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What does Development Mean?

Is there a "model" for development that is most appropriate for Africa?
Pictured here on the left is Buea, Cameroon, and on the right, garbage disposal at a
banana plantation in Cameroon

On the causes of Underdevelopment in Africa, Kristy G: wrote:

Before I delve into the reasons of AfricaÄs underdevelopment, I would like to point out
that Africa is a continent and not a country. Over two thousand ethnic groups live in
Africa, each with its own diverse culture and ideology. There are fifty-four sovereign
states within the continent, therefore, to try and come up with a universal answer as
to why Africa is the most underdeveloped continent would not only be absurd, but
very difficult. In order to derive an explanation, one must look at the history of each
individual country and find the causes for whatever problems the country currently
faces.

Many socioeconomic, cultural and political factors contribute to Africa being the most
underdeveloped continent, yet for most African countries, it is in my opinion that the
colonial legacy in Africa has done the most damage. Colonialism resulted in
exploitation of labor, unfair taxation, the creation of artificial states, the siphoning of
natural resources, and unfair terms of trade. These are just a few of the policies that
were implemented during colonialism that have had lingering effects on the
development of Africa.
But African cannot be the only cause of underdevelopment. Ethiopia and Liberia are
two countries in Africa that never came under colonial rule, but they share the same
problems that the rest of Africa is currently facing.

AfricaÄs state of underdevelopment is also caused by external factors, such as the

presence of Multinational Corporations (MNCs). These corporations have exploited the
African labor force, degraded the environment, and facilitated corruption by
supporting African dictators. These MNCs continue to contribute to the development
of the First World at the expense of African countries.

Although external factors may be the probable causes of the underdevelopment of

Africa, can the African people themselves be at fault for some of their problems?
Absolutely.

For instance, in Africa, there is a huge problem with deforestation. Due to the
scarcity of arable agricultural land, farmers cut down the virgin forests to obtain land
for farming. When all of the trees are removed, flooding results during rain storms
because there are no longer enough tree roots to absorb the water. In addition,
flooding brings mosquitoes; and mosquitoes carry the deadly disease of Malaria. So
Africans themselves have indirectly added to this huge health issue that prevents
them from leading a better quality of life. I believe that Africans should take some
kind of responsibility for this problem.

Another possibility is the fact that there are about 2,000 different ethnic groups living
on the continent can be a problem in itself. That means that there are 2,000 different
ways of life, belief systems, and competing ideologies. I would like to point out that
wars happened throughout African history, long before European colonialism, and
they continue to occur to this day. So you cannot argue that because colonial powers
ÅcreatedÆ ethnic Åtribes,Æ they instigated tension among ethnic groups. Some form
of tension already existed among ethnic groups long before colonials arrived. The
bottom line is that an African country may work hard to achieve development, and all
of it could go to waste if a war breaks out.
Coup dÄetats have also destabilized many African countries. It is difficult for a country
to establish an efficient economic system when there is so much military unrest.

Yet another internal factor for underdevelopment is corruption by government

officials. Money that is allocated for the creation of schools and jobs is siphoned out
of the country, by government officials, into Swiss Bank accounts and this leads to
another cause for underdevelopment. Sometimes, this is exactly what happens with
debt relief money. As debt relief money continues to ÅdisappearÆ at the hands of
government officials, donor countries begin to think twice about contributing in the
future.

People can spend a lot of time arguing over the cause of underdevelopment on the
African continent as a whole. Meanwhile, it continues to endure a vicious cycle of
problems that prevent development. Instead of pointing fingers and playing the blame
game, everyone needs to put the causes to the side and think about the solution.
African countries must come together as a whole to help each other solve the
problems at hand. Since they are all suffering from the same problems, why not come
up with a solution together to fix them?

Africans need to rely on each other instead of Western organizationsÙsome of whose

past attempts to help African countries have failed. The International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) tried helping many African countries by
lending them money with high interest rates for development projects. Since many of
the development projects failed, African countries sunk farther into debt and now
they are in a worse position than before they borrowed the money. Reliance on
Western organizations is not the solution.

Therefore, some type of African unity must take place. One possibility would be in
the form of the European Union, or maybe in the form of ÅThe United States of
Africa.Æ In my opinion, the best form of unity would be the latter because it would
encompass all ethnicities under one nation. Elections should be held based on
proportional representation, so that way every ethnic group would have a voice in
government. A system of checks and balances should be instituted to prevent
corruption at the national level. Also, with all of the Ånew statesÆ working together
under this system of checks and balances, they can prevent corruption from
happening at the state level and legally kick corrupt officials out of office.

As stated by Ayittey, the people of Africa need ÅAfrican solutions for African
problems.Æ Since no one knows Africans better than Africans themselves, they must
use their own ideas to come up with the best solution for development. They should
not simply copy the footpaths of Western countriesÄ development. Maybe a form of
Western government will end up being the solution, or there may be the possibility
that Africans will come up with a completely new type of government. Whatever the
result, African people need to work fast to solve their problems so that they will have
reasons to invest in their future.

P O S T E D B Y D R . D A T 8 : 0 8 P M 2 6 C O M M EN T S L IN K S T O TH I S P O S T