Why Africa Is Rich But Africans Are Poor

WHY AFRICA IS RICH BUT AFRICANS ARE POOR Africa is one of the richest continents in terms of its natural resources. It is known for its ample resources yet its people are poor. The continent is filled with resources. However, its wealth has not transformed into prosperity for Africans and it is rated as the poorest continent in the world. Africa is filled with resources such as gold, oil, rubber, timber and so on. During the 18th century, African farmers were self-sufficient contributing to their economy. They were majorly involved in agriculture, trade and craftsmanship. Africa had a solid economical structure and inter-regional trade took place among the Africans . For instance, the people of Asante(Ghana) traded Kolanut in large quantities with the Hausa merchants likewise the people of Maghreb (North Africa) traded Arabian horses with the people of Oyo Empire(Modern day Nigeria). These were the daily activities building Africa. Africa has made contributions to the global raw materials, yet these same raw materials have not even in the slightest enriched the people of Africa. Nigeria has contributed about 25% of her natural resources to the global economy likewise countries Angola and Algeria, 17% and 16% respectively as of 2019 —AL-JAZEERA 2019. Other African countries as well have contributed enough of their resources to the global economy but still finding difficulties in fighting the rate of poverty among the citizens. The frequently asked question is “Why are Africans poor?”. A glimpse of the colonial era in Africa is the answer to this question and also the answer of modern day Africa. Up to the mid 19th century, the colonial rulers encountered Africa and its potentials; its wealth. Their major aim was to acquire the resources and at the same time impose imperialism. These resources such as palm oil which was used at that time to lubricate their machinery, rubber, and gold were eventually traded in exchange for inferior products from the colonial rulers. The products brought by the colonial rulers were used as an exchange of the valuable resources from Africa. Eventually, there was a rise in the demand for palm oil, cocoa, groundnut and palm kernel. The colonial masters drained Africans of their wealth and turned Africa into an export-oriented region whereby the resources would be exported to Europe. As decades turned into a century, Africans were more of puppets to their colonial masters and the farmers at that time were left with less crop to depend on. That era had consumed a lot of wealth from the Africans leading them with misuse and lack of usage of their resources which causes issues such as unemployment, illiteracy and poverty in modern day Africa. It also caused foreign exploitation, neo-colonialism, debt dependency and unfair trade terms. These issues created an avenue for corrupt and bad governance. In the modern society today, the blame is put on the government and curses are laid upon these governments every single day from the suffering citizens. African pioneers such as Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Julius Nyerere, Samora Machel etc were against neo-colonialism and foresaw how the Europeans would use Africa and the resources but unfortunately, their efforts were not totally successful. Corruption has laid a negative impact on most African nations; poor education, lack of technology and politics and ethnic conflict has been seen as major issues for <a class="tc-blue" href="https://decades.The" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">decades.The </a> same corruption has taken over the minds of the African leaders and their citizens are not even in the slightest ways considered and uplifted from the trenches. A change of leadership can stand a chance of making Africa regain its value. Africans should be in charge of their own resources and the technological know-how on the use of these resources. Education as they say “is and will always be the best legacy”. Youth should be educated and empowered as well in order to reduce the rate of unemployment, likewise the citizens. Citizens also make up the government, and each of them should be on the positive outlook; focusing their mindset on how to develop Africa. Africa can finally be called a rich continent unless the people have an affordable living standard. <a class="tc-blue" href="https://twocents.space/insights/tag/knowingafrica">#knowingafrica</a> <a class="tc-blue" href="https://twocents.space/insights/tag/thepeopleofafrica">#thepeopleofafrica</a> <a class="tc-blue" href="https://twocents.space/insights/tag/god">#god</a>blessafrica

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