Analysing Africa’s “poor” status By Mario ChaindaIn an ‘upright’ Western upbringing, a person who has had a chance to live on a farm fertile with all the needed materials would be classified as stupid if he or she died poor. Trying to understand why people suffer is probably one the most difficult tasks one would embark on; this is because people experience hardships and tough times for many different reasons. People’s ambitions are normally linked to the kind of environment they are raised in, the culture, values and well-being of people is what contributes to how high people’s ambitions can be. This is not to say those from poor background don’t have big dreams. People normally set standards based on the richest people from their community. Africa today is still poor. How is it that the richest continent on the planet in natural resources is the least developed and poorest?
According to the dependent theory Western countries have slowed and under-developed Africa by keeping it dependent on them. Having lived in Africa all my life, I find it extremely difficult to understand that African states play a blame game so that the citizens can be comforted to think their leaders are trying their best but they are being hindered by the West.
The case of poor choices: Wants over needs: Like a young man would go for a beautiful young lady because of her looks, and ignore the one who truly loves him because she is less attractive, the young mans inability to distinguish what he needs from what he wants can be likened to what most African countries are doing today. Africa is where it is today because its leaders fail to use a simple theory of needs over wants; they twist it to wants over needs. Today African presidents live the most luxurious lives, travel around the world, driving expensive cars - all coming from taxpayers’ money. Thus, in a country where poverty levels are high, government would rather approve the building of an expensive parliament than approve proposals by sectors of the population to provide grants to unemployed youth. Africa needs practical incentives that would provide equal opportunities, improve education and eliminate unemployment.
The case of puppet leaders: African leaders are so good at reading excellent and inspiring speeches to the international community. They show well-designed plans of how they intend to develop their respective countries. The reality on the ground is that all these speeches and plans remain on paper. Less than 20% of these plans are ever implemented. The easiest way to get rich in Africa is to join politics. Whatever the Western countries decide we follow. How is that Africa still can’t determine the prices of its own natural resources? The fact is most African leaders have become rich because of abusing state resources; they find it difficult to challenge the West because of fear being targeted like Robert Mugabe. Those that try to stand up and prevent the looting of resources by Western countries are not supported by other African leaders, as was the case of Muammar Gaddhafi. Chiluba, former Zambian president once said the people that are supposed to save Africa are either in exile, graves or suffering in jails, suppressed by those that have found favour with Western leaders.
Africa needs leaders that will take politics as a vocation, not those that will see it as an easy way to getting rich. Most of all leaders that are able to act against any form of injustice by the Western countries. Instead of blaming them for our misery why not act against the actions if we think they are not good? Young and ambitious leaders that know that they still have a life ahead and they have to prepare effectively for it, not old, worn-out leaders waiting for the Lord’s call. Leaders that won’t cling to power for their own selfish interest and are able to identify the needs of their citizens.
In Africa, the education levels are so low in general, even some people that have been to university can just be called trained and not educated. This problem is the reason why we have the wrong leaders in government, people supporting visionless leaders due to tribal or religious issues. Most people have become so used to suffering that they think their current situation is the best they can be, hence they don’t care who is the president and what the government is doing - whether wrong or right. Most citizens don’t understand the importance of presidents and the other leaders they choose, so they just chose these because they like how they look like or because of tribal/religious relations.
Puppet leaders, accompanied by their inability to differentiate needs from wants are the main reason why our continent is still the poorest today. The majority of the citizens don’t know that they deserve better, or to say they don’t know how well they can live, if it happens that they do, they don’t know why they suffer. If Africans take it upon themselves to welcome the full responsibility of that which is within their control; the mineral resources, the labour and the mental capacity, then the reasons as to why Africa is still poor 60 years after the first African country (Sudan) became independent, would only remain in a newspaper article like this and not in reality.
*Mario Chainda is a fourth-year student studying towards a bachelor’s degree in Public Management at the University of Namibia.