Monday, May 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Africa and underdevelopment
Several terms have been used to describe the state of Africa's development, but the truth is often hidden. Africa has a sad history of exploitation, colonization and all the forms of abuse, but Africans never lose hope till the last minute.
The development issue and the applicability of the term underdeveloped is quite debatable. The definitions offered are not satisfactory to the implications of the term and all what it encompasses. The aspect of utmost consideration in the development debate is whether to classify Africa as developed, developing or underdeveloped, and if so, then what are the standards or criteria for such classification.
Development in anyway should bear reference to advancements and improvements alongside the demands of humans of a particular place for a particular purpose. It is quite questionable to say a man in an island is underdeveloped because he does not possess a car to cross the water. The basic view here should be that of understanding the situation that Africa is going through as transitional and brought about by complex causes of different nature.
The African dilemna and problem can be accounted for by numerous causes of endemic and exotic nature. By endemic, this is with reference to the local causes and problems. Africa has quite a number of local problems that is prohibiting development in an analytical aspect.
A valid example is ethnicity and tribalism. Africa is mainly divided across tribal or ethnic boundaries, and with this in mind there is lack of unity of purpose. People hardly share the same vision and aspirations, thereby making any attempt by anyway a dismal failure. For Africa to move out of this problem, there is need for people to share the ideology of pan-Africanism in a salad-bowl approach that also help people celebrate the diversity of Africa.
Lack of efficient government and transparent administration, is nonetheless one of the major causes that explain why Africa is still lagging behind in terms of development. The administrators and political leaders in Africa have changed their mandate from leading to ruling, establishing an autocratic administration full of bribery, violence and intimidation. Politics has offered itself a connotation of being a dirty game of people who have no other source of income than the national treasury. In some cases, there is uncontrolled resource use and abuse, misappropriation is the operational strategy of ministries in African governments. It has been taken as an acceptable practice despite the unethical and illegal attributes it possesses.
To move a bit further without explicit analysis and emphasis on the endemic factors are the exotic factors which have no African roots or origin. These can be traced from historical perspectives and currently going on. From a historical point of view, Africa has suffered quite a lot from slavery and colonialism especially. There was massive depletion of resources and the abuse of African people. This has brought about a decline in the demographic constituents of Africa and also the economy. African economies were tied to those of Europe and has been made as an exploitative site. This encompasses the view that Africa is the major production of raw materials and the importer of produced or finished products. African economies are mainly dominated by fordist production systems at the expense of their counterparts. The ethical undertyakings though comprehended by most tend to be ignored.
But the time has come to bring Africa out of such problems, deliver it from the problems it is currently facing and this can only be done by Africans who sympathize with their continent and have better plans for it. The current situation is not to discourage us but a pillar to strengthen our efforts and commitments.
United we stand, divided we fall
The development issue and the applicability of the term underdeveloped is quite debatable. The definitions offered are not satisfactory to the implications of the term and all what it encompasses. The aspect of utmost consideration in the development debate is whether to classify Africa as developed, developing or underdeveloped, and if so, then what are the standards or criteria for such classification.
Development in anyway should bear reference to advancements and improvements alongside the demands of humans of a particular place for a particular purpose. It is quite questionable to say a man in an island is underdeveloped because he does not possess a car to cross the water. The basic view here should be that of understanding the situation that Africa is going through as transitional and brought about by complex causes of different nature.
The African dilemna and problem can be accounted for by numerous causes of endemic and exotic nature. By endemic, this is with reference to the local causes and problems. Africa has quite a number of local problems that is prohibiting development in an analytical aspect.
A valid example is ethnicity and tribalism. Africa is mainly divided across tribal or ethnic boundaries, and with this in mind there is lack of unity of purpose. People hardly share the same vision and aspirations, thereby making any attempt by anyway a dismal failure. For Africa to move out of this problem, there is need for people to share the ideology of pan-Africanism in a salad-bowl approach that also help people celebrate the diversity of Africa.
Lack of efficient government and transparent administration, is nonetheless one of the major causes that explain why Africa is still lagging behind in terms of development. The administrators and political leaders in Africa have changed their mandate from leading to ruling, establishing an autocratic administration full of bribery, violence and intimidation. Politics has offered itself a connotation of being a dirty game of people who have no other source of income than the national treasury. In some cases, there is uncontrolled resource use and abuse, misappropriation is the operational strategy of ministries in African governments. It has been taken as an acceptable practice despite the unethical and illegal attributes it possesses.
To move a bit further without explicit analysis and emphasis on the endemic factors are the exotic factors which have no African roots or origin. These can be traced from historical perspectives and currently going on. From a historical point of view, Africa has suffered quite a lot from slavery and colonialism especially. There was massive depletion of resources and the abuse of African people. This has brought about a decline in the demographic constituents of Africa and also the economy. African economies were tied to those of Europe and has been made as an exploitative site. This encompasses the view that Africa is the major production of raw materials and the importer of produced or finished products. African economies are mainly dominated by fordist production systems at the expense of their counterparts. The ethical undertyakings though comprehended by most tend to be ignored.
But the time has come to bring Africa out of such problems, deliver it from the problems it is currently facing and this can only be done by Africans who sympathize with their continent and have better plans for it. The current situation is not to discourage us but a pillar to strengthen our efforts and commitments.
United we stand, divided we fall
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