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THE MAIN
CHALLENGES FACING SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
By Sol Cowan.
introduction
There are
numerous problems and challenges facing the continent of Africa,
but the main challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa is the economy
of Africa, HIV/AIDS, food security, education and lastly the
reduction of conflict on the continent, concomitant to the
deepening of democracy.
the economy of Africa
Problems include:
-
Africa’s
reliance and dependence on export earnings from agricultural
and mineral products.
-
The
need to transform the economy which
requires the development of relevant technology and
skills
-
Debt is
another huge obstacle to poverty alleviation
food security
-
Food
security is another major challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa
especially in light of the famine ravaging Africa where
millions of people face starvation.
In Southern Africa alone, 12.8 million people are
threatened with starvation with almost half of them being
children (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/19/world/main515668.shtml
- 26/08/02).
-
In
Zimbabwe alone 6 million people are threatened with starvation
as a result of an on going drought and land seizures, whilst
in Malawi and Zambia more than 5.3 million people are at risk
(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/07/19/world/main515668.shtml
- 26/08/02).
-
Many
of Africa’s agricultural and rural development problems have
been related to misguided policies, weak and ineffective
institutions and a lack of skilled people to carry out such
programmes (http://www.fao.org/docrep/w9290e/w9290e01.htm
- 21/08/02).
the
development of human resources
-
The
development of human resources is essential for food security
in Africa. Africa’s low agricultural productivity in comparison to the
United States is a result of poverty, farmers lack of access
to improved seeds, fertilizers and pesticides as well as the
knowledge to use them effectively and efficiently
(http://www.fao.org/docrep/w9290e/w9290e01.htm
- 21/08/02). Food
security for Africa is vital,
without which the stability of many countries in Africa will
be threatened and the precedent of a human disaster on a world
scale never seen before will occur.
-
Education
is another mammoth task facing the leaders of Sub-Saharan
Africa. Four out
of every ten primary-age children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not
go to school and those that do go to school only a few reach a
basic level of skills according to a report from Unesco’s
institute of statistics released in April 2002 (http://www.uis.unesco.org/en/news/news-p/news15.htm
- 21/08/02).
-
Secondary
education is also a problem for the region and with late entry
and high repetition rates in these countries, one finds the
majority of secondary age children still attending primary
classes.
-
Tertiary
education remains marginal according to the Unesco report,
with only about one and a half million students enrolled in
these institutions (excluding Nigeria as data has not been
provided) (http://www.uis.unesco.org/en/news/news-p/news15.htm
- 21/08/02).
-
The
report further states that many students particularly those in
advanced research have to study abroad because programmes are
not available in their home countries.
-
Teachers
are also generally poorly trained throughout the region.
Essentially unless Sub-Saharan Africa tackles this
issue and is able to produce well-trained, skilled people, the
chances of Sub-Saharan Africa transforming itself into a
vibrant economy remains remote.
HIV and aids
-
“HIV
the greatest threat to the African Renaissance” (http://www.aegis.com/news/dmg/2001/MG010516.html
- 21/08/02). These
were the words of Professor Malegapuru Makgoba uttered at a
James Hill lecture to the National Institute of Health,
Bethesda, Maryland in the United States in 2001.
According to Makgoba, the problems facing developing
countries, especially the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa
require different approaches to those used by developed
countries, because Africa has different patterns of
transmission, higher rates of infection, the presence of
different opportunistic infections and higher frequency of
sexually transmitted infections (http://www.aegis.com/news/dmg/2001/MG010516.html
- 21/08/02).
-
The areas
that are of most concern include ethical concerns related to
vaccine development and clinical trials, anti-retroviral drugs
for HIV/AIDS patients, the prevention of mother-to child
transmission and finally the affordability of such treatments
(http://www.aegis.com/news/dmg/2001/MG010516.html
- 21/08/02). Unless
some of these problems are faced and solved with access to
affordable HIV/AIDS drugs being made available to the
populations of these countries, the prevalence of aids will
increase, leading to the dissemination of a large part of the
population of Sub-Saharan Africa.
conflict and political
stability
Conflict and
instability has to become the exception rather than the norm and
leaders such as Robert Mugabe have to be isolated, in order for
the rest of the world to take Africa seriously.
Initiatives
such as Nepad, with its system of peer review, which underpins
democratic principles and the rights of the people, needs to be
taken seriously by the leaders of Sub-Saharan Africa, otherwise
Africa will remain in the morass she finds herself in.
A big problem
facing many countries in Africa is the small tax base underpinning
many of these countries economies.
This situation has resulted in many leaders clinging onto
power in order to be able to sustain themselves and their
colleagues as long as feasibly possible, resulting in much of the
conflict that many of the countries face today. A controversial
solution to this problem could be the creation of a special fund
under the auspices of the United Nations that would benefit
leaders of Africa in their retirement, but only if they adhered to
the principles of human rights and democracy and endeavored to
ensure that the populations of their countries came first.
Such a solution may lead to the lessening of conflict and
political instability on the continent, resulting in the
attraction of a greater investment from the outside world in
Africa.
conclusion
These are the
challenges facing sub-Saharan Africa, but in spite of so much
adversity, there is hope and that hope lies in the resilience of
the people of Africa to withstand such adversity and move forward
into the 21st century.
For more
articles by Sol Cowan, click on the links below:
Article
on globalization
Article
on global social movements
Articles
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