10 Reasons Why Africa is Poor
Poverty is a word which has multiple definitions. According to World Bank it refers to those who spent at most $3 a day. Africa is one of the continents which is considered the poorest in comparison to other continents on earth. The majority of people in Africa live below $3 a day. This article will take a look at the reasons why Africa is so poor.
10 Reasons Why Africa is Poor
The following are the main reason why Africa is so Poor:
1.Lack of Modern Technologies
Most people in the African continent are not technologically advanced because of a number of reasons such as lack of education and capital. This makes them to be far behind in the technological sector. As such, they rely on consumption instead of manufacturing, which has potential to bring foreign money through exports.
2. Poor Governance
The African continent has many valuable resources enough to be most talked continent on financial independence, however, these valuable resources are misused by those in power, who create wealth for themselves. For a long time, Africa has been governed by dictators who have exploited their countries in several ways.
As of today most African governments depend on foreign aid to support their government budget, but in most cases those in power pockets these money for themselves and nothing explains better than greedy.
In Africa corruption is almost everywhere, starting from police sector and other potential sectors have bribed governances.
3. Lack of Education
The majority of people in Africa are illiterate and those who go further with their education are full of theories, which does not work on the ground. Unlike in foreign countries whose education focuses much on practical part, in Africa, people could go to school just to be taught theories.
A few people who go to school in most cases drop it before reaching universities or colleges, this makes their thinking capacity to be slow, in comparison to similar age group in foreign countries, non African.
Lack of education makes different people to have enough materials which can make them rich, but they lack the skills to transform them.
4. Inadequate Agricultural Infrastructure
The majority of people in Africa are poor, as such they cannot afford to buy modern farming equipments to venture in Agribusiness, which is one of the weapons for transformation to African people. Africa comprises 20% of the world’s land, but only produces 4% of all vegetables and 1% of all fruit for commercial export.
5. Poor Health
The majority of people in Africa have poor physical health, which make them unable to be more productive. Poor health is accelerated due to poor feeding diet, which leave majority of them malnourished.
Different diseases spread rapidly in Africa due to lack of enough preventive measures. Diseases such as HIV and AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis, have claimed multiple lives in Africa. In some cases, people who die, are those with skills who could help in developing African continent.
6. Wars and Crises
In Africa some people of the same tribe fight themselves instead of uniting and working as one. In most cases there are leadership wrangles which bring internal conflicts and wars. People who do not unite, can less likely develop.
7. High Production Cost
The majority of African workers are not efficient due to lack of relevant skills and knowledge, this makes the manufacturing sector in African continent to be less competitive on an international market. This contributes to poverty.
8. Unjust Trade Structures
Another reason explaining why Africa is poor is poor trade relations with other countries. Rich countries are exporting capital to poor African countries, where they can receive huge profits that do not benefit the people there. Africa’s economy depends on exports, but it fails to produce competitive products on an international market.
9. Historical Injustices
In the past, many African countries were colonized by foreign countries. Through colonization, many African valuable resources were taken illegally. Which means African resources were taken to benefit other countries. This caused problems because it left the people of Africa disadvantaged, impoverished, and lacking in education, among other things.
10. Climatic Conditions
The African continent has been affected by the climate change in recent decades: devastating floods and extraordinary drought periods lead to crop failures, which makes majority of African people to be starved. The consequences of climate change threats are regular hunger crises and famine in Africa. Particularly affected are East Africa and the Sahara region.
In conclusion, this article has taken a look at the reasons why Africa is poor. Among others, the article has uncovered that lack of education, bad governances and colonization, are some of the reasons explaining why Africa is poor.