Progress in Africa

Has anything changed in the past 50 years?

I always try to keep a keen eye on events that transpire outside the confines of my own small world. I assure you-- interesting things are happening, history always repeating itself. Solzhenitsyn had it right when he said ''the universe has as many different centers as there are living beings in it." The first time I read that I sat with a small frown upon my face, briefly trying to dispute it in my mind, trying to locate the actual center of the universe-- I could trace it no further than my own thoughts and perceptions. Nor can you, nor can anyone. It is what defines us, this center of the universe, our portal to wring out what we can about the human condition.

An understanding of progress is important when determining an effective measure to recognize the millions of slighted universes that exist and persevere day to day. Progress is not sending free things to help those in need, it is not increasing the number of charities feeding impoverished souls, progress has little to do with a wealthy nations citizens sympathy toward the less fortunate. Africa has received over US$ 500 billion in aid over the last 50 years, and yet the continent remains mired in poverty, blighted by systemic corruption, and with children dying needlessly from preventable diseases. In a study done by William Easterly of NYU, titled Can the West Save Africa the actual progress derived from half a century of aid is analyzed.

Not a lot of advancement at the price of $500 billion dollars. Handouts create dependency and stifle innovation. It can be said that in Africa, aid, whether humanitarian or economic, confers enormous power and influence on donors to the extent that the political leadership in recipient countries are more accountable to them than to their own people. That is not to say there havnt been steps in the right direction, its not the dark ages many people presume, FP's Charles Kenny brings forth some important points of progress:

About 10 percent of infants die in their first year of life in Africa -- still shockingly high, but considerably lower than the European average less than 100 years ago, let alone 800 years past

And about two thirds of Africans are literate -- a level achieved in Spain only in the 1920s.

The continent of Africa has seen output expand 6½ times between 1950 and 2001. Of course, the population has grown nearly fourfold, so GDP per capita has only increased 67 percent. But that's hardly stagnation.

Niger, a landlocked country largely made up of desert. With a per capita gross national income of $170, it was desperately poor in 1962. And it is not much richer today -- income per head is just $280. Yet life expectancy has increased from 40 to 57 years over that time, and literacy rates have more than tripled.

In short, all hope is not lost-- Africa has economic potential to rise from its misery given the correct economic outlook. Helping individuals help themselves is truly the only way to provide any foundation for success and development for the a positive future. In the last 30 years the massive economic expansion of India, Japan, Thailand, Singapore and China testify to the fact that trade stimulates growth. These countries have developed an industrial capacity to export attractive and affordable goods that have been instrumental in producing the accelerated growth of their economies. This is the path that Africa needs to take for a change in the status quo to be on the horizon.


I'll now slowly step down from my soapbox, glance side to side, a slight cough-- and go about my business, the universe swirling around me...