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

[Findingnemo]

We keep seeing this discussion again and again but the answer is simple it is a place where every natural resource exists such as raw material but it is not alone enough to make profits, the government should export the products to others than raw material to increase revenue and also they need to focus on the local based compnaies over the corporates from other nations because they make money and take the money to their country.

[Emeraldo]

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.

The number one problem of most African countries is bad government and that have been the reason why African has been seen as a poor continent. The bad governments are only after making money and stealing billions of government funds instead of using this money to enrich their economy and make sure that every of their citizens get good education and start being productive state rather than relying on foreign aids that will be stolen later. If most of the corrupt leaders of the African continent can be erased and new ambitious ones come into power, Africa is going to change immediately and turn to world advanced continent.

[Jubilee58]

Africa can only be considered poor when it comes to administration, and managing of resources, but in times of having mineral resources, Africa is not poor. Many African countries are rich in mineral resources such as crude oil, gold etc, and if these resources are well managed wealth would be largely created in Africa. Good governance is really what what brings development, and wealth to a country, and wealth or riches can only be created when leaders are doing the right thing, and also have the development of the country at heart. Many developed countries are rich because of good governance, and good management of their resources, and sometimes they even create source of income, and revenue for the country, but where their is poor governance, poor resource management such country will definitely not do well economically despite how rich they might be in natural resources.

[Localhostspeed]

Exactly, bad governance the major reason why most African countries are not developed. The potential for their growth already exists, but selfishness has made the leaders focus and work for their own interest, as there is little to show for it. That is why many young people in Africa are ensuring they are self employed to take care of themselves, as the government is not doing much to help the people. And the rate at which this is becoming a serious problem and raises concern, as some young people are forced to become idle and cause a nuisance in their society.

Bad governance play roles in development of a country but have we also look at the roles of individuals in the countries that we live. We blame the government so much, we want to hold them accountable but individually not different from the government. If you look at some countries in Africa, they are well developed and they don't have resources like some countries with bad leadership but they are doing well, South Africa is one of the developed country but that does not mean they don't have bad leadership.

If individuals are doing what the government are doing but in silent and yet people scream about bad leadership and all of that, in sure it is not going to make any difference in 100 years to come even if they have a new governance. Just like you said, we need to cut selfish interest, we need to put ourself as once but when you look at each country in Africa, majority of them are divided due to difference in ethnicity and cultures.

[Youngrebel]

True that Africa natural resources should have put the continent in a much stronger position economically but i think we need to look beyond that because I feel like Africa was simply set up to fail because looking at colonialism it actually shaped many of the challenges we inherited, but poor governance, corruption, and political division have also kept us from using what we have and the  idea of stronger African integration is valid and important because imagine s situation where African countries could trade more freely with one another, process our raw materials locally, and reduce our dependence on foreign markets we will definitely grow, but the question is who is ready to allow that in Africa? Omor there a lot to say but who is ready for the betterment of the society everyone is working for their survival and selfish interest.

[Nwada001]

Yeah most African countries aren’t poor at all, they have enough mineral resources to enrich their country but what is affecting most of them is failure to utilize this resources very well. Bad governance and high rate of corruption has kept most of this country’s that are to be developed underdeveloped, making it look like the country is poor.

Countries being underdeveloped is a structure those politicians who are in power strategically laid down; the resources are there, but they are not properly accounting for it. They prefer to allow external bodies to come handle some of their natural resource extraction where they can steal and do whatever they want rather than for the country itself to be in control.

It has been known for ages now that if most of the African country leaders can be less selfish and be focused on development, with 50% of what the country generates, you will see a better and greater Africa soon.

[Samlucky O]

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?

Geographical location does not have anything to do with Africans poverty . Africans poverty is orchestrated by the leaders in it, they sell mineral resources and enrich themselves why the poor masses suffer. There is nothing wrong about geographical location but the leadership style. You can take a look at Burkina Faso how president Ibrahim Traore has reshaped it's country and it's doing well. If other African countries will emulate from him, Africa would be the best place to stay. The truth is that we have all it takes to be number 1 continent in the world, but bad leadership system is what is crumbling us.

[Umulala-alala]

African countries are not poor, I can talk about my country called the African giants and you could write a novel concerning how public funds are managed inappropriately for private benefits over using it for the right purposes.

Governments are the bad eyes in the system, and reason why most African countries are still poor and not looking like escaping extreme poverty and side effects that shows how poor countries are living.

Nigeria has mineral resources, good soil for planting and everything needed to make us one of the richest countries in the world, but specific individuals are playing greed, what good comes out from greedy politicians in government offices.

Nigeria is the most bless country in Africa, Nigeria would have be one of the richest country in the world if not for greed and corruption among the political leaders in the country, Nigeria also have talented people but lack the opportunity to bring it to spot light has been killed by the country they are in, Nigeria politicians are mostly the richest people in the country due to the public funds they are embezzling, we have oil we also have gas etc, we have all it takes to make us one the developed and richest country in the world.

[Mr_Brilliant$]

There's more to this that meets the eyes. First of all, Africa has critical thinking individuals but they just want their own person. What is killing Africans today is favouritism. Africans are not poor, they just lack critical thinkers in high places. We do the wrong thing all over again and blame whoever we want to blame. As more and more smart people gets to the positions that decisions are made, we would see changes.

[yixichloro2xx]

Yeah most African countries aren’t poor at all, they have enough mineral resources to enrich their country but what is affecting most of them is failure to utilize this resources very well. Bad governance and high rate of corruption has kept most of this country’s that are to be developed underdeveloped, making it look like the country is poor.

Countries being underdeveloped is a structure those politicians who are in power strategically laid down; the resources are there, but they are not properly accounting for it. They prefer to allow external bodies to come handle some of their natural resource extraction where they can steal and do whatever they want rather than for the country itself to be in control.

It has been known for ages now that if most of the African country leaders can be less selfish and be focused on development, with 50% of what the country generates, you will see a better and greater Africa soon.

Alot of African countries would rather give Chinese, and other foreign companies to come and mine critical mineral for some low amount of money. I instead of them to utilise those mineral resources by building processing factory to be able to produce some end products from those minerals and trade it with other nations. This will bring substantial wealth into the country, maybe beating what oil and gas gives. But African leaders  especially Nigeria are blind in the eyes and brain for them to think properly.

It's such a shame to watch other top nations building something significant with the resources the take from us. Yet our African leaders will go to that same country to borrow money for their own personal interest. We just need a good governance or a new system of government that shows transparency and accountability.