Africa: this is where the human race originated. The only landmass extends from the southern temperate to the northern temperate zones. Being the second-largest continent it holds several climatic regions. It is home to diverse ethnic, cultural and linguistic communities. The continent is enriched with a variety of flora and fauna and the agricultural practices followed here are some of the most sustainable ones. Africa sits on more riches than one could imagine.
But why does it remain to be one of the poorest regions?
A walk through the history of Africa can explain the reason for the suffering of this continent and its people.
Initial Movements and Migration
Being the oldest occupied landmass of the human species, Africa has an intricate and extensive history. While record-keeping is being practiced only since 6000 years ago, almost 97% of this human history is lost. Available information was extracted only from the fossil remains. After the evolution of homo sapiens around 50000 years before the present, humans started exiting Africa and populating the rest of the world. Those who decided to stay survived as hunter-gatherers and later evolved to be settlers.
Once the hunter-gatherers started settling, they chose the flourishing regions of the Nile-Sahara (the current Sahara region was once a prosperous ecosystem that supported habitation) complex as their settlement. The fertile land of the Sahara was a great source of living for the African population. But things started changing. Around 5000 BC the region warmed and around 3500 BC due to the earth’s axial tilt the region completely dried and transformed to be hostile. People were forced by nature to find life sources elsewhere in Africa.
This was the first historical event where Africa started parting. People who lived together moved in various directions in search of settlement across different locations in Africa.
Colonisation
All we know about Europe today is not the complete truth, the other side of it is inglorious. Europe which talks about freedom and liberty was once a suppressor. Europe which advocates climate action and social justice was once an exploiter and discriminating master. And Africa is one of the poor victims of these European actions.
With the beginning of the age of discovery, European explorers stepped into African soil. During the 16th and 17th centuries, Africa was mainly used as a depot while crossing the Cape of Horn. And during the 18th century, the coastal regions were occupied and eventually the European oppressors moved inward and controlled the interiors.
A shameful imperialistic ego developed among the European rulers, subjecting them to the stretches of regions they controlled. The autocrats thought to express their might by occupying new territories and enslaving the native people. They went on a pursuit to occupy new land and plunder the wealth of the region to fuel their industrial and economic needs. The European imperialists almost entered into rivalry as a result of which the native people suffered. For the purpose of avoiding conflict among other imperials, they agreed upon the new imperialism tactics.
Starting from 10% in the early 19th century, Europeans ended up controlling almost 90% of African territory. The territories were not occupied through war but were partitioned, which was cruel enough to war. The Berlin Conference of 1884 is proof of European vainglory, where they sat to discuss the African partition and regulation as if they were the owners of the land.
The selfish partition and occupation left the ethnic communities divided under various umbrellas. The uneven selfish partition made some communities minorities and others majorities in their respective colonies. The imperials had no idea of the graveness to be unleashed with such a partition agreement.
Decolonisation
Imagine you are holding a cup of hot tea. As you raise the cup, you start feeling the heat.
What would you do?
You would place it down gently if you take responsibility for the cup else you will drop it immediately. The Europeans chose the second option. The imperial ruler faced strong violence, political turmoil, organised revolts and civilian unrest as a result of their suppressive rule. As it was costly to sort these issues, rulers opted for the immediate transition of power. Although the imperials flourished by plundering Africa’s resources, none were ready to resolve the confusion. As a result of the selfish rule and irresponsible exit, Africa still lies in unrest.
Dictatorships
Post-imperialism, legitimate governments took over, but they were laid on weak structures. The constitution of most countries failed to place law above all. Military coups were very common and most of the democratic elections were rigged. Men obsessed with authority made complete use of this situation and ruined their nations in the name of rule, for the coming decades. Ruthless laws, incapable administration, wealth accumulation, luxurious life, baseless executions, undermining democracy, and incitement of violence for self-benefit, were common characteristics of the dictatorships across countries in Africa.
These depriving rules further added to the pain of African people. The people who dreamed of a promising future were betrayed by their own men. Even though some developments were brought in during this period, the overall situation remained unchanged.
Internal issues and terrorism
On January 13, 2021, a group of men belonging to the Gumuz militia entered the Benishangul- Gumuz region alongside the border of Sudan and Ethiopia and massacred over 80 people, including men, women, children and the elderly. As reported by a local, the men entered the region chanting ‘ Leave our Land’.
This is the core issue of Africa. The graveness was seeded when the Europeans partitioned the beautiful continent into pieces of cake. As mentioned, uneven partition forced two or more communities to live under one colony. This led to resource and opportunity-sharing issues, which further developed as hatred. Also, the years of dictatorship left millions in hunger that forced migration. Nobody attempted to resolve this issue. Although the leaders of current legitimate governments are trying their best for unification, their efforts go in vain. With millions of lives lost due to ethnic unrest and terrorism, respective governments and world organisations have to strategise solutions before the further loss of life.
Prosperity of Africa
Learning about Africa's poverty is the best way to understand the importance of the stimulus required for their prosperity. Almost 20 million are at risk of starvation. Half of all deaths are caused due to hunger. This also makes them vulnerable to disease. Poverty has led to malnourishment and hunger among African households. Prolonged malnutrition in children affects them physically which chains them from performing labour. As a result of which they continue to be starved throughout their lifetime. Continuous war and conflict have a direct and indirect influence on the food supply system. Even world organisations and welfare groups find it difficult to supply aid under such rough social conditions. This leaves most of the starving population at the mercy of their willpower.
Africans are suffering from the mistakes committed by someone else. Plunder and negligence by previous rulers and hindrance by militia are the core cause of their hunger and poverty.
Hope
There is a three-point solution for the way out of this suffering:
Providing Education
Incentive and stimulus package for agriculture
Forming strong Government machinery
Start with Education
Education can bring the necessary changes in African society. Being uneducated and unemployed makes people vulnerable and easy targets of the militia. Education seals them from being brainwashed with wrong propaganda. Thus the supply of men to violent groups can be blocked and a number of capable workforces could be generated for respective countries. Ultimately education will lead to more employment generation and a peaceful thought process.
Incentive and Stimulus package for agriculture.
Why only agriculture?
Africa’s economy is deeply rooted in agriculture. Almost 60% of its population is an agricultural community, which implies that agriculture is indispensable to Africa’s growth. But, Africa stumbles to gain self-sufficiency and also reports say that their Agri export is merely 2%, which is negligible.
Despite the current situation, the World Bank projects that African agriculture and agribusiness can grow up to $1 trillion by 2030. But it is possible with only good stimulus and incentives from respective governments. 90% of Africa’s agriculture is rain-fed. Let the aim be set to achieve a greater irrigation facility to feed the complete 874 million hectares of suitable agricultural land.
Agriculture growth serves the triple purpose of feeding the hungry population, increasing employment generation and improvement in economic standards for both individuals and the country. With necessary care, funding and technological intervention, there isn’t any doubt of African countries growing to be self-sufficient and world-class exporters.
Forming strong government machinery
Africa needs to have strong government machinery to ensure the installation of a legitimate government. The past has proved that authority-obsessed men tried all means to undermine the constitution to continue in power. Such governments will only be concerned with self-interests. Also, there are cases where the military interfered to bring down adamant individuals from the authority, like the one in Zimbabwe. But this also provides a chance for a dictatorship led by military personnel. Either a legitimate reconstitution or necessary amendments must be brought regarding fair and free elections and also to ensure the law and constitution remain above all.
Neo - colonisation
Would you believe that Africa is being once again colonised?
The western world is witnessing a saturated economy, Asia is proving and surging, and there lies the next potential market and production house in Africa. Hence the African economy is agriculture-dependent, and most of the countries in the continent started accepting foreign investment through contract farming.
Outside countries which face food shortages have started to take lands on lease. Required crops are being cultivated in Africa and taken back to the respective countries to satisfy their demand. There is a good chance of modernisation in this process which will increase the production capability of Africa. But African nations must be careful in drafting the right policy regarding contract farming.
There is a possibility that a company can occupy a lease for a long period on false promises. Some countries can also transfer technology or provide costly automation equipment and services and lend loans which could be a possible debt trap. A situation, similar to Hambantota port in Sri Lanka. So governments in Africa must be careful about signing contract deals with foreign governments.
Time to Realise
The sad truth is People of Africa have not yet realised the wealth of Africa’. While foreign countries are getting aggressive to dig the African wealth, people in Africa are still fighting baseless and avoidable ethnic clashes. It’s high time for Africans to realise their underlying prosperity and start utilising their resources before an outsider starts to exploit them.
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