- Published: September 27, 2022
- Updated: September 27, 2022
- University / College: University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Level: Doctor of Philosophy
- Language: English
- Downloads: 4
Discussion about the Economic, Social and Political Challenges Facing Africa Today Introduction In the contemporary society, Africa faces a number of social, economic and political challenges. Colonization of most African nations is the center of a major contributor to the challenges. The high incidences of poverty, unemployment, hunger are among the challenges that the African nations face. The African countries strive to find a solution to these challenges.
Economic challenges
African leaders emulate the colonial governments’ form and system of governance involving full reliance on export profits. The colonial governments relied on the exportation of raw materials and marketed crops in order to generate revenue. That system renders African nations vulnerable to financial crises in case of a drop in the international market prices. The overreliance on exportation of cash crops confines the African nation’s agricultural sector into subsistence farming, a situation contributing to hunger and starvation in Africa. Hunger and starvation is a major challenge facing most African countries, as food remains a primary and essential need for human survival.
The huge population growth in African nations has led to overpopulation leading to high instances of unemployment and dependency ratio in Africa. The high population growth rate in African nations unbalances the available resources leading to food insecurity that is a major challenge in Africa (Ali 15).
Social challenges
African colonizers targeted and concentrated on the major cities and trading centers ignoring the villages and interior regions. As a result, imbalance in infrastructural, technological and social development exists between the cities and the rural set ups. With the rapid population growth rate unbalancing the available job opportunities in the rural areas, individuals move to the town centers in search of job opportunities (Ali 13). The migration leads to over population in the urban set up that is a major challenge. In addition, the migration also leads to culture clash and lowers the standards of living in the urban set ups. In effect, it lowers the gross domestic income and productivity of that particular nation. Lack of the employment opportunity in the urban areas eventually results in increased crime rates (Ali 15). These are the challenges confining most of the African nations.
Lack of technological knowledge in most African nation’s rural set ups derail embracing of the new and modern western cultures and trends. The long-term effect of this is a complication of interaction between the cultural backward rural dwellers and the town dwellers. Such contrasts lead corruption, inequality in Africa and other extremes regional based wars.
Political challenges
Political instabilities are a major challenge to many African nations as evident in a series of post-poll violence. The unrest has given rise to increasing internal conflicts that derail development among the African nations. Favoritism, nepotism, corruption and negative ethnicity are politically triggered challenges that most African nations face.
Political transitions and challenges offer a shrewd and interdisciplinary technique towards the development and failure of the democratic institutions in African countries. The failure of such institutions is a challenge facing the African countries since it may lead to wars because of discontent among citizens.
Works Cited
Ali, Mohamed. ” Youth Unemployment.” Harvard International Review 36. 1 (2014): 13-17. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Nov. 2014.