Africa is a growing continent with a lot of potentials but also a lot of hindrances experienced. Africa is a developing democracy and has a long way to go.
Democracy being the unifying factor,thus it's inadequacy compound the witnessed problems faced in the continent. There are so many variables within its people that make it almost impossible to get to a common ground. Unless that path is attained, history will keep repeating itself.
Nevertheless, there is hope yet. Some root challenges should be addressed and the solution is within and not from outside its people.
Some of these challenges include;
1Division
African history clearly states the origin of the more than 50 states that currently constitute Africa, not to mention the many lines drawn among the different communities inhabiting individual countries.
Everyone knows that strength lies in numbers and unity and thus ensured that was never achieved and will not be achieved in the conceivable future in Africa.
They influence the nature of ethnic boundaries and others for politics through the use of indirect rule language and labor policies among others. To this day, elections are so biased along tribal lines and individual communities and everyone is giving a blind eye to the quality of leaders and leadership.
2State mistrust
What most people fail to see is the culture they left in the African Nations. They perpetrated a culture of mistrust of the government and politics in people that are deeply inculcated even in the current contemporary societies. Civil society's mistrust of the state is a benevolent actor through the use of extreme force, unfair and unjust government, and reward or punishment if you comply or not to their rule among other tactics.
The state is seen as " bad" and as self-serving instead of a unifying factor for the good of all. The distinctive behaviors and actions are wired and shaped by the experiences left by the colonial masters.
3Refugee
The refugee situation is an expected by-product of war. The loss of livelihoods and homes leads to refugee situations. Most people end up homeless and vulnerable. They are forced to run to other countries for safety. The biggest refugee camps in Kenya, Kakuma, and Daadab are a result of instability in Somalia and South Sudan. The wars have caused serious humanitarian crises in Africa with many displaced people spread across the continent. According to UNHCR, in 2004 a total of African refugees was put between 15 to 20 million.
4Poverty
One of the characteristics of most poverty-stricken countries is political instability due to the fight for little available resources. The lack of resources is excavated by inequality and the lack of proper means of ensuring transparency and accountability.
According to International Features and Forecasting Systems, around 37% of Africans live in extreme poverty which is around 460 million people.
More times than not, poverty results from the mismanagement of natural resources with a concentration of wealth within a small group of elite individuals and the inability of the government institutions to prevent conflict, and provide basic services that can help buffer detrimental effects on the poor.
5Climate change
This affects all parts of the world but the effects are felt differently because of the different buffer capabilities among different countries. Africa is poor and vulnerable and receives the harshest consequences of climate change. Climate change poses different threats to economic, political social, and environmental development.
Global warming has shown its effects through increased desertification, food insecurities, and health problems among African populations. Climate change directly affects food production due to the lack of water. This aggravates the crisis that already exists.
6Hunger and malnutrition
This has been a chronic situation aggravated by wars, climate change, etc. According to World Health Organization in 2020, 281.6 million people in Africa suffered from hunger.
East Africa leads with 44% of undernourished people, 27% in West African, 20% in Central Africa, and 6.2% in North Africa.
Inadequate investment in sustainable agriculture and significant social protection remains the major blocks to enhancing food availability.
The Russian-Ukraine war has aggravated food supply problems due to the limited supply of wheat and gasoline and it has affected commodity prices. Droughts, wars, and pandemics like covid 19 reverse years of progress.
7Poor leadership
This problem has retarded political integration and unity among all African states. African leaders are characterized by corruption and unpatriotic tendencies.
This affects social and economic development and in extreme cases, it leads to violence like the cases of Sudan, and Nigeria's civil unrest proving their respective leader's inability to forge unity in their countries. Most leaders are perpetrators of selfish accumulation of wealth, are known to find wars in their countries, etc.
