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What are the latest concerns involving Africa?
The problems in sub-Saharan Africa involving conflict and poor government have begun to receive greater attention. In 2005, the G8 countries agreed to forgive unsustainable debt of the poorest countries, thus freeing up needed funds for development. The horrific consequences of AIDS and the failure to supply drugs to address the situation is gaining more recognition. Several African economies have been enhanced by the discovery of oil, but corruption and poor government continue to plague virtually all sub-Saharan countries although there have been some recent positive indications in some counties.
Problems continue throughout the continent on multiple fronts:
Sudan-Darfur
Beginning in 2004, the government of Sudan and allied Arab militia, called
janjaweed, have implemented a strategy of ethnic-based murder, rape and forcible
displacement of civilians in the western province of Darfur. Almost one million Darfurian civilians have been forced to flee their
homes in the past fourteen months and many have lost family members, livestock and
all other assets. The problem in the region is an outgrowth of many years of ethnic and economic conflict between pastoral Arabs in the northern portion of the province and agricultural blacks in the central and southern regions. The international response has been to deploy African Union troops as peacekeepers but the situation continues to be difficult. The African Union forces have been unsuccessful in fully maintaining peace as periodic militia raids continue. The UN has called for a larger UN presence to prevent these occurrences.
Congo
The problem in Congo is related to the ongoing tensions in the eastern area bordering Rwanda and Burundi. When Tutsi led rebels temporarily overtook a city in eastern Congo, protestors in Congolese cities throughout the country erupted and blamed the UN for failing to control the situation. There is a virtual absense of government controls and protections in the region, prompting the Lancet Medical Journal to label the conflict as the deadliest humanitarian crisis of the last 60 years. There is at present no major international effort to stop the violence.
Kenya
Kenya's post colonial history had long been relatively stable (although quite corrupt) because two leaders, Kenyatta and Moi, had been successful in maintaining near-dictator level power, with the spoils divided among an elite consisting of members of highland tribes. But beneath the surface, tribal tensions had long simmered, especially among members of the many tribes which had long been excluded from the political process. In December 2007, a disputed election and claims of electoral fraud led to an outbreak of ethnic violence which has threatened the stability of the country. More than 200,000 Kenyans have been displaced by this violence and remain in refugee camps. The situation remains tenuous.
Zimbabwe
In March 2008, an electoral crisis erupted in Zimbabwe where Robert Mugabe's long and largely disastrous rule may be ending. The election appears to have ousted him, but he is claiming victory. The outcome of this situation is in doubt at this writing.
Why is Africa a public policy concern?
Modern Africa  (Click to see map) is unique. It is unique not because it is a refuge for many exotic animal species or because its population is dominated by people of color. Instead, it is unique because it is generally failing to progress during a period in history where there has been substantial human progress. It is a continent which has been beset by famine, disease, violent conflict and political unrest. And, it exists in a world that does not have sufficient political organization or sophistication to address these difficulties.
Per capita income in sub-Saharan Africa compares unfavorably with every other region in the world and is a pittance in comparison to Europe and North America.  (Click to see chart) Almost half of the population of sub-Saharan Africa must live on live on less than $1 per day. The rate of illiteracy is very high in most countries.
The continent has tremendous agricultural potential, but in many countries, less than 25% of the potential farmland is under cultivation. Nevertheless, in much of the continent over 80% of the labor force is employed in agricultural endeavors. In marked contrast to other regions, per capita agricultural output has steadily declined during the past half century. Low agricultural output per worker, a distinguishing feature of underdeveloped countries generally, is even more pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa. The result is that a substantial number of Africans are undernourished.
Improvements in medicine and world health campaigns during the past century have greatly increased life expectancy throughout most of the world. But these advances have mostly been absent in Africa. The average life expectancy in sub-Saharan African is 50 years, almost half that of most of the rest of the world.
Despite disease and low life expectancy, the population of Africa continues to increase at a rate disproportionate to the rest of the world. The rate of population increase is significantly greater than other tropical areas. The result of this high fertility rate is that a disproportionate percentage of the population is under the age of 15. Because this portion of the population is mostly not economically productive, this reality further hampers economic progress.
When compared with other developing regions, the poverty and overall condition of the continent is deplorable. In fact, Africa dominates the bottom portion of the U.N. ranking of the world's countries based on development. The structural adjustment lending and grant strategies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund which are designed to modernize economies and combat corruption have not yet contributed to any economic improvement and the debt burden of African countries continues to increase. This massive debt perpetuates the dependent status of African countries and jeopardizes any realistic hope of financial recovery.
Why has Africa's course been different than elsewhere?
The most obvious deficiency has been political.
The colonial powers which ruled Africa until the 1960's did little to instill any meaningful economic development for native Africans. Instead the entire focus was on economic exploitation of the continent's resources. Whatever infrastructure that was developed was solely for the purpose of export. There was no attempt to establish any significant education system even at the primary level.
Africa's colonial period ended abruptly in the 1960's when the European powers determined that the economic rewards of colonialism did not justify the costs of repelling an increasing number of revolutionary movements throughout the continent. But the aftermath of colonialism has been disastrous just about everywhere. Most countries have endured regimes controlled by military strongmen who have little interest in economic development or the public good. Instead, for the most part they are most interested in enriching themselves, their families and tribal associates. Although many very corrupt African countries were not evaluated, Africa still dominates Transparency International's list of the most corrupt countries; five of the top ten are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Visionary leaders have appeared at times in some countries but their efforts and accomplishments have been short lived. For much of its recent history, Africa became a minor cold war battlefield, such as in Angola where a Communist-sympathizing government imported Cuban soldiers to battle U.S. supported insurgents. But Soviet-style economic plans in countries such as Angola, Guinea, Mozambique and Ethiopia fared even worse than economies presided over by Western-supported dictators.
Another enormous obstacle to progress involves culture and language. Eighteen countries have more than one official language; many have several. Thousands of native languages are spoken throughout the continent; in Nigeria alone there are over 500 spoken languages. In most countries, no one language is spoken by the majority of the people. The plurality of languages makes effective communication difficult and perpetuates tribalism - a feature that still dominates African values. Tribal loyalty and rivalries interfere with cohesive efforts at achieving fundamental reforms and have been responsible for many armed conflicts in the continent.
Is this dismal assessment true of the entire continent?
No. The northern countries of Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morroco, and Tunisia are Arab countries which have 20th century histories which are more similar to their Mideast Arab neighbors and they are far more advanced than the southern countries. South Africa, a country rich in resources and run by European immigrants until just recently, has achieved substantial economic and political development.
Otherwise, the modern developmental histories of the sub-Saharan countries are remarkably similar. This is even true of countries which are fortunate to have access to mineral wealth (Botswana and Guinea) or oil (Angola and Nigeria). The wealth which has existed has been largely squandered through corruption and poor planning. Income inequality and unemployment is quite high in all of these countries.
What is the impact of the AIDs epidemic?
In comparison to the rest of the world, the dimensions of the AIDs epidemic in Africa are staggering. The southernmost countries have been particularly affected. AIDS has had a dramatic effect on life expectancy. Because AIDs attacks the economically productive portion of the population, it has seriously affected economic activity , adding to the overall cycle of poverty and hopelessness that grips much of the continent.
In much of the rest of the world AIDs is no longer a killer. Instead, the condition is controlled by a combination of antiretroviral medications (ARVs) which substantially reduce the debilitating aspects of the virus and have the added benefit of making the disease less contagious. The cost of providing these medications is minimal when measured against the enormous health care and productivity costs. Brazil, an underdeveloped country itself, provides ARV medications free to the public at less than $1000 per year per person. Brazil has been able to do this by manufacturing its own generic version of most ARVs. But African countries have not had the resources to duplicate the Brazilian efforts. By and large with the exception of Brazil, antiretroviral medications are not available to people in developing countries. and are only minimally available in Africa.
Because of the medications, the prevalence of HIV has diminished in the U.S. and Brazil but has increased in Africa. The U.S. is a major donor in combating AIDs in Africa. But in recent years, the contributions of other countries towards the crisis have increased while U.S. contributions have leveled off. Moreover, the U.S. international spending on AIDs is minimal in comparison to other U.S. AIDs expenditures.  (Click to see chart)
War seems to have been a constant in Africa? Why?
Africa dominates the map of world countries where there is and has been serious armed conflict.  (Click to see map)
The major conflicts involve:
- Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) 2.5 million deaths
This sizeable former Belgian colony has had a troubled independent history. The first three decades of independence were characterized by civil war, most particularly in the diamond-rich Katanga region and by very limited economic development. Through much of this period, the central government was under the control of a military strongman, Joseph Mobutu, who renamed the country Zaire. Mobutu's self-indulgent regime essentially destroyed the country's economy and infrastructure.
In the early 90's Mobutu began to lose control and fighting in the northeast erupted in part due to the enormous amount of refugees escaping the conflict in neighboring Rwanda and Burundi. A rebellion backed by Uganda and Rwanda in the northeast region became intense in 1997 after Mobutu died of cancer and he was succeeded by Laurent Kabila. Kabila was assassinated in 2001 and has been succeeded by his son. In October 2002, the new president was successful in getting occupying Rwandan forces to withdraw from eastern Congo; two months later, an agreement was signed by all remaining warring parties to end the fighting and set up a government of national unity.
Rwanda 1 million or more deaths
As has been the case in neighboring Burundi, this small densely populated East Africa country has suffered sporadic conflict since 1959 as rival Hutu and Tutsi ethnic/social groups have competed for control of the central government. Unlike Burundi, in Rwanda the Hutu majority has had the upper hand but violence has been rampant. In October 1990, the predominantly Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) invaded from Uganda, demanding democracy and the right for refugees from earlier violence to return to Rwanda. An accord was reached with the assistance of a moderate Hutu leader but after this leader was killed in a suspicious plane crash in 1994, a massacre ensued involving the genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Subsequently, Rwanda was invaded by rebels from Zaire and reprisal killings occurred. In the aftermath of this human carnage, a UN war crimes tribunal has conducted proceedings involving atrocities from both sides to the conflict.
Burundi 240,000 deaths
As is the case in neighboring Rwanda, this is a tribal conflict between the Watusi (Tutsis) minority and the Hutu majority. Burundi has been subject to ethnic violence since independence from Belgium in 1962. Tutsis mostly have held the reins of power as they did throughout the colonial period. The current phase of the conflict began in 1988 when 20,000 or more Hutus were massacred by the military following an uprising in northern Burundi. Later in 1993, after a Hutu prevailed in elections, he was killed in a Tutsi-led military coup. The U.N. has attempted mediation and a Tutsi-Hutu power-sharing agreement was reached in July, 2001 but fighting with many of the Hutu rebel groups remains unaffected .
The turbulent conditions in Rwanda, Burundi and Congo clearly involve historical tribal rivalries. But the situation is exacerbated by a remarkable population density accompanied by a total absence of economic development in this region of East Africa. Virtually the entire area is populated by illiterate peasants who attempt to feed themselves through primitive subsistence agriculture. Quite simply, it is a situation involving too few resources and far too many people.
Sudan 2 million deaths
This former British colony in Northern Africa has been torn by a conflicts between the Arab/Muslim north and the African/Christian south. The southern region has consistently sought autonomy or independence from the south. The government has long been dominated by fundamentalist Muslims and in recent years, the conflict has expanded to include more secular anti-government Muslim activists in the north. The discovery of oil in the central region of the country has complicated the problem.
Somalia 350,000 deaths
Somalia is a Muslim Arab country which was formed from the former British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. Its early years of independence were characterized by the rule of a dictator, Mohamed Siad Barre, who installed a Communist-leaning government with strong ties to other Arab nations. In the late 1970s, however, after Somalia began supporting ethnic Somali rebels seeking independence for the disputed Ogaden region of Ethiopia (an adjacent region populated by Muslim Arabs), the Soviet Union sided with Ethiopia, and Somalia won backing from the United States and Saudi Arabia. Somalia invaded the disputed territory in 1977 but was driven out by Ethiopian forces in 1978. Conditions in Somalia deteriorated after the Ethiopian invasion and Barre was deposed in 1991. Since that time Somalia has been torn by strife and has lacked a functional government.
The United Nations Operation in Somalia (UNOSOM) was initially established on a small scale in 1992 to help rescue the country from famine and clan violence, and was augmented later in that year by a 37,000-strong US-led international force. However, the operation lost local and international support when troops became embroiled in clashes with Somali militias. Clan-based fighting increased and the southern region, including the capital of Mogadishu, is still without any organized government. In the north, the breakaway Somaliland Republic, has had a growing economy and in the late 1990s began receiving aid from the European Union. The northeast (Puntland) section of the country also has stabilized.
Angola 500,000 deaths
The conflict is a continuation of civil war which preceded the country's independence from Portugal in 1975. The conflict was also an episode in the cold war struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. At independence, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Savimbi, refused to accept the new Soviet-backed government of the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA), and launched an extended bush war with the help of South Africa and the United States. The government initially defeated this insurrection with the assistance of Cuban soldiers but the resistance continued. UNITA was able to finance its activities, including an estimated 30,000 troops stationed in neighboring Zambia and Democratic Republic of the Congo, with some $500 million a year in diamond revenues from mines it controlled in the country's northeast. The fighting continued, with Angola's army inflicting several defeats on UNITA beginning in late 1999, weakening UNITA's still sizable forces. International restrictions (2001) on the sale of diamonds not certfied as coming from legitimate sources also hurt UNITA, and the death of Savimbi in battle in 2002 was a severe blow to the rebels, who subsequently signed a cease-fire agreement.
In addition to the massive human toll that these conflicts have caused, they have generated large numbers of refugees and persons who have been internally displaced. About a quarter of all the world's refugees are from Africa. As refugees, these people become wholly dependent on international aid for survival and are totally removed from any type of economic activity.
South Africa endured several decades of international condemnation before undergoing a peaceful transformation to majority rule during the past decade. How is the country faring?
South Africa's economy and overall development remains more advanced than the rest of the continent, outperforming even the countries north of the Sahara. Nonetheless, the transition has resulted in the emigration of a substantial number of the South African whites. Since the first democratic elections of 1994 and the commencement of majority rule, 65,000 people officially left South Africa, but due to the underreporting, the real figure may be between 130,000 and 195,000. More than half of emigrants are professionals, semi-professionals, managerial or executives and it is estimated that more than 20% of South Africa's educated professionals had left the country by 2001. Predictably, the emigrants choose "first world" countries as their destination. Crime is a major problem in South Africa and security concerns are a major reason many consider leaving the country.
The transition has also not changed South Africa's standing among the world leaders in income inequality. Unemployment has increased. The AIDs epidemic has particularly decimated South Africa yet it is doing worse than its neighbors in providing ARV medications to its people.
What is happening in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)?
This once productive agricultural country is in turmoil at present. There is soaring inflation and unemployment is estimated a 70%.
Like South Africa, this former British colony was under white control until the late 1980's. Zimbabwe has been independent since 1987 and has been ruled by onetime Marxist Robert Mugabe since that time. In 2000, the country began a land redistribution campaign which has caused an exodus of white farmers, has crippled the economy and has resulted in widespread shortages of basic commodities. By the end of 2002 some 600 white farmers remained (out of a pre- redistribution total of 4,500), mainly on smaller holdings.
What about Uganda? How has this country fared since the overthrow of Idi Amin?
This former British colony endured one of the more onerous regimes in modern world history from 1971 to 1979. During those eight years, Amin expelled the country's Asians and decimated the economy and infrastructure. The participation of Tanzania in the overthrow of Amin led to further looting of the country by Tanzanians. Since the mid-1980's the country has been led by Yoweri Museveni. Museveni instituted a series of measures, including cutbacks in the civil service and army and privatization of state-owned companies, in a generally successful effort to rebuild the shattered economy. But Uganda has been affected by the tribal strife in neighboring Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo in recent years. It is still a very poor country but has recently gained recognition for its successful public health campaign against AIDs.
What was involved in the recent conflict in Liberia?
This small West African coastal country has a unique history and a special relationship with the U.S. It was founded by anti-abolitionists prior to the U.S. civil war and approximately 15,000 African-Americans were repatriated. This minority long dominated Liberian politics and the economy. The instability in Liberia dates from the 1980's when a military coup led to native Liberian control of the country for the first time. The government of the military leader, Samuel Doe, was characterized by corruption and human rights violations and led to the exodus of many Liberians to neighboring Guinea and the Ivory Coast.
Late in 1989, Liberia was invaded from Côte d'Ivoire by rebel forces of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), led by Charles Taylor, who proclaimed himself president. Under Taylor, the country has remained economically devastated while he and his family have enriched themselves by looting Liberia's resources. In the late 1990s, Liberia was accused of supplying troops to support rebel forces in Sierra Leone's civil war. Taylor, a long-time ally of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone, supplied the rebels with arms in exchange for diamonds. In February 2000, rebel groups opposed to the Taylor regime united to form Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) with direct support from Guinea and indirect support from Sierra Leone, the US and the UK. As the rebellion continued, U.S. forces ultimately entered Liberia in July 2003 to insure the removal of Taylor from office.
What is the future outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa?
It is difficult to predict.
The massive social and economic implications of the AIDs problem are being more fully appreciated by African leaders and the international community. It is thus likely that ARV medications will become available to all Africans in the near future and that the tide will turn against this epidemic.
In other respects, the outlook is very cloudy.
There is the grim possibility that the social, economic and moral underpinnings of civilization will continue to deteriorate, as emerging problems overwhelm the coping capacity of both markets and attempted policy reforms. Under this scenario, the elite classes will continue to safeguard their privileges by authoritarian rule thus controlling an impoverished majority and causing continued repression, environmental destruction and misery.
A more hopeful scenario is that market-driven global development will begin to lead Africa toward economic progress as it has in developing nations in other regions. The success of this possibility is dependent on the spread of education for women, poverty-reduction programs and widespread use of birth-control methods leading to a significant slowing in population growth rates. But such progress is unlikely unless there is a coordinated effort by the international community to actively participate through financial and administrative contributions and through attaching significant social and environmental policy goals to such efforts.
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Africa Links
Wikipedia - Post Colonial Africa
Yahoo - Full Coverage - PanAfrican News
Africa Now
Africa Online - Portal for information, news, culture, and sports. In English and French.
African Almanac - Current news, events, records and statistics about African countries, cities, leaders and other information.
US State Department - Bureau of African Affairs - Country information and regional topics.
Africa Homepage - Encyclopedic link collection of academic and popular topics.
WWW Virtual Library: Africa - A directory of Internet sites hosted by Columbia University. Features categories organized by region and topic.
Afriweb - African Studies - Portal features links to African countries, governments, history, geography, arts, articles, and news.
United Nations Environment Program: African Outlook - an extensive review of Africa's current situation and possible future with particular emphasis on environmental concerns
CIA Factbook - Excellent for current information on each country
Project Ploughshares Armed Conflict Report - provides extensive details regarding armed conflicts throughout the world.
The Guardian: Saving Grace - why 30m people with Aids can't get the drugs they need.
The Washington Post: Death Watch: AIDS, Drugs and Africa Ongoing catalogue of stories and graphics pertaining to the crisis
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