Africa Rising or Falling

706 Words3 Pages
Africa is rich in terms of mineral wealth. However the continent as a whole has not been able to capitalise on this wealth. The continent’s poor infrastructure and numerous poverty stricken areas, declining economies and lack of technological advances have consequently put Africa behind the rest of the world. Africa’s failure to convert its huge potential into wealth has led to numerous problems. The success of any continent is largely dependent on its economic development (Suter 2006). It would seem that Africa, a continent rich in resources would be regarded as a very promising continent, much to the contrary, Africa has proved to be a continent showing very little potential. Its failure to thrive at a rapid rate could be attributed to a number of factors; one of which includes the failure of many African governments to handle their responsibilities both legal and political (Suter 2006). It is both the lack of democracy of many African governments and the existence of autocratic rulers , that have led to the downfall of these countries, as their intent was to increase their own wealth instead of acting in the interest of their country and people. These failed leaderships have often led to civil war, negatively impacting further on the economy of the country. Some examples include Egypt, Libya, Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) and Zimbabwe. Governments in various countries of Africa have also led to it downfall. The reasons for these failing governments are because of negligent leadership. These leaders’ motives are only for the benefit of themselves. The leaders have put their needs ahead of those of the country and furthermore the continents, their failure to solve the problems in the country have paved the way for the downward spiral of the country and ultimately the continent. Another factor that led to Africa’s failure is that many of Africa’s countries
Open Document