Africa Government's Corruption and Irresponsabilities

Over the last 50 years, the world has struggled to maintain an economic balance and stability, while flourishing countries try to maintain a steady income to support its people and relations with other countries. Therefore, when a country like Africa fails to maintain a stable government and economy, super powers such as America decide to intervene with its relations. Africa has great potential to become another pillar of the world’s economic structure with its mass amounts of uncultivated land. Unfortunately, corruption and irresponsible governments hinder that progress. Foreign aid, while helpful, should be limited to a yearly amount because it allows the government to brush of responsibility and gives room for corruption; it creates a media bias, and doesn’t solve the foundational issues.

A majority of Africa is either ran by a democratic type of government or by dictatorship. The issue this presents is corruption and irresponsibility by the governments. “Africa's economic troubles are also, in large measure, self- inflicted. Since independence, politics has helped to stunt productivity. Africa's new leaders had as their models the centralized and coercive colonial states, whose raison d'etre was to raise revenue through the extraction of labor and produce.”(Whitaker) Many African government officials do not have a sense of obligation to the lands that they are supposed to be caring for. This allows drug cartels and gangs to run the trade systems coming in and out of the continent. These cartels begin to control the state’s economy and judicial systems by enforcing their own laws. “The effect of African poverty on the incubation of epidemic disease; the rise to power of warlords and mafias, operating outside the rule of law ...

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...licts and civil war rather than economic growth and national prosperity.” (Carson) This brings back the point of the corruption and ignorance in Africa is ruining many opportunities. The country cannot be saved if the problems aren’t fixed at the roots.

Works Cited

Whitaker, Jennifer Seymour. "Africa: Should the U.S. Care?" Great Decisions 1996: 62-71. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.

Carson, Johnnie. "Shaping U.S. Policy on Africa: Pillars of a New Strategy." Strategic Forum sept. 2004: 1-7. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

Birdsall, Nancy, And Others. "How to Help Poor Countries." Foreign Affairs Vol. 84, No. 4 Dec. july: 136-152. Web. 3 Dec. 2013.

May, Madeleine. "Africa Has Huge Growth Potential." Cape Times. N.p., 30 May 2013. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.

Ron, James, And Others. "What Shapes the West's Human Rights Focus?" Contexts Vol. 5, No. 3 summer 2006: 23-28. Web. 3 Dec. 2013