Let not your eyes go MEGA ("my eyes glaze over") on me as I recite some eye-popping statistics about the continent of Africa. In fact when you read this report you'll ask: "Why, for heaven's sake, is Africa South of the Sahara (SSH) the world's Number One Basket Case?" (Obviously, the African tragedy stops at the border of South Africa, which has a successful economy and the stirrings of a successful democracy.) Look, here is what is below ground in the African continent: 90 percent of the world's cobalt; 90 percent of its platinum; 50 percent of its gold; 98 percent of its chromium; 64 percent of its manganese, one-third of its uranium. Africa is rich in diamonds. And get this: Africa has more oil reserves than all of North America.
WASHINGTON -- The catastrophe that has befallen Kenya since the rigged election of Dec. 27 -- killings and displacements, curtailed freedoms, a promising economy on the verge of being wrecked -- confirms for the umpteenth time that local politicians, not the remnants of imperialism or ancestral customs, are the major culprits of sub-Saharan Africa's misery. In recent years, Kenyans had made an effort to move toward a functioning democracy, a more open economy and a stable institutional environment. The rest of the world responded positively: From Asia to Europe, Kenya was praised as East Africa's "commercial and financial hub" and was conspicuously absent from the list of troubled nations customarily cited by Africa observers. To top it all, Western democracies claimed Kenya's governmen...
Despite the best efforts of its concerned citizenry and outside aid organizations, Nigeria remains a big country with big problems. Africa's most populous nation has lacked stable governments since its 1960 independence from Britain, diseases ranging from cholera, measles and AIDS have ravaged the populace, and religious uprisings continue to plague Nigeria.
NICE, France - Piracy, terrorism and climate change get prime billing but business is the linchpin at a summit between France and African leaders that begins Monday. Not on the agenda but a clear subtext is President Nicolas Sarkozy's desire to assure broader influence and greater economic weight for France in Africa - seen as a new frontier for profit- making a half-century after France lost 14 African colonies to independence.
Poverty and corruption often feed one another. When a nation is poor, it is vulnerable to bribes and lawlessness. When it is corrupt, it is hard to get help to the people who need it. Thus, the leaders of the world's economic powers meeting in Scotland this week find themselves contemplating chickens, eggs and Africa. At the G-8 summit, Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair wants to set a goal of doubling African aid over the next five years. President Bush is wary, citing corruption as a concern and as a reason not to increase aid.
I agree totally with John Hughes' column on Africa, though he had only one sentence that explains the deep problems African countries face: corruption. If he believes these countries that have been excused of billions of dollars of debt would spend that money for health, education and relief of poverty, he must be dreaming.
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