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Causes of Poverty in African Countries
While the African continent is the world’s second-largest and second-most-populous continent it has plenty to supply from huge landscapes rich with wildlife and exquisite cultures. The economic condition in Africa cannot be derived from one single source and since it is a continent that is developing, it includes several backgrounds that are internal and external man-made forces at work resulting in the implications this continent suffers until these days. Africa has a calculable population of over 1.1 billion and nearly half the population of the African sub-Sahara board in poverty, challenges visaged by African countries directly correlate with its impoverished state.
Corruption being the most important cause of poverty. First of all, it has been and still may be a concern within the continent’s rate of growth and war against this poor economic condition in Africa particularly in sub-Saharan Africa since it holds the most corrupt nations. For instance, studies conducted by the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities unconcealed that Africa’s corruption is a result of many folks in Africa who tend to associate relations as better compared to a nation’s reputation. Hence, rulers of nations find themselves using their influence to get their relatives to acquire something at the expense of the countries they run, a good example being the recent report that the Democratic Republic of Congo lost over $1.36 billion from underpricing of mining assets that were sold to offshore companies. Truly other nations, like Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ghana, have progressed in curbing corruption, others countries lag far back. Failure to place more effort in solving this issue solely worsens it.
Poor education equally contributes to the rise in economic instability in Africa. Worst of all this void is greatly felt within the sub-Saharan region, it records a great deal of education prohibition. More than a fifth of youngsters ranging between five and 10 are not in a class, this additionally includes a third of the teenagers ranging between 10 and 13. In addition to that 50 percent of the young generation at the ages of 15 to 18 are not in class. Also educating young women became a serious concern for Non-Governmental Organizations, and the United Nations as well, the lack of hygienical facilities, poor access to high schools and primary schools and cultural practices like female circumcision and early childhood marriages, have made educating women in less fortunate communities meaningless. All in all, recent studies prove that educating young women is the foremost efficient method in encouraging the growth of the economy. Studies by UNICEF reveal that mothers who are educated often give birth, well-fostered children who have better chances of attending school, therefore, aiding in shattering the poor living conditions.
Misuse of funds plays a large role in worsening the poor living conditions in Africa. First of all, Chitereka notes recorded more than 500 billion dollars that had been sent to African countries for developing the economy, but the money only brought semipermanent changes because a large portion of the cash was spent on weapons bought from developed countries therefore no gain was delivered to the native inhabitants since the cash remaining was sent back to developed nations. Secondly, the massive sums of money obtainable in Africa is mostly used in developing expensive projects, which brings very little profit within the long term. Taking the case of an African nation like Ghana that was one of the richest countries in Africa when it gained independence however, many years later, it had no foreign reserves of any importance. A decent quantity of its cash was spent on megaprojects, which eventually became a waste of helpful resources and an example was the Akosombo dam which cost billions of dollars to construct to provide electricity for aluminum mining from bauxite. However, the ores were discovered to be of low grade and the whole project became a waste of money
As you can see, fighting poverty is merely attainable within the presence of sturdy establishments, and also the equitable distribution of resources needs a non-corrupt government. African programs designed to fight these economic conditions have not been enforced totally and as result funds end up in the hands of corrupt individuals that pocket a decent quantity of it. Poor governance by those in authority has failed to apprehend the corrupt thus creating a degree of imbalance in the society which results in more poverty because of the few influential people who oppress the poor. In addition to that loans given out by the World Bank play a role in increasing the poor state of nations. These funds are mostly misused and escort harsh conditionalities, they typically need governments to adjust some economic decisions. On the whole, an example may be, reducing total government expenditure in African countries thus influencing vital segments of society that embody health, schooling as well as industrial development. These main units drive the economy.
Works cited
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African Development Bank (ADB) (2003). Gender, Poverty, and Environmental Indicators on African Countries, Abidjan: ADB.
Balogun, E. D. (1999). Analyzing poverty: Concepts and methods. Central Bank of Nigeria Bullion 23(4), 11-16. Baulch, B. and J. Hoddinott (2000) ‘Economic Mobility and Poverty Dynamics in Developing Countries’, Introduction to a Special Issue of the Journal of Development Studies 36(6): 1-24.
De Haan (2000) Social Exclusion: Towards a Holistic Understanding of Deprivation. In Koherdorfer-Lucius G. and Pleskovic B. (eds.) Inclusion Justice and Poverty Reduction Villa Bosig Workshop Series 1999. German Foundation of International Development. Berlin. Encyclopedia Encarta
Englama, A. & Bamidele, A. (1997). Measurement issues in poverty. In Poverty Alleviation in Nigeria, Selected Papers for the 1997 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Economics Society(pp141-156).
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