invasion of other armies, overgrazing of animals, and internal rebellions within the empire.

Imagine throwing several different groups of people, all of whom have nothing in common and all of whom have different beliefs and follow different morals and ideals, and forming one nation out of them. Now, imagine trying to govern this nation as one cohesive unit. This is exactly what Great Britain tried to do in the formation of Nigeria over a period of time spanning from the days of the slave trade until October 1, 1960, when Nigeria eventually became a self-governing nation.

During the late 1800s, Europe was caught in the fever of imperialism. Between 1884 and 1885, many countries in Europe met at the Berlin Conference to decide which country would conquer which region in Africa. During this Partition of Africa, the European heads of states divided up the continent with no regards to the tribal lands and boundaries. The British claimed the region where the Igbo people were, known today as Nigeria, as their new “sphere of influence”. In 1901, the British began to take control of the region after the missionaries had been gaining converts. By 1914, the region was officially titled the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria (The Colonial Era (1882-1960)). The British had authority over the Igbo people and the other cultural groups in the region. The Europeans’ influence through the Christian missionaries and the

The Empire of Ghana was the first trading empire of western Africa. This Empire is located between the Sahara Desert and the rivers of Sénégal and Niger. Otherwise known today as part of Mauritania and part of Mali. It thrived through the years of 700-1200 B.C. They are highly known for their production and trading of gold because they lived on top of a gold mine. They were also known for trading in salt and ivory. Some of Ghana’s achievements was how near and far their trading destinations were. Also their large amounts of gold and other resources. Because of their good amounts of gold it made Ghana have a more powerful and dominate kingdom compared to those around Ghana.

Ghana is a country in Africa that is native to 25 million people. It is neighbored by the Ivory Coast to the West, Togo to the East and Burkina Faso to the North. It is also bordered by the Gulf of Guinea to the south. It is about the size of Oregon and it’s religions include Christianity, Islam, and other Indigenous beliefs (Bbc news, 2013). Ghana has different climates in different parts of the country. Near the coast, there are tropical forests, in the middle there is a transitional zone where it then transitions into the savannah in the north where it is dryer and only gets one rainy season versus two in the south (Encyclopedia of the nations). Their major exports are gold, cocoa, timber, and many other products. Their GDP is $40.71

On page 425, Obzine says, “When I started in real estate, I considerd renovating the old houses instead of tearing them down, but it didn’t make sense. Nigerian don’t buy houses because they’re old. A renovated two-hundred-year-old mill granary,you know, the kind of things Europeans like. It doesn’t work here at all. But of course it makes sense because we are Third Worlders and Third Worlders are forward looking, we like things to be new, because our best is still ahead, while the West their best is already past and so they have to make a fetish of that past.” Now this a very powerful and analytical quote about development and perceptions of the developing world, and I am sure we could have an entire discussion on this one quote alone, so I add a few comments because I think it underlines some themes in the novel.

The prime minister of Ghana and the first African head of a West African country freed from colonization, Kwame Nkrumah, followed a pan-African ideology and hoped to be the one who would guide Africa in a unified direction, leading an independent Africa that was industrialized and powerful (Muehlenbeck 2012: 17). Despite his ambition, or maybe because of it, his policies virtually bankrupted Ghana through a focus on large industrial projects that did not form a good base for the industrialization he hoped for in his country. Additionally the discrepancies between the ways he handled his political relations in private and in public for the sake of protecting his image contributed to the trouble Ghana faced.

Sub Saharan Africa has consistently been one of the most impoverished and least developed areas of the world. Looking at gross domestic product it is clear that sub-Saharan Africa remains generally under-developed economically, even when compared to the average per capita income in Latin America. There is also a good deal of consistency across countries with similar primary industries. Oil-rich countries such as Gabon and Congo have relatively high GDP per capita, as does resource-rich South Africa. Yet countries in Central and East Africa such as Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Malawi still have among the lowest per capita incomes in the world. The World Bank classifies Gabon