Economic Development in Africa

By Fingani Mphande (Malawi)

Our continent Africa is overwhelmed by many economic challenges both in trade, industry and resources. African economy is comprised of trade, industry and the resources of people of Africa. Africa is described as the world’s poorest continent. But why is this? What are the factors that have led to the poor economy of our continent Africa?

To answer these questions let us look back to the history of Africa. Most African countries were colonized by European countries, including Britain, Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, and France. When these countries left Africa many of the colonized countries have struggled to keep their economy afloat after the transition. As such most of the countries have been overtaken by corruption and deposition. Corrupt practices by African leaders and those in power in governments have allowed for the plunge of African economy. Most people in power have managed to swindle government or sate funds which were supposed to help their countries and used them for their own desires. As such the rich people in most African countries become richer as the poor population gets poorer. This is a very sad development because in this way Africa can not develop fully.

Corrupt practices in Africa are not the only source of economic problems. Stagnated foreign trade and investment and per capita income have also contributed to the poor economic growth. Africa economy is dependent on agriculture exports of cash crops such as cotton and other grains which are exported to Western states including Europe, Japan and the United states. In order to boost their economy many African states have ended up over producing these export crops to compete on the global market where prices are continually reducing. This practice though sometimes has ended with less food to feed the community as most of the resources are transferred to growing cash crops for export. Civil unrest and poor climate though have led to a lot of economic instability in many African countries.
Mining is another source of income in some African countries. The problem facing the mining industry is that governments and large corporations squander profits from the mining hence contributing to poor economic growth. Poor investment and reluctance of investors due to close governmental control have discouraged international investment. This is a bad stand for economic development for Africa.

How can we boost African development? Can creation of employment reduce poverty in Africa? Oil producing countries have experienced high economic growth compared to non-oil producing states. How about those poor countries whose inflation rates keep falling, is there any chance of improving their economy?
Tourism has boosted the economy of certain countries in Africa but is this enough to sustain these nations economically?
Debt relief has helped many African countries with their economy, this is a positive development to Africa but is this enough? Africa depends a lot on external aid, is this healthy for the development of this continent?

There are many unanswered questions surrounding the economic development of Africa. Is there hope for Africa’s economic development?