Is Africa really poor or poor in managing resources and human development?

[bhadz]

Africa is so rich in natural resources and talents and just like my country, we're all exploited and it's the other nations who are coming back to us that are reaping the benefits of what's from us.

Africa and Southeast Asia are rich continents full of natural resources, but due to a lack of knowledge about how to manage natural resources, state income is reduced because many natural resources are managed by foreign parties, and the result is that those who are rich are the managers, not the owners of natural resources.

With the deals and exposure of alliances, we've been fooled by these other nations, believing that they're there to be friends with us. But the reality is that, they're only there because they are friends with benefits from us. Somehow it needs to be done by the future leaders that has to put our nations personal interest first prior to deals that we sign, they are there to take what's from us and not really to help us.

[Odusko]

Africa is a rich continent endowed with natural resources but from the onset Africa is set up to fail. Could it be the geographical location of Africa? Africa as a continent shouldn't be struggling because it has various types of mineral resources that can turn Africa to one of the strongest continent in the world. The population is huge,there is knowledge etc. But like i said earlier it was set up to fail by those who claim to have discovered Africa. If African leaders think outside the box then surely Africa will become one of the best. Imagine Africa as a continent is using one currency to trade amongst themselves.

Who set up Africa to fail, based on your assumptions?
I must agree with you that, there are high presence of mineral resources with in the Africa region, but the problem that caused undeveloped Africa is the lack of leadership, I mean leaders that have the foresight of development and generationally oriented projects like building of industries and having a functional structure that champion development,. There is high rate of corruption among African leaders and this have made the mismanagement of public funds and abusing developmental infrastructure to become a normal life for most Africa leaders.

[Sobz]

If African leaders think outside the box then surely Africa will become one of the best. Imagine Africa as a continent is using one currency to trade amongst themselves.

But the problem is that most African leaders don't really care about their people and the future of their countries.. What they think about is only power and enriching themselves.. And that is why Africa remains like that despite having so many natural resources and enormous potential because of poor leadership and corruption, and how easily it is divided. So no matter how long it takes, if leaders with this model are allowed to continue in power and corruption is so high, coupled with the majority of the people unwilling to change.. then there is no need to dream that Africa can become a developed and prosperous continent.

Africa will develop.  it is only a matter of time. The majority of African countries were just formed recently. Countries in the developed world have existed for about 300-400 years as nations. It took them years to get what they have, which is why I'm not comparing Africa to the countries in the developed world. No country that has ever existed has been free of corruption, but over time, things change for the better. I believe things won't remain like this in Africa. I think Africa is still learning what true leadership is all about.

[Makus]

I think you already know the answer to this question and the rest of the world does, it is an undisputable fact that Africa is rich in resources but the leaders are the problem. The reason why I believe In the continent getting better is because when you look at some African countries and how far they have come you realize that indeed Africa has the potential to be great Inspite of the challenges that the continent seems to face at the moment. But there is one misconception about Africa, people say it's the richest in terms of mineral resources but we all know that's not true.

There are different chat are also rich in mineral resources as well just like Africa, this shows that Africa doesn't should not be the center of attraction.

[SatoPrincess]

Is Africa really poor or poor in managing resources and human development?

Maybe everyone in the world knows about the condition of the African continent, I personally view Africa as having a better economic condition than other countries, It's just the result of the paradox, governance, management of resources, their way of social welfare that makes and looks like Africa is being impoverished by its own officials.

You can just imagine where Africa has 40% of the world's gold, 90% of chromium and platinum and Africa has 60% of the world's best solar energy, not one reason Africa is the worst economy in the world, In fact, if Africa has good economic governance, it will be much more prosperous for society than other continents.
However, there are several countries on the African continent that have prosperous and prosperous economies, if we look at this, this cannot be separated from their leaders' concern for society, such as Botswana, Mauritius and so on.

Out of the 40% gold found in Africa, do you know how much gold goes to France? Pretty much everything while the countries with the actual gold are suffering. You’re right about the impact leaders have on the economy of their nation, I wonder if France and other interested parties will ever be willing to stop leashing off African nations.

[Berry2d]

I think you already know the answer to this question and the rest of the world does, it is an undisputable fact that Africa is rich in resources but the leaders are the problem. The reason why I believe In the continent getting better is because when you look at some African countries and how far they have come you realize that indeed Africa has the potential to be great Inspite of the challenges that the continent seems to face at the moment. But there is one misconception about Africa, people say it's the richest in terms of mineral resources but we all know that's not true.

There are different chat are also rich in mineral resources as well just like Africa, this shows that Africa doesn't should not be the center of attraction.

Corrupt leadership system you say is truly the problem or reason behind the backwardness in all aspects. Africa is one of the richest continents when we talk about mineral resources but the Corrupt leaders over there forces the nation into poverty because of there selfish interest and will continue in such until there is complete change in there thinking and behavioural patterns.
This corruption calls for serious attention and scrutiny that is if Africa wants to be liberated from this boundage of wickedness and selfishness that has kept the continent in compete darkness.

[Silikiem]

If African leaders think outside the box then surely Africa will become one of the best. Imagine Africa as a continent is using one currency to trade amongst themselves.

But the problem is that most African leaders don't really care about their people and the future of their countries.. What they think about is only power and enriching themselves.. And that is why Africa remains like that despite having so many natural resources and enormous potential because of poor leadership and corruption, and how easily it is divided. So no matter how long it takes, if leaders with this model are allowed to continue in power and corruption is so high, coupled with the majority of the people unwilling to change.. then there is no need to dream that Africa can become a developed and prosperous continent.

Africa will develop.  it is only a matter of time. The majority of African countries were just formed recently. Countries in the developed world have existed for about 300-400 years as nations. It took them years to get what they have, which is why I'm not comparing Africa to the countries in the developed world. No country that has ever existed has been free of corruption, but over time, things change for the better. I believe things won't remain like this in Africa. I think Africa is still learning what true leadership is all about.

We all hope to see Africa develop and that’s the more reason why threads like this are created where everyone can share their thoughts and opinions about African development. It’s been long we’ve been clamoring for this significant development in the hands of our African leaders but it seems the more we clamor for a change that’s the more things are getting worse. Believe me if we wait for this so called leaders even in the next 100 years the chances of getting there is still slim because Africa is so corrupt to the point that even the ones we are looking up to as future leaders (young generation) are even worse than the current leaders. The problem Africa is having is just leadership and nothing else, anyone who gets there will want to continue his exploit even after his tenure is over, they have groomed their successors to follow in their footsteps and commands in such a way that they still have the upper a hand in the decision making of how the country should be run even while they’re out of office. We must not wait until 1000years before we see this significant development, we have every natural resources needed to change this zone within a blink of an eye, is it too much to ask for in the hands of our greedy leaders who want to convert everything into their personal and family gains and still accumulate more wealth for their generations yet to come.

[Umulala-alala]

Africa is a rich continent endowed with natural resources but from the onset Africa is set up to fail. Could it be the geographical location of Africa? Africa as a continent shouldn't be struggling because it has various types of mineral resources that can turn Africa to one of the strongest continent in the world. The population is huge,there is knowledge etc. But like i said earlier it was set up to fail by those who claim to have discovered Africa. If African leaders think outside the box then surely Africa will become one of the best. Imagine Africa as a continent is using one currency to trade amongst themselves.

African is a rich continent bless with different natural resources including oil and gas and individual talents, the only problem Africa is having is there leaders, they don't think far they think about what will benefit them at the moment with out having the interest of the people they are serving at heart, African leaders don't know that they are there to serve the people but they see it that it's the people that are supposed to serve them. We are strong people even when we travel out we make names but we lack good leaders, any one who want to do good they will either get him killed or vote against him in next election.

[Rebirth01]

When i said African leaders should think outside the box is this,stop doing things their predecessors did like they should stop corruption,stop playing politics with the people,go into massive industrialization, change school curriculum to match the modern world,stop electoral malpractice, upgrade healthcare,roads, build vocational training centers etc. with the mineral resources in Africa, Africa should be competing with Europe in terms of development not the other way round. How can you be so rich yet cry of hunger. There is the population, knowledge, resources,educated people yet the speed of development is that a snail walk. Bad leadership and bad followers who cannot stand up and tell their leaders that what they are doing is wrong because of little crumbs that gets to them. Why i asked if Africa is set up to fail is this, the colonial masters still have a say in terms of forming a new government and they want their interest protected therefore they support the one who is ready to underdevelop his country.

[Solodoski]

African is truly a continent blessed with a lot of natural resources and it has the potential to become a rich continent,  but I think Africa is poor because of lack of management and I also agree that African has been programed to be a poor continent.
According to Marxist theory of development,  which believes that African is poor or underdeveloped because of their association with the west. Marxist theory believes that Africa has been programed as supplier of raw materials to the western world.  I think I agree with Marx, because African has got the natural resources,  but they don't produce much,  rather the sell their natural resources to the western countries,  thay later turn it into finish products and sell it back to African. A continent that does not involve much in production will definitely be poor, because they tend to import almost everything they need, which in turn weekens their currency.
On the aspect of management,  most African leaders lack management skill, or should I say they don't care about improving the continent,  rather they just want to enrich themselves and their family, so I believe these are the reasons why African is poor.

[Qhunman]

Africa is a rich continent endowed with natural resources but from the onset Africa is set up to fail. Could it be the geographical location of Africa? Africa as a continent shouldn't be struggling because it has various types of mineral resources that can turn Africa to one of the strongest continent in the world. The population is huge,there is knowledge etc. But like i said earlier it was set up to fail by those who claim to have discovered Africa. If African leaders think outside the box then surely Africa will become one of the best. Imagine Africa as a continent is using one currency to trade amongst themselves.

Africa is actually poor but we are blessed with abundant minerals resources. We should be richer than the whole of Europe or any continents but we are still under modern slavery. Some of our leaders have sold thier rights to please their colonial masters. We can't decide how we utilise our resources and that's why we have been deprived of standard infrastructures. Our leaders have made themselves puppets and they allow their colonia masters to steal our resources to develop their countries while they supply us guns and bombs to kill each other to destabilise our continent so that they will have the opportunity to steal our resources.  The so called colonial masters doesn't want Africa to be developed that is why they are doing everything to keep Africa continent destabilise but very soon africa will wake up and we will resist them.

[lovesmayfamilis]

It wouldn't be too much of an insult to say that yes, Africa is poor - but it's also economically disadvantaged in terms of having competent leaders and honest people in this country who truly care about the lives of their population. Even here,on the forum, reading the post of people living in this country, we can see constant accusations of a corrupt government that is seling off the country's resources while contributing nothing to the economy. So, yes, Africa is rich in resources, but it's lacks the necessary infrastructure in terms of having a properly educated and honest leader for this continent.

[Italian Panic]

It wouldn't be too much of an insult to say that yes, Africa is poor - but it's also economically disadvantaged in terms of having competent leaders and honest people in this country who truly care about the lives of their population. Even here,on the forum, reading the post of people living in this country, we can see constant accusations of a corrupt government that is seling off the country's resources while contributing nothing to the economy. So, yes, Africa is rich in resources, but it's lacks the necessary infrastructure in terms of having a properly educated and honest leader for this continent.

Over the centuries, Africa has been constantly manipulated and plundered by countries that are more advanced both socially and economically; no one has ever been genuinely interested in the welfare of Africans, and if we add to this the fact that there are vast quantities of resources and raw materials, then it becomes clear that it is always the same people who come out on top, with the approval of those in power, who are often complacent and grant licences for mines and deposits far too easily and for very high fees. This is also the case in other countries: Venezuela, Iran, Cuba and Afghanistan, to name but a few; all countries rich in raw materials and all underdeveloped because there was, or still is, a political or religious dictatorship.

[Rruchi man]

If African leaders think outside the box then surely Africa will become one of the best.

African leaders can think outside the box; as a matter of fact, there is nothing that you have imagined as a solution to Africa's problem that they themselves do not know because they are more exposed in terms of travel and in terms of knowledge and even have more access to proper advice than you do. The singular challenge to Africa is corruption, which has put us in a position where both our resources that we are blessed with and human capital are mismanaged for the benefit of a few persons rather than for the benefit of the whole citizenry.

Africa is not poor, just plagued with corruption. 

[danherbias07]

They say Africa will be the saviour of this whole world, and it will be the only one left once a great flood comes. But it could happen 100 of years of maybe thousands, but I believe it is true. I think them being a simple country is something that is inevitable. I am not saying it is a good thing, but it will be in the future. I mean, look at the big cities in this era. Either they are polluted with noise and trash, or they smell really bad. Then, they are flooded even with just a small amount of rain.

I think if there's a problem, it's how it is governed. Money can sometimes blind people and I believe it can also be used to take advantage of the resources.

[Alpha Marine]

Lastly, Democratic form of government has and will never favor Africans,  we have had our own fair of good leaders and they where never nothing about Democracy. Democracy only favours corrupt political representatives and the west. It will take some time but we shall rise.

Any leader that does not favour democracy is not a good leader. I don't care what anybody says. Any leader who wants total power over the country is not a good leader. A leader who would openly show that the voice of certain people would not be heard or that the voices of certain people do not matter is not a good leader. In a country, people are supposed to have equal rights. There needs to be a process for things to get done. Your word cannot be law.
The fact that you can't see how dangerous it is for a country to not practise democracy is funny to me. You want a country where you are at the mercy of the leader. If he says "kill that man," there is nothing anybody can do about it. I'm sorry, but non democratic regimes have never favoured Africa.

When a people are weak, they will surely be exploited. That is the way of the world. If African countries were strong and the West and China were weak, Africa would have been the one exploiting the world.
I refuse to believe that African countries cannot make themselves better if they want to, simply because the West wouldn't allow them. I refuse to believe that. Of course, these countries would still want Africa to be the way it is so that it can be easier for them to exploit, but they wouldn't be able to stop it if the whole country makes up their mind to work, but that won't happen because there is too much ignorance, poverty, illiteracy and religion in the place. Now if we had good leaders, what they should try to fix are these things.
But the politicians/leaders wouldn't do this. Instead what they would do is exploit the country and create a narrative for the people of the country to blame the west instead of their leaders.

[Riginac111]

If African began to utilize what they have without inviting foreigners to come in, they will go far for infrastructures, and they will also cater for waybill of the citizens, African is not lacking anything, instead foreigners will come to African and will be mining what we have in African and pay peanut to our hungry and selfish leaders, in African we have the following natural resources

1. Gold, in different parts of African countries
2. Crude oil, many African countries have crude oil
3. Coal, this is in almost few countries of African
4. Limestone, few countries of African have these
5. Bitumen,is also in African
6. Diamonds
7. Platinum and Chromium
 
African is a rich and we are not poor, African is looking poor from our leaders since 1998-2000, african were looking better during the time of following past leaders of African, @Nelson mandela, @Kwame Nkrumah, @Julius Nyerere, @Patrice Lumumba

[hafiztalha]

There is no doubt that Africa has a huge advantage in the form of their natural resources, but alone natural resources can never guarantee the prosperity of the country. The main challenges how the countries are effectively trying to manage their resources to build their institutions and to educate their population, and then turning their raw material into highly valuable products. Their colonial history has a huge impact on many of the Africans economy, but we cannot blame everything on the past and we can also prevent leaders from addressing the present day problem because of political instability and their limited regional trade.

A common African currency can make trade easier, but it is not automatically the solution to these problems countries would first need to make the economic coordination strong and stable. The greatest resource of Africa is its people and investing in technology, infrastructure, skills and productive industries can help the continent grow.

[Abdulzuruku01]

African is truly a continent blessed with a lot of natural resources and it has the potential to become a rich continent,  but I think Africa is poor because of lack of management and I also agree that African has been programed to be a poor continent.
According to Marxist theory of development,  which believes that African is poor or underdeveloped because of their association with the west. Marxist theory believes that Africa has been programed as supplier of raw materials to the western world.  I think I agree with Marx, because African has got the natural resources,  but they don't produce much,  rather the sell their natural resources to the western countries,  thay later turn it into finish products and sell it back to African. A continent that does not involve much in production will definitely be poor, because they tend to import almost everything they need, which in turn weekens their currency.
On the aspect of management,  most African leaders lack management skill, or should I say they don't care about improving the continent,  rather they just want to enrich themselves and their family, so I believe these are the reasons why African is poor.

Africans are not poor, we are just poor in management. In Africa we are rich in resources, we're not just lucky with leadership because African leaders are so selfish and always have a corrupt mindset. Nigeria as an instance, Nigerian incumbent president removing fuel subsidy which is making life of innocent Nigerian citizens hard. Upon the cry of the Nigerians, the president pretend not to hear or see their complaints, saying that he will use the money he make from there to make the citizens lives better yet they feel nothing from it. Only to keep on busy sharing the profits with his fellow politicians forgetting about the citizens.

Honestly in Africa we will remain poor until we stop exporting mineral resources. But beyond leadership we as a patriotic citizens all hands must be on the table we need to support our continent by patronizing made in Africa products. The African continent is blessed with lots of natural resources while mismanagement and corruption are our problem that we need to work on.

[STT]

My first thought is investment is quite key to prosperity.   There is the obvious disruption of invasion by western powers which helped to disrupt and destroy the heritage of many nations, that failure is still there as some overhang.

  The whole question is wrong really, obviously by presuming a negative but also the perspective which is typical in the West of its all about the money.   Money is how we measure success so that is everything in our biased view, but also look at the western culture, people and to some extent they are dying on their feet.
  In some cases literally the country wont integrally exist in a century from now; not what I would call superior or to be desired personally.   Why not make the subject about Russia, worlds largest country and worlds largest failure of a nation what a waste.  North Korea they eat grass at the point of a gun so an elite can feed off the majority of the population, enforced via support from China.  The appearance of richness itself is a failed concept.