Is there any hope for Africa?

[TightEnd]

It was a good idea from the teacher. Each child in a class of 10 year olds, amongst them my son, had to pick one of the competing nations out of a hat on a piece of paper and come back in a few days having written a side of paper on the country etc etc


"Ok" I said, "that's nice...lets go onto the internet after tea and see what we can find out"

"Which country did you get? I asked, thinking to myself that even though I had to make sure my son didn't see pictures of scantily clad women on Copacabana beach, he being bound to have drawn Brazil, that I could nevertheless bookmark them for future use.

"Angola" He says

"Oh" I say.

The sort of team I always used to draw in the office sweepstake. A chip off the old block my lad, clearly.

I was amazed at some of the things we found out. The country is for example the second largest oil producer in Sub Saharan Africa yet its people are the second poorest. According to the IMF more than $4bn in oil receipts have "disappeared" in the last six years. Levels of corruption appear incredible.

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107280.html

I did my best to explain this to a ten year old, and we were both pleased with his work. Bright lad, takes after his dad!

As usual though, these sort of things prompt me to further research, and coincidentally I listended to a Radio programme a couple of days later about Swaziland and in particular the AIDS epidemic that is horrific in that country. Perhaps you all know this but the AIDS epidemic in Southern Africa cannot be fully attributed to poverty, absence of medicine etc. It is mainly a cultural problem borne of polygamy. The King of Swaziland has many many wives, contraception is not permitted and thus infection and disease spreads readily amongst the whole population who practice the creed of their ruler

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108004.html

I haven't even touched on the politics of aid, third world debt and related topics


This might be ambitious, and almost certainly the first time such a question has been asked on a UK Poker forum, but here goes anyway

Is there any hope for Africa?

Discuss 

[Heid]

Whilst I cogitate on the future of Africa, I have to tell you the only perrsonal bit of information that I have about Angola.

I worked with a woman who was officially "stateless", who was Portugese by family roots, but had been born and brought up in Angola. Her parents, along with her were thrown from Angola, during the civil war and as she had no Portugese passport (unlike her parents) she was deemed Angolan by the Portgese authorities, and not allowed into Portugal - the Angolans on the other hand refused to accept her as Angolan because her parents were Portugese nationals, and denied her access.

Her parents had to flee to the UK, and she was still trying to get her UK residency sorted out as I left the company.

Quite mad.

[thetank]

In 3 African Countries, diasability adjusted life expectancy is under 30. (According to the World Health report 2000)

I can understand a lack of concern amongst them about the AIDS pandemic. Who's bothered about a disease that will kill you in 5/10 years when you're unlikely to live that long anyway.

[madasahatstand]

of course there is hope for Africa. Its the political crap that keeps africa down. and as you say the cultural practices have contributed significantly to the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Its very difficult to educate people about HIV when they hold strong cultural beliefs. especially when their leaders preach and brainwash. my mum once worked for a ctholic priest. he preached about not using condoms etc. my mum and him had a discussion about AIDS and the HIV epidemic in Africa. He argued that condoms would not make a difference because HIV infected sperm would leak through the condoms and infect the African people anyway. well how come sperm doesnt leak through and create a baby?? lord knows?
I really do think there has been a lot of self  help aid to Africa that really makes a difference. its a real cruelty about the famons and illness because African folk are very close to mother earth. i envy that in a lot of ways

mad

[thetank]

Hopefully within the next 20 years, desalination techniques can be perfected and, through their proper application, solve most drought problems.

In turn, famine and disease wouldn't be as big a factor.

I would agree that it's far more important to get the political situation sorted though, (as far as any political situation can be "sorted")

[ACE2M]

 Africa is in an incredible transition period, basically attempting to leap into a western type market economy without having the required poilitical, financial, social and industrial resources to facilitate it.
 African governments understandably envied the western way of life and sought help in order to facilitate the great revolution. Unfortunately for them the western world of banks, governments and business saw this as part of the global market economy and royally screwed the lot of them, this combined with greed, naeivity, coruption and ineptitude of the african governments created totally unstable economies with simply no back up plan in the event of bumps in the road.
 As the great Bill Hicks pointed out, 'Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. Thank you very much, you've been great."
 I know i'd rather where my tax went! and don't get me started on the fact that my tax keeps prince charles and his clan in servants and holidays, that just sickens me. Proletariats of the world unite!

[madasahatstand]

 
is it safe to come out?




i agree that we shouldnt pay for anyones lifestyle 

[Royal Flush]

i agree that we shouldnt pay for anyones lifestyle 

Even the sick and homeless?

[tikay]

All I can add, is that anyone who has visited the less fortunate African States would never again moan about poker beats.

There is apalling poverty in many parts of Africa. Add to that, the indigenous popolation is not, on the whole, industrious, so the local economies are dominated by the Lebanese & such like, & the wealth created does not really filter down.

Kudos to Tighty for the Post.

[Josh]

of course there is hope for Africa. Its the political crap that keeps africa down. and as you say the cultural practices have contributed significantly to the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Its very difficult to educate people about HIV when they hold strong cultural beliefs. especially when their leaders preach and brainwash. my mum once worked for a ctholic priest. he preached about not using condoms etc. my mum and him had a discussion about AIDS and the HIV epidemic in Africa. He argued that condoms would not make a difference because HIV infected sperm would leak through the condoms and infect the African people anyway. well how come sperm doesnt leak through and create a baby?? lord knows?
I really do think there has been a lot of self  help aid to Africa that really makes a difference. its a real cruelty about the famons and illness because African folk are very close to mother earth. i envy that in a lot of ways

mad

The catholic priest your mother spoke to was infact a moron then, the majority don't deny what condoms actually do, they just preach against pre-marital sex, or sex for other reasons than to reproduce.

[tikay]

of course there is hope for Africa. Its the political crap that keeps africa down. and as you say the cultural practices have contributed significantly to the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Its very difficult to educate people about HIV when they hold strong cultural beliefs. especially when their leaders preach and brainwash. my mum once worked for a ctholic priest. he preached about not using condoms etc. my mum and him had a discussion about AIDS and the HIV epidemic in Africa. He argued that condoms would not make a difference because HIV infected sperm would leak through the condoms and infect the African people anyway. well how come sperm doesnt leak through and create a baby?? lord knows?
I really do think there has been a lot of self  help aid to Africa that really makes a difference. its a real cruelty about the famons and illness because African folk are very close to mother earth. i envy that in a lot of ways

mad

The catholic priest your mother spoke to was infact a moron then, the majority don't deny what condoms actually do, they just preach against pre-marital sex, or sex for other reasons than to reproduce.

She was not "a moron". She may have well been wrong, but her advice was well-intended. If youi think she was wrong, fine, say so, but please don't call the lady a moron.

[byronkincaid]

She was not "a moron". She may have well been wrong, but her advice was well-intended. If youi think she was wrong, fine, say so, but please don't call the lady a moron.

You get lady Catholic priests these days?

It's been about 20 years since I last went to church but I would have thought I would have heard something.....

[tikay]

She was not "a moron". She may have well been wrong, but her advice was well-intended. If youi think she was wrong, fine, say so, but please don't call the lady a moron.

You get lady Catholic priests these days?

It's been about 20 years since I last went to church but I would have thought I would have heard something.....

Ahh...... Misread?

[byronkincaid]

 

 

[The Dundonian]

Having worked in Africa over the last 7 years, (Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa and the C.A.R.) I will say there is hope, the biggest hurdle to cross is getting the right people in the places of power. Corruption, nepotism and tribalism are the biggest hindrances to economic advancement.
Until they get that sorted nothing anyone from the outside does will make any difference. This is an opinion that I have heard from my local colleagues in each of the countries I have worked in and when you see the corruption first hand you can only shake your head and agree with them!
Some of the finest, hardset working, friendliest people I have ever met have been local African men and women that I have trained and worked with.
PS. I'm sitting in an office in Lagos as I right this.