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What is Africa?

  • AfricanAffairsNetwork
  • Nov 16, 2016
  • 3 min read

The most straight forward answer would be a continent, one of seven continents of the world and the second largest. It is known for a variety of things, most notably being that scientifically it is the cradle of the human race and historically the origin of civilisation and the birthplace of the written language more than 4000 years ago. In addition, Africa is known for being rich in history, culture, language and geographic diversity with its land space being the home of about 1 billion people across over fifty countries. It plays host to some of the most majestic mountains, deserts, river, lakes, waterfalls, ancient artefacts in the world. Its wild life, reptiles, insects are equally incredible and diverse with millions of tourists flocking to soak it all in every year. However, is this Africa? A more complex answer would be yes and no. Ironically the true reality of what is Africa is a contrast of halves; halves lived, witnessed and discussed everyday all around the world. On the one hand all that I said above about Africa is correct and would be an acceptable answer to the question ‘What is Africa?’. And yet on the other hand the repercussion of its history with migration has effectively spread Africa all around the world, allowing for there to be Africa in Europe, Africa in Asia, Africa in the Americas. The same belittling effect of colonialism and slavery subsequently acted to extend the boundaries of Africa. As Africans were spread all across the world their true identities were eroded leaving a distorted representation. Africa is a continent rich in natural resources, endowed with a large labour force and adequate with raw materials which could allow for autocentric development on the one hand. Yet it has become the least developed continent in the world and plighted with so much corruption that it remains underdeveloped and deep in poverty. A journalist in Uganda recently stated that in order for African governments to receive foreign aid, the continent has to be viewed as a place of hardship. Essentially bad and corrupt governments require Africa to be seen in a bad light in order for them to continue begging in the west. And as the west continues to plunder African resources and materials, they essentially promote such relationships. Nonetheless, if you take a closer look into Africa you will see that Africa has been the second fastest growing region in the world over the last 10 years; with an average growth of 5.1 per cent annually. This growth has been a result of a greater political stability and effective economic reforms that have released the private sector in many countries. The private sector has allowed Africa to become a leading player in countless industries including the race to harness sustainable, eco-friendly energy resources. With its developments in solar, hydro and wind energy, companies like Saphon Energy lead the way in providing electricity and ultimately give Africa a way up. Overall Africa is on the rise as a whole, however it has a long way to go and more importantly needs to have its own agenda. China, Europe, America all seem to have an agenda in Africa, while only Africa has no agenda for itself. It needs to move away from borrowing and begging and stop playing the blame game and start putting to use it resources and wealth and become the next frontier to be reckoned with. The image portrayed of Africa is in fact true; yes there is famine, yes there is extreme poverty, yes there is corruption, and yes there are dictators. But look at the blueprint laid out by Brazil, a country battling with similar issues and yet portrayed to the world as a country that is successful, that is progressive, and that is appealing and capable of hosting the major events such as the Fifa World Cup and Olympics. This is because they have an agenda for themselves and have bought into it and are willing to promote it. So what is Africa? It’s a bright continent steeped in history and culture, a contrast of halves with pros and cons. It is a people who have abdicated their responsibility to form and drive their own identities and enslaved to believe that they are not worthy. And yet Africa is the next frontier of change and innovation, it is the birthing ground of out the box thinking, the ability to still shape their own destiny and learn from the rest of the world what mistakes not to make, a blank canvas on which true success and democracy can be painted, but more than most Africa is global.

 
 
 

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