Does Africa have hope for the future?
91226
There's no doubt Africa is in a bad way right now.  However, we must remember that most African countries are less than 50 years old.  Even the US was still having problems at that point.  Africa was more exploited by colonizers, and so it only makes sense there are more problems.  However, progress is being made.  Democracy is the way of rule in many countries, having progressed from dictatorships-- Ghana is a good example.  Botswana is doing well economically (comparatively).  Africa is moving forward, and that in itself is cause for hope.
102741
Tribalism is the root of Africa's problems.  Similar to Hitler's genocide, but no one cares.  Africa offers some natural resources.\n\nMuslim extremists are now expanding in Africa.  Sudan is a prime example.  The Arab Sudanese government is trying to destroy the native African Sudanese.\n\nEven when the West help them, there is corruption.  They will take the donated grains and sell it to the poor.  Somalia is basically a country run by gangs with big guns.  Warlords rules Somalia.  Each having its own rules and killing whomever they want.\n\nWith such instability and corrupted government, insurgencies start.  This combination will limit investments from companies and make the situation worse.  No food, no economy, but a lot of guns.  Millions are dying and their own people/government do not care.
20631
First of all, I don't think that's a fair assessment.  There are plenty of people who do in fact care very much about Africa and its people. UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, CARE, and just about every AIDS group you can think of is involved over in Africa quite a lot.\n\nIf you mean "Why isn't Africa a higher priority for most of the world's goverments?" then I think you are hitting nearer the mark.  \n\nI'm no expert on Africa, but I think there's a couple of reasons why it doesn't peg a bit higher on the attention-o-meter insofar as the US is concerned.  \n\nHitherto, Africa hasn't had a whole lot to offer us.  Sounds harsh, I know, but it's the truth.  We are forced to deal with the Middle East because they are a big energy source, but if the oil wasn't there we wouldn't be either.  African oil is starting to become a market player now too, so some of our attention may be shifting towards that region.\n\nThe other main reason is the perception that Africa is a continent filled with people who simply cannot get their collective sh*t together.  It's brimming with petty dictatorships, bloody coups, transient goverments, unending civil wars and ethnic violence.  In the international arena there just isn't anyone reliable to deal with on a nation-to-nation level.     Our news stories have left me at least with the view that Africa is a limitless sinkhole into which all the world's largesse could be poured without doing much more than fattening up a corrupt few at the top and financing more armies to fight in the wars and/or commit the heinous genocides we read about all too often.\n\nDo the African people suffer?  Of course they do!  Most of those organizations I listed at the top are all about addressing the suffering on the individual's level.  But until Africa starts to produce more responsible goverments, not too much will ever be done geopolitically to help them.
344640
is there any hope for america????????????
28993
south africa or Nigeria
339192
It is inevitable, and yes it is good to a degree.  It just means that eventually all poverty will be eliminated, if all the powers that be [IMF, WB, OPEC, ETC] focus on creating even the most poorest nation in Africa to become globalized with a sound economic environment, and a less corrupt government, then it will have been worth it.  \n\nIt will definitely take years, but it is inevitable.  Did you know Bill Gates met with leaders of the IMF & WB to globalize microsoft?  I attended the conference about 6 yrs ago in Washington, D.C., where he introduced a plan for even the poorest nation to be equipped with his computers, mainly schools and universities.  This would promote, growth and education and enable parts of Africa to 'catch-up' to the rest of the world.
324702
It would be unfair to categorize people as stupid, lazy or any other name without having a more in depth grasp of the situation people in these countries are living. I'm from Senegal, West Africa, English is my third language, yet I feel I have more brains than certain people that will use such a medium to speak nonsense.\nAnyway mulumbu, to your question the answer is yes, but certain elements will have to be in place. Neither the US, nor any of the Western developed countries made it to this level of development in one day. No need to expand the historical tangent, but many African nations have had their so called Independence less than half a century ago -Senegal's was in 1960. After years of exploitation via colonization those countries owe a financial debt to the countries that colonize them in the first place, talking about irony. This makes it virtually impossible to fashion any internal policies that will favor the growth of those countries because the interests that needs to be considered first are the one of those other nations. \nSo when you ignorant people use the N word freely, or call people names in the comfort of your own cozy homes, my striving self for a better world via knowledge will be busy being curious about things that governs and affects the well being of our society.
590051
First of all GDP isn't the best measure of development, look at the United Nations Development Programme Human Development report, and they use a Human Development Index.  According to that on the African continent (excluding the wealthier islands of Mauritius, Seychelles, Maldives and Cabo Verde) the most developed country in the continent are the arab countries of Libya and Tunisia, followed by Egypt, then South Africa and Equatorial Guinea.  These are the UNDP rankings.\n\nLooking behind the figures, I'd say that actually Tunisia is doing best in the whole of the African continent, far beyond South Africa (89the for Tunisia 120th for South Africa) SA has a high infant mortality and HIV/AIDS rate (21.5%!!!).  Highest HIV/AIDS rate is in Botswana a horrifying 37.3%.  Other countries in Southern Africa have high GDP including Botswana and even Zimbabwe, but the high HIV/AIDS rate affects all other development indicators so much that it pulls the country down in the human development report.  \n\nSo yes, South Africa is the richest and most developed in Sub-Saharan Africa, but they have a huge problem with HIV/AIDS.  Gabon is probably the richest simply because it's an oil exporter and has a very small population of about 2 million people.  Government there is notoriously bad, so it's not likely to develop much further any time soon.  Better government is usually found in countries with a larger population and regular elections like Ghana, Senegal, Mozambique, and even Nigeria now.  \n\nNow looking at Sub-Saharan Africa the situation is trickier, since the indicators don't give away which country has the best prospects to develop further.  Depending on how the AIDS crises develops there are two scenarios, either Southern Africa sinks in human development or AIDS is tackled (which can be done with the drugs already available) and it starts to grow.  Otherwise I have a feeling that countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and the small countries like Gabon, Equatorial Guinea etc will lead the way.  Even Angola has a more limited AIDS rate of 3.9% and a relatively high GDP of 900$ so it can start growing much faster if proper government is in place.
755178
Yes there will be, and it will be sooner than that!\nThis country needs to catch up with the rest of the world!
238855
technically Africa should be one of the richest continent of the world it has all the ores the basis of all the industries and a suitable climate for agricultural growth. but this is not the present scenario why? the reason lies in the highly volatile nature of the political environment which has not caused any industry to grow and has not supported any sustained development in the region.
545950
It has the potential to fix a lot of problems. Maybe we can stop worrying about fighting that battle and work on healing the continent/country(at that point). It would help to better the world as a whole and allow many new points of view and plans to better the world come to fruition.
441559
I do not foresee Africa thriving in this century or the next.  It really saddens me though, since I am an African myself.
466591
The resources of Africa have historically been exploited by Europeans and Americans, etc. The Africans themselves have been largely cut out of the deal. \n\nA handful of African leaders get rich, the rest of the population dies of malaria and dysentery.
516586
well considering the rest of africa... robert mugabe, thabo mbeki, its really not much of an achievement
442003
Probably not Africa, few enough national governments there are stable or organized enough to fully exploit a resource like that. I am Canadian, so I'll have to pick the home team.
644196
If we are considering the current world cup finalist, I dont see it happening. However, judging by the performance of African players in Europe and other parts of the world, it is likely that one of the countries would probably suprise the world soon. The exposure and experience is really helping develop african football. The major impediment however is the FA in the african countries. They either lack knowledge of what it takes to win a crucial competition or are too greedy and selfish/dont really care if their country perform well or not.
112557
africa has everything