Development Context
The development process in Africa is broad, multidimensional and interconnected. Development efforts have focused on attempts to improve transportation, communication/digital infrastructure, the urban sector, gender disparities (particularly in education), health status, and key production sectors, such as agriculture and industry. Unfortunately, most of these strategies were imposed by western nations without adequate involvement of Africans. Strong efforts at the local level, mainly by non-governmental organizations and groups such as the Peace Corps, have been very successful but have not scaled up to affect development at a national level.
The early 1960s were a time of high expectations for improving education and employment, as many African nations achieved independence from colonial nations in Europe. By the mid-1970s and 1980s, however, most African economies became stagnant as a result of misguided economic policies, political instability, corrupt and uncaring governments, benign neglect of the poor, and structural and institutional factors. The Cold War played a significant part in perpetuating the political problems that were the legacy of colonialism, such as the placement of African nation borders, making parts of Africa continually weaker.
Much of sub-Saharan Africa is extremely poor, and concerns ranging from food security to health care to education are significant in many countries. It is very difficult to measure the status of development of a nation, so simply noting that most African countries form part of “the developing world” is rather meaningless. The most widely used measure of development is the per capita gross national product, or GNP. There are only a handful of African countries with GNP above $1000 (Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, Libya, Namibia, South Africa), with just as many countries reporting GNP below $200 (Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania). Although these statistics come from the late 1990s, the modern picture is not substantially changed. Can you imagine living in the US for a year on $200?
It is clear that the GNP does not measure all aspects of a nation’s economy (subsistence agriculture, for example, does not contribute to national wealth but it provides a living for large sectors of the population). Another measure of development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is used by the United Nations to reflect characteristics such as life expectancy, education and ability to shape one’s own destiny. Not surprisingly, HDI scores for many sub-Saharan nations are low as well; they range from a high value of 0.76 in South Africa to sadly low values below 0.10 in Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, and Sierra Leone. Countries that have natural resource wealth – particularly diamonds and/or petroleum – tend to have higher indices of development, although political considerations make this statement far from universal.
Fifteen African nations are landlocked. These nations face an additional challenge to participation in the global economy: in addition to national infrastructure (roads, railways) they require international cooperation with neighboring countries in order to assure access to ports and shipping facilities. As a result, the landlocked nations are – in general – less developed than their neighbors with coastal access.
Several regional multinational economic and political groups have formed to work cooperatively on issues including coordinating national policies, encouraging and lobbying for trade legislation and promoting development. These organizations include: the Organization of African Unity (which includes all African nations except for Western Sahara), ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), SADC (Southern African Development Community), and NEPAD (the New Partnership for Africa’s Development). These groups have great potential for the future of many African countries.
Next, let's examine some of the significant development themes in a little more detail.
