I casually mentioned that the African Contents which have not embraced everything about the 21st century will remain or nose dive below poverty level for a very long time , and even before I finished saying it my 13 year old daughter who has been to Africa two times when she was 3 and 7 said ” because of leadership” I was a little taken aback when she said that.
Any thriving economy makes progress over the years in innovation, foreign investment from major tech companies, foreign government and its own citizen provided the government of that specific country provides a fertile ground to attract such investors as well as providing an avenue for its citizens with new ideas to start a business without having to pay bribe, There is very little encouragement from the government to its students/people interested in STEM education. This is why in the past twenty years Africa has lost the greatest number of its citizens to foreign countries with fertile grounds for anyone who has dreams and ambition which their countries of origin doesn’t provide. Almost every single family in Africa has a one or two if its family member out of Africa. You will rarely see any major tech company take the risk of pouring billions of dollars in any part of Africa because there is a 99% chance that there this money will get lost due to some type of unrest, mismanagement, bribery and or corruption. Most investors like China is either dumping or exploiting Africa. The other ones look at Africa as the dark or far side of the moon which again only china recently landed a space craft on that side of the moon.
Most African presidents on assuming a presidency, have no plans of ever leaving power. The corner stone of their governance is GREED!!. They drain water from the desert to the ocean by swindling state coffers and sending them to foreign countries and essentially keep the remaining balance within a circle of families and friends while the countries infrastructure like bridges and highways, municipalities wallow is dirt and debt, The citizens of these African countries who do not have any other way out of the country or a way to survive in the country, have very little or no options than to prey on others in an attempt to put food on the table for their families. I do not condone robbery or any kind of trespass taking but University graduates who can’t find anything to do sometimes are over powered by their weaker sides they do things they wouldn’t typically do if their government cared about wellbeing. The government helps feed into the cynicism people have about government because instead of protecting and helping them provide what they cannot provide for themselves the government is hurting them. I left Cameroon 20 yrs ago as a university graduate. I struggled to make one dollar a day for several months until I got lucky and left the country which I loved. In my book ” From Meager beginnings, the Power of Dedication, Persistence and Consistency” I detailed the struggles. Cameroon has gotten worse than it was when I left. Even worse the government has neglected one part of the country over the years to gradually slip into a civil war. There is mass exodus to one part of the country and to neighboring countries while the other half suffers in the hands of the military -summary executions- kidnappings, school burnings, hunger, no school, burned corpses and hospitals etc.
Cameroons situation is one out of many in the African continent and I can not even explore all the dire life and death situations in these countries without taking up your entire month. Under such disturbing circumstances, how can one say with any ounce of confidence that Africa is on path towards economic/political development. Its going to take centuries to change this picture and the mindset of their leaders and their cronies. Some have describe the progress as economic and political stagnation, I actually think that’s a polite and delusional description. There is no hope for millennials much less baby boomers.
Africans who left Africa 40-50 years ago had plans to return to their home countries. When you talk to them, there is no such plans. Moving back to Africa discussion is like plans to send a human to Pluto 4.5 billion miles away. In fact the journey to Pluto is much easier to science and Technology than it is for Africans who have stayed in a foreign land to move back to the mother land. The progress or destruction of Africa is deeply rooted in the hands of African Leaders. The change Africa needs has to come from the top and not from the bottom in the continent and not from abroad. Africa will remain in this precarious and volatile position and situation for the longest time. I have heard some blame on colonialism etc. They left Africa many decades ago. Today the world is a global village but until there is a paradigm shit in the minds of these undynamic, selfish ruthless dictators, the Mars exploration and possibly habitation will be much quicker than a change and development of continental Africa.
Africa missed the industrial revolution, the rapid technology revolution and the internet still hasn’t seen the desired effect of this new world in that continent. If this hasn’t happened yet, when is this going to happen. The Leaders think more about themselves rather then continent and what it holds for the future of its children. 30yrs in Power, the only justification is because they do very little or no work. Please dare not compare a 4yr old in Pre K to another 4 yr old in any African country. The leaders don’t care about the future leaders of their respective country because they know they will either die in power and give way to their immediate families and not an average kid who aspire to be president. The plain field is a mountain in Africa. I blame this with the leaders again. Its sad but true. Really Sad but True. There is no Hope
Blame the Leaders