Why is Africa poor?

[Khadir]

[Azmaya]

Quote:

 

" There can be no pleasure in saying so, but the facts point to one conclusion. Whether in Africa or America, Haiti or Great Britain, blacks are poor because they are, for the most part, incapable of lifting themselves from poverty. Africa is poor, just as Harlem is poor, because it is populated by Africans.â€

 

I did an article about Africa's poverty in freshmen yr too, For the above quote we can dismiss as racist, but the truth of the matter is there is something, something big wrong with black people across the globe. I wouldn't blame it on color, since Allah is our Creator, but the mentality of the black race is a disgrace everywhere they are they are disgrace. And i kinda agree, if Africa was populated by Asians would it be in the same condition? Allah knows best, but i dont think they will kill each other like animals. Peace

[Naden]

if Africa was populated by Asians would it be in the same condition? Allah knows best, but i dont think they will kill each other like animals.

 

If Africa was populated by Asians, it would be called Asia . On a more serious note, here are a few stats to show that Asians do and have killed each other like Animals:

 

1)Indonesia: Approx. 500,000 killed in Indonesia, 500,000 arrested; 200-300,000 killed in East Timor

 

2)Cambodia and the Khymer Rouge: Approx. 1-3 million killed in Cambodia.

 

3)The Japanese Invasion of China: About 300,000 people, hundreds of thousands of women raped and brutalized in Camps.

 

History books vary a little in the numbers but they are good approximations. These happened between 1937 and the end of the century and do not include the messes in Vietnam and the Koreas.

[Azmaya]

Salaam Nadan,

 

Cute reply.

 

 

I knew that my statement was generalization and over simplification of complex problem, but the truth of the matter is Africa is worse off today then even before colonization/slavery (just research on google)As whole the continent, black race are bottom of humanity, getting worse by the year. Asia is improving, Africa is not, is it conspiracy against the black ppl, dont think so, they are lazy asses that dont want to improve themselves, and if group of ppl want to help africa/or any black community for that matter, they shoot down that prospect-and even those people .

 

What i was saying is there mentality is like that of animal, and I don't see Africa improving her condition, until that damn mentality changes.

[Sharmarkee]

^^

Or stuck in misery, mere abject, down and out despondency, Damn Fools, Caqal al cabd waaqif

 

Typical Somalis damn asses, we got everything that can make a civilization heartbeat tick and make it running, the land,waters,seas, oceans, rivers, and the blessing of Allah that sweet air, all down in the drain , waxaan garan la’nahay waarya faarax ma "Nabadbaa", yes of course civil wars destroys – that is true but not to the Doomsdays.

 

What is it if it's not that blacks/Africans are damn fools.

[Naden]

Salaam Azmaya,

 

I think we're in agreement but despite my despair at the lot of our people, I refuse to believe that we as Black people are collectively 'lazy' and incapable. I've seen and worked with fellow Africans from the centre to the west to the south who have the highest education and even better work ethics. Anyone who's been to Nairobi, Kenya for instance is surprised at the number of young people competing for universities and high schools and whose families sell and risk everything. The last time I saw a program about Kenya on the BBC, they showed a missionary white couple who opened a sunday school and the spread of cell phones among local merchants. That's fine, that is the only thing they want their audience to see. What is missing is the people struggling so hard to improve their lives but whose the country's economy and infrastructure do not support their aspirations. Near a third to a half of newly-trained doctors from countries like Uganda and Malawi will leave for G8 countries.

 

I agree with you that the mentality of tribalism, cronism and corruption, and dependence on/fight over aid money must be stopped for any hope to exist. But one wonders if all the stakeholders with sticky fingers in our collective businesses will allow this to happen or will we continue to deteriorate.

[Viking]

Africa is poor because...

 

- absence of literacy and numeracy while other continents have had it for many centuries

 

- colonisation brought Africa in touch with the "outer world" (which should have improved our situation) but the colonialists discriminated and often denied Africans education for a long time.

 

- after colonisation, the chains went from the ankles to the pocket; IMF, WTO and WB came into the picture. The financial institutions gave loans irresponsibly to [often] corrupt leaders only to hike the interests immensely and this has made the loans unpayable since the past couple of decades

 

- then came the buzz-word "globalisation". The IMF was at this stage demanding that the govts sell out and privatise quickly before a solid foundation was set up for an efficent private sector. Rapid privatisaion brought a total collapse to the education and healthcare system of most African countries. The Ghanaian govt today pays more to the IMF than it invests in healthcare for its own people.

 

 

Those who say that Africans as a race are poor or technologically inferior because of their skin colour [their race] should ask themselves why Jews are far superior to whites in the field of commerce. Does this mean that whites are intellectually inferior to the Jews?

[Miriam1]

^^...ahm...well said, well said.

One point I would like to add is that when alot of people create comparisons btw Asia and Africa we have to understand that during cold era there was alot of money(millions) pumped into countries like Korea by the americans and so on . This did not happen in AFrica, not because Africa was a void where the cold war was not waged no...a different form of investment was chosen for this land, instead of mulitnationals building roots in the continent, arms and weaponary was funnlled in, rebels supported against pro-russian african govn's and unfriendly african states( unfriendly to america), leading to the wars that plauged the continent in the 1990's.

SO !

the question remains...why did the west choose not to invest in Africa as it did In Asia.

There is no one answer..

One way we can look at is that, the American state was not a pot of gold, where one could dip and take whatever they needed whenver they did. Bugdets had to be passed by vote and so, therefore one can ask, did racist preceptions of Africa come into play?

Just a theory.

[Khadir]

" There can be no pleasure in saying so, but the facts point to one conclusion. Whether in Africa or America, Haiti or Great Britain, blacks are poor because they are, for the most part, incapable of lifting themselves from poverty. Africa is poor, just as Harlem is poor, because it is populated by Africans.â€

 

I think the author of this article is making some rather slanderous assumptions about Africans in general. The African dysphoria is a complicated matter resulting from ethnic corruption, climate and colonialism. To say that Africans are incapable of establishing flourishing civilizations is grave historical error; Africa has given the world some of the most intellectual and intriguing civilizations of all time. Without a doubt, any educated person will tell you that Africa has been home to some of the greatest human civilizations known. But for all of history Africa has been a land for the taking. The whole continent is restless, and environmentally unkind. If you look carefully, you will find that Africa after 2000 years has not homed and sheltered mankind like the other six continents, it has not conformed to human civilizations but humans have conformed to Africa and it has not been a successful one. Since the 16th century, the western world treated Africa like cave to draw the riches from within. They have attempted and failed in their nesting of Africa. In the great words of Conrad, Africa reveals the worst that man hides from himself. She holds a mirror to him, and then he is racist, corrupt and cruel. In Africa the western man is corrupted and uncivilized, the Dutch, the French, the Italians, and the British have all come to Africa with all their civilized systems, social theories and ambitious intentions to domesticate the land of the savages. But in the end they left as thieves and unsuccessful conquers threatened by the lack of stability in the continent. And in all this, they still ask with such confusion, “Oh what has become of Africa? Thus, the African dysphoria is a collective human failure in that region of the world, and not solely a “black Africa†problem. The most unsettling fact in the African Dysphoria is that poverty, and corruption is almost evenly distributed across the whole continent, it is not limited to few countries here and there, but rather the whole continent is drowning in corruption and continental unrest. In addition, the African climate is like no other place on earth, Quranic/Biblical history records seven years of drought in Northern and Eastern Africa. There is no continent in the world, not even the Arabian Desert that is as cruel as the African climate. Consequently, Africa has suffered from internal corruption coupled with colonial repercussions and cruel climate. And while many are quick to call out incompetence, Africa needs time to bring out the much needed positive change in the future.

 

 

>>> Dios nos dara algo mejor!

[ElPunto]

Originally posted by Jawahiir:

^^...ahm...well said, well said.

One point I would like to add is that when alot of people create comparisons btw Asia and Africa we have to understand that during cold era there was alot of money(millions) pumped into countries like Korea by the americans and so on . This did not happen in AFrica, not because Africa was a void where the cold war was not waged no...a different form of investment was chosen for this land, instead of mulitnationals building roots in the continent, arms and weaponary was funnlled in, rebels supported against pro-russian african govn's and unfriendly african states( unfriendly to america), leading to the wars that plauged the continent in the 1990's.

SO !

the question remains...why did the west choose not to invest in Africa as it did In Asia.

There is no one answer..

One way we can look at is that, the American state was not a pot of gold, where one could dip and take whatever they needed whenver they did. Bugdets had to be passed by vote and so, therefore one can ask, did racist preceptions of Africa come into play?

Just a theory.

You have to create the proper environment for investment - ppl just don't invest willy-nilly. And the idea that there was less investment in Asia vs. Africa as a key reason for poverty levels is definitely a stretch.

 

Many of the posts seem to me to have touched on symptoms of poverty like illiteracy etc and the minor contributors to poverty in Africa. At the end of the day - what is the bottom line answer that Africa is poor - it is because of leadership. Africa has the most rapacious, corrupt and brutal leaderships of any continent. Leadership determines illiteracy, investment levels, education, access to water and health etc.