Tourism in Zimbabwe: Ruins of Rhodesia
- Thread starter GURPS
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A continent with over 3,000 different spoken languages will never be united in any fashion. Lines on a map mean nothing to folks that ascribe to a tribe first mentality.
12 Reasons Why Africa Is Not Developed
1. Colonialism
The first reason why Africa’s development has lagged behind that of the rest of the world is because of the impact of colonialism. Throughout African history, external powers have taken land and interfered in the continent’s affairs. This peaked with the takeover of almost all of Africa by European powers from the 1880s.Africa’s development has been widely impacted by colonialism. The lack of investment by colonial powers in education, infrastructure, agriculture, and the local political establishment meant that upon independence African countries were poorly placed to develop. Colonialism also arbitrarily redrew the borders of Africa, leading to widespread conflicts in the post-colonial years that also held back development.
Since de-colonialization from the 1950s onwards, Africa has mostly failed to develop. Although the poor management of most African countries following independence also hampered Africa’s development, the impact of European colonialism is on the of biggest reasons Africa is not developed.
Colonialism in Africa resulted in countries across the continent failing to develop diverse and dynamic economies. Upon independence, African economies were heavily reliant on resource extraction and they have struggled to move away from this. The limited range of many African economies due to colonialism is a major reason why they are not developed.
2. Weak Governments
One reason for Africa’s lack of development is the weakness of governments in many African countries. Effective governance is key to development.Effectively ran governments are able to collect taxes, run services and allocate resources where they are needed in order to achieve development. Many African countries have poor systems of governance. A lack of accountability combined with over bloated and inefficient public services holds back development across much of the continent.
Another area where weak government has resulted in Africa not developing is the limited adherence to the rule of law. In order to develop, businesses and investors need to know their assets are protected. People also need to know that they will be treated fairly by the legal system and that their property and savings are protected. Many African countries rank among the worst in the world for rule law and is a major reason they are developed.
In order for countries in Africa to thrive, they need to reform much of their governments. Increasing inclusivity, democracy, transparency, and cohesion are all critical for Africa’s development. A lack of well ran governments is seen as a significant reason why parts of Africa have failed to progress.
3. Rampant Corruption
Another reason why Africa is not developed is widespread corruption. Africa has six of the ten most corrupt countries in the world. Almost all African countries rank poorly on corruption perception indexes.Corruption prevents development in a number of ways. It limits the taxes the government can collect, makes government funded projects more expensive, limits the development of a meritocracy, makes business and government less efficient and reduces people’s faith in institutions. All of these aspects are sadly widespread in many African countries and this is an important reason for their lack of progress.
A key way that corruption prevents development is by limiting the resources of the state. Corruption in businesses increases the costs of accessing services. Corruption can also prevent people entering the work force or establishing businesses of their own. It stifles fair competition. These are all major factors that affect development across Africa.
If African countries are to develop, almost all of them need to address their corruption issues. As we have seen, corruption and nepotism hold back progress and is a major factor in why Africa is not developed.
4. Difficult Geography
5. Mismanagement of Natural Resources
6. Historical and Ongoing Conflicts
7. Widespread Inequality
8. High Unemployment
9. Poor Education
10. Unaccountable Institutions
11. Lack of Innovation
12. Disease and Weak Public Health Infrastructure
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But.. in many cases, the countries were handed over with very good infrastructure etc. It took only a relatively short time before nature reclaimed it all from the failed races that took possession of it all. They could not maintain it and in most cases, didn't care to. Lower priority than graft and corruption and engaging in pissing contests between tribal factions within and without.
Yep Rhodesia was handed over with a great infrastructure in place after a long Marxist Insurgency ....
