Causes of Poverty in African Countries
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Poverty is a condition or state in which an individual or society has a limitation in financial resources and essentials for a low standard of living. Poverty can also be defined as when the earning level from employment is so low that the basic needs of human beings cannot be met. Africa as a continent has a lengthy history of political, economical, sociological, technological, legal, and artificial forces at work to bring about the situations that Africa suffers from today. For instance, in sub-Saharan Africa almost 220 million people, half the population, living in poverty Muchilwa, B. A. (2020). Poverty has made Africa experience higher mortality rates yearly, school drop-outs have increased since many cannot afford to pay school fees, and has led many young to enter into relationships and marriages to be able to sustain their lives. Therefore, poor governance, poor education, and poor healthcare are the major causes of poverty in Africa.
To begin with poor governance, one of the major causes of poverty in Africa, entails various misuse of power, resources, and positions by the government and its workers. This malpractice has caused many who are in power or higher positions to fail in the satisfaction of the needs of the people. Having made the “personal rule paradigm”, in which they embezzle funds mismanage resources, misuse their power to discriminate against the marginalized people and areas, and being greedy treating their offices as a form of property and personal gain. These leaders tend to choose and put the unlearned or those that were not meant to take any chance in key positions at government-owned organizations and government departments (Dube & Brian, 2019). This method of leadership has a great negative impact on the poorest people and it always renders them vulnerable leaving them unemployed, having low living standards and also leads to failure to give chance to graduates who have a burning desire to learn more and have fresh skills that can bring advancement in the government today in terms of new technology and new skills. The government should shun away the individual benefits and attends to the needs of the people by creating more employment opportunities to alleviate poverty in different states within the Africa continent. When the African continent as a whole embraces good leadership in their various states we can be a spearhead in alleviating poverty because good leadership encourages development in every sector; for instance health, education. Good leadership will enable the provision of efficient healthcare to all, better education to all gender and improve development in various sectors that boosts the economy of different states.
Secondly, lack of education is also one of the topmost challenges that face most African governments in these millennial generations and it has adversely affect many economies leading to poverty in Africa. For instance, when you get to sub-Saharan Africa there is poor education and most youths and teenagers are not well educated. Furthermore, it has the highest rates of educational exclusion. In terms of gender education, education for girls has become the main area of focus of united nations support groups like UNICEF, UNESCO, and the UIS. Due to poor concentration and access to school, lack of sanitary facilities, and early marriages, the right to women’s education is not taken with seriousness and is of less priority in impoverished communities. Moreover, education, especially girls’ education, has been tested and shown to be one of the most cost-effective strategies for improving the economic growth of different states in Africa.
Lastly, poor healthcare is a major fountainhead of poverty in Africa because the vulnerable and poverty-stricken people cannot meet the standard required for good healthcare, for instance; enough quantities of quality food available to a specific household and being able to meet health requirements. Due to poor education and training on how to fend off infectious and contagious diseases like cholera, malaria, bilharzia, typhoid, and HIV /AIDS, as well as money to pay for check-ups, treatment, tests, and drugs, those who are malnourished or poor in a certain sense endure a lot of sufferings in the society which perpetuates the poverty cycle. The historical writing of(Julia& Kennetht,1980), most children under the age of 10 years suffers malnutrition due to poverty, and these open doors to different diseases like kwashiorkor, marasmus, rickets, and anemia. This is brought about by a lack of proper healthcare due to poor eating style /habit where there is no balanced diet due to deficiency in food provision in different families in various communities. These have led to a high mortality rate of the vulnerable/impoverished people in the communities especially in desert areas where farming is a high cost to carry out. Lack of clean water in these areas has also brought a lot of health problems to the people. These diseases include typhoid, bilharzia, and cholera which affect the vulnerable communities mostly.
In conclusion, due to many causes of poverty in Africa, that is poor governance, poor healthcare, and poor education that is experienced in various African states as a whole continent. For example, poor leadership has led to a high rate of inflation, poor economy, mismanagement, and embezzlement of funds, unemployment of many people and leaders has become greedy, not mindful of the citizens only ready to satisfy their personal needs and enjoys their status quo rendering the people vulnerable always (Dube et al. 2019). .However, the African states can be able to embrace good leadership where they encourage development and offer good services to the citizens creating job opportunities for youths, developing marginalized areas, and helping the needy with basic needs. Moreover, African states can root out poverty by embracing better education to enlighten more people imparting them with required skills thereby making them competent in the technological advancing environment today, good healthcare to satisfy the health needs of various families. By embracing efficient healthcare, better education, and good leadership, Africa will take a big leap and move forward in its growth as a continent
Cube, E. (2019). Rarity or reality of some theories of poverty in explaining the poverty in Africa. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14(3).
Dube & Brian E. (2019). Rarity or reality of some theories of poverty in explaining the poverty in Africa. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14(3).
Dube Peter, Erick & Rose E. (2019). Rarity or reality of some theories of poverty in explaining the poverty in Africa. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14(3).
Kube, E. (2019). Rarity or reality of some theories of poverty in explaining the poverty in Africa. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 14(3).
Muchilwa, B. A. (2020). EXPLORING CAUSES OF POVERTY IN AFRICA concerning ABANYOLE OF VIHIGA COUNTY IN WESTERN KENYA AS A MEANS OF ADDRESSING THE MENACE. Impact: Journal of Transformation, 3(1), 80-87.