Zimbabwe's Issues Africa is the second largest continent in the world and has a thriving population of over 900 million people. In his book Guns Germs and Steel, Jared Diamond explains why he thinks that the West has more cargo than Africa. After reading the first two chapters of his book I found out that I share a lot of the same views as he does. I believe that Africa has so little material wealth compared to the West because of government, economy, disease, and geography or climate. All of these things are big issues in present day Africa and even back in the late 1800's. If we take into consideration an African country such as Zimbabwe and research all of these specific problems happening there we may get a better view on why Africa …show more content…
The funds are falling into the wrong hands and being diverted selfishly for the benefit of the government officials themselves.(“Poorer and Angrier.” 34) From the early 1990's to present day Zimbabwe's economic conditions have worsened. The economic crisis caused budget deficits and an all time high unemployment rate. The workers in the cities were left with no jobs, thus making the economy worsen. During this time of crisis the country was led by Robert Mugabe. His plans and decisions have adversely affected the economy. An example of this is he seized all the land from white owners and redistributed them to blacks that did not have land. He probably thought that this would benefit the poor people of Zimbabwe but it affects were not good. People had thought that he was being racist towards whites. The whites who came forth to provide Zimbabwe with financial aid had altered their thoughts of providing support to Zimbabwe. Also big cigarette firms who had originally invested in agriculture for growing Tobacco in Zimbabwe worried that all their lands would be seized. So they pulled out of Zimbabwe and started investing in their neighboring countries.(“Poorer and Angrier.” 34) The top government official are extremely corrupt. As the poor people are rioting about the increase of basic commodities like food the top officials in the government are enjoying driving very expensive cars and a
Africa is the second largest of the earth's seven continents, covering about twenty-two percent of the world's total land area. From its northern most point, to its southern most tip is the distance of nearly five thousand miles. Africa is both north and south of the equator. The Atlantic Ocean is located west of the continent, and the Indian Ocean is on the east. Width of the continent is also nearly five thousand miles. Although Africa is so large, much of it is inhabitable. Desert soils, which have little organic content, cover large areas. The Sahara Desert, in the northern part, covers more than one fourth of Africa, and the Kalahari Desert is in the southern part of the continent. These two deserts are a
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
Africa has a huge problem with dictators not running the country so that it can operate at its fullest potential. In her book Why 28 Stephanie Noland tries to make the population aware of the problem stating, “He dealt the country’s vibrant economy a first harsh blow, making a massive payment to men who claimed to be veterans of the fight for independence…” of Zimbabwe’s dictator Mugabe (Noland 299). This shows that as a ruler he was not concerned in using money to heal his country. His love of power is tearing his country apart, causing his population to dwindle, and driving his economy into the ground. Mugabe “ Sent troops to demolish houses on the slums were he believed people had voted against him,” writes Stephanie (Noland 300). This is essential because it shows the lengths he was willing to go to to stay the head of the country. He was willing to further decimate his population, just to make sure there was never a rebellion. All this oppression, abuse of power, and neglect can not go on for long without the people rising up and fighting back. This is how civil wars are created.
Many different races once considered Africa, as a continent that could not support itself since Africans were savages who were not able to prosper on their own. Because of this, life was not easy for Africans and their way of living was very mediocre. Africans’ weakness eventually became evident to the other nations of the world. The European system for instance, fortunately for them, decided to take control of Africa. This was a decision that benefited them financially as they exploited the richness that Africa enfolded. Although many Europeans believed that Africans were much more inferior to them because of their skin color, they knew the significance of the richness that Africa’s soil could give them. It is true that the European’s
Modern African states have various problems ranging from corruption, to armed conflict, to stunted structural development. Africa’s ongoing political instability and economic crisis have hindered the improvement of Africa. Thus, the lack of money, advancement in technology, and climate has hampered economic development. Despite European mistreatment and oppression African’s have endured hardships that have encouraged economy, education, and political
Robert Mugabe spent ten years in prison before assuming the presidency of Zimbabwe. Instead of learning from his time in prison, he brought all his poor habits of corruption to the country of Zimbabwe (“Zimbabwe’s” 1). During his powerful rule, Zimbabwe faced many different situations within his country. Within the first few years of Mugabe being president, Zimbabwe started to have some political and economical issues. Whether or not the issues are a direct correlation to Mugabe being president is unknown, but the timing is impeccable. Money was starting to disappear within the government causing an economic crisis, and Zimbabwe was having massive poverty and inflation increases. These issues led to the conspiracy of a corrupt government
When I think of Sub-Saharan Africa I see the complete opposite of The United States. I think of poverty, no Internet & cell phones( no texting, social media), no malls/shopping centers. I think of villages and people having farms and growing crops. Africa is approximately 15 of earths land & even with one of the largest countries in the world, it is one of the lest developed countries. However, even though Africans economy is not where it is suppose to be, West Africa is becoming more developed & offers more economic opportunities than other parts of Africa. Many tribes are moving towards West Africa to start a better life for themselves & and their families. However Africa needs more infrastructure which includes; high speed highways, railroads
Being familiar, but never well read, on the foreign influences of European and American nations on 16th through 20th century Africa, I never put much thought into the vast economic history and consequences that have come upon those actions. In reading Part 5 – Foreign Influences in John Reader’s book Africa, Reader highlights two thought camps on the effect of foreign influences on the Africa continent and its society as a whole. Transformationalists argue, Africa’s current economic state has been indubitably affected by the foreign slave trade of African indigenous populations that has occurred until recent times. Non-Transformationalists oppose this view. They believe that Africa’s current economy, “would have been about as well off, […] in the same socioeconomic environment, if there has been no trading contact [with Europe].” (David Eltis) Reading chapters 34-40 in John Reader’s Africa, I agree with the Transformationalist view, that Africa was indeed affected by foreign influences.
As many know through the news, Sub- Saharan Africa is not a wealthy nor financially stable
Africa is a continent plagued by misinformed and false stereotypes, rarely being seen or portrayed as what it really is. Countless amounts of myths and ideas are formulated based off of single stories or one-sided stories from the region, often without a second thought. These stereotypes give Africa an overall negative image to the rest of the world and suppress the reality that is hidden behind the slew of stereotypes. The belief that all of Africa is poor and undeveloped is an uninformed statement that harms the reality and worsens the image of the continent by perpetuating an incomplete idea into the world.
Economic wealth is one of the reasons Europeans were taking over Africa’s continents. They wanted their countries to be wealthy by taking over, then taking their natural resources. According to Great Britain and South Saharan Africa Imports and Exports, 1854 and 1900, “From exports to South Saharan in 1854 was about 2.5 million pounds but in the 1900s it was about 22 million pounds.” These imports are higher in 1854 and their exports are lower but in the 1900s the imports are lower in the exports are higher.
Kingsley Moghalu author of Emerging Africa: How the Global Economy's Last Frontier Can Prosper argues that the African economic can be transformed once there is a paradigm shift. which includes African countries creating complex products, the development of a stronger intuition, the use of propaganda and development of central banks. He believes that African countries can gain wealth and prosperity once these paradigm shifts are applied.
The region is made up of 48 countries with a population of 973.4 million as correct of 2014 (The World Bank). Furthermore, over 60% of that demographic is under 30, showing promise for an increasing working age population. Africa can use this vast labour potential to increase GDP and therefore increase the wealth of the continent.
Some of the world’s poorest countries, with some of the highest child labor and illiteracy rates lie in Sub Saharan Africa. People generally associate the region only with poor economic conditions and all of the social disorder that goes along with 3rd World Status. While some of this reputation is deserved, many people are also failing to see the vast potential for this part of the world. There are several factors that African governments should look into if they want to effectively and efficiently revamp this areas quality of life. One way to do so is by improving the more crucial aspects to healthy functioning region, for example, allowing children to possess their natural rights to a decent education. This could influence an increase
Africa is one of the continents that produce an estimated $19 billion in gold per year and $6 billion in diamonds. But an unknown amount is laundered or siphoned each year for criminal purposes.