our aims

This website seeks to identify why the nations of sub-Saharan Africa are still so far behind most of the rest of the world in terms of development.

For most western politicians, poverty campaigners and pop stars the world is divided up into DEVELOPED and DEVELOPING countries. However, as far as sub-Saharan Africa is concerned, this is purely wishful thinking as both these terms imply progress. For even with most nations there currrently witnessing economic growth of 4%-6%, thanks mainly to increasing sales of commodities, with ever increasing mouths to feed and a widening gap between the rich and poor, the best that can be said, as far as the majority of the people are concerned, is that they are STAGNATING nations (STAGNATIONS). And incredibly even this new term fails to capture all countries for some, like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe, are UNDEVELOPING, having left their best days far behind as their paralysed economies drag their people back to subsistence survival.

This dismal sub-continental under performance, which keeps hundreds of millions of Africans locked in perpetual poverty, is blamed on a combination of factors - poor climate, bad geography, perennial famines, water shortages, pervasive illiteracy, chronic diseases, smouldering conflicts, rampant corruption, economic mismanagement, weak institutions, tribalism, strangling bureaucracy, lack of property rights, nepotism, dilapidated infrastructure, insufficient overseas aid, unpayable debts, restrictive trade barriers, multinational corporations.

Most of the factors listed above are undoubtedly challenges but in other parts of the developing world many governments are successfully tackling them and going on to lay the foundations for improving living standards. What, then, prevents countries in sub-Saharan Africa from doing the same? The answer, in a word, is 'GOVERNANCE'.

According to US President Barrack Obama 'development depends on good governance. That is the ingredient which has been missing in far too many places, for far too long. That is the change that can unlock Africa's potential.' Similarly, former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan reiterated this point recently when he stated that 'Africa suffers from a leadership deficit.' Again, in the same vein, Mo Ibrahim, the Sudanese-born cellphone magnate, who sponsors the annual Ibrahim Index of African Governance, in delivering a recent report said that 'the main problem impeding our (African) development is governance - or rather the lack of it. All good things start from good governance; all bad things start from bad governance.'

The poor standard of governance in sub-Saharan Africa is an issue which African leaders and the international community have shamefully failed to confront for far too long. The African Union, basically a club of African leaders, is ambivalent - outwardly critical in words to appease the West but inwardly failing to censure its members and bring about change for fear of rocking the boat. Western governments, afraid of losing influence and /or being branded neo-colonialist or racist, prefer to sweep the glaring problems of corruption and mismanagement on the continent under the carpet, preferring to believe, instead, that governance is actually improving. International Non-Government Organisations (NGO's) like Oxfam, Save the Children and Christian Aid all do amazing work in Africa but for reasons known only to themselves are disingenuous when it comes to telling the truth to their supporters. Instead of flagging up the crucial issue of governance they prefer to blame a combination of restrictive international trade practices, lack of overseas aid, tax evasion etc. for Africa's plight. As a result, this individual and collective failure to face reality means that life has barely changed for the majority of Africans since independence swept through the continent half a century ago. Poor governance, then, is the '(African) elephant in the room' when it comes to tackling poverty on the continent; deep down everyone knows it is there but no one wants to confront it.

However, there is a vital factor that should be borne in mind when it comes to governance, for when independence arrived some 50 years ago, most African leaders were ill-prepared for taking over control of their countries. Having campaigned and fought against the old colonial powers for self-government over a number of years, these former freedom fighters eventually took over ruling their countries without the necessary skills, organisation and discipline needed to run a successful country. As a result cliques formed, tribalism reasserted itself, the military intervened, and economies imploded leaving the majority of Africans marginalised and out in the cold. And, for the most part, African governments have failed their people ever since.

On this website, under STATE OF THE WORLD, we lay out what life is like for most Africans in comparison with that in the developed world. Then, under the various issues - FOOD, WATER, HEALTH, EDUCATION, TRADE etc., we examine more closely each category as it relates to Africa today. Finally, in RECOMMENDATIONS, in our comprehensive league table, 'Table of Truth', we assess how far each government in sub-Saharan Africa has progressed in promoting economic growth and addressing social justice. We then go on to suggest how this information should be used as a catalyst by the outside world for improving governance and, with the practical input of rich countries, changing the face of development. This constructive partnership between rich and poor countries should then lead to a situation where all Africans can start to access the basics of life which has been denied them for far too long.

just1world@just1world.org
© 2001, 2002 Just 1 World - All rights reserved - Legal
Site Designed by IWS
Hosted on the IWSNET network