The European colonization of Africa had a lasting impact on the country, and caused many problems for the economy and societies present in Africa. One of which was the corrupt leadership that emerged. These dictators have sucked the money out of their countries and sparked many civil wars across the decades. This remains a problem even to this day. Corrupt leaders in Africa have contributed to an increase in prices, destruction of infrastructure, uneven distribution of land, looting and plundering by dictators, revolutions and revolts, people fleeing their countries, civil wars, and increase in crime rate.
Since the colonization of the African continent, leadership positions have continued to embody the long history of Africa's harsh dictatorships. Appointed by European colonist leaders, African dictators throughout their reign have misguided the trust of their people by inexperience and corruption. It is common for these leaders to pay those who follow their rule. With such spending, the there is an increase in taxation rates and tariffs, leading to increase in prices. This increase in cost, more often than not, includes fuel or food.
The result of Africa's many harsh and corrupted dictatorships is a wide array of problems. Many dictators tend to suck the money out of the country's economy for their own personal benefit, leaving the population poor and struggling, which makes it more difficult for the country to keep up with the rest of the world's modernization and rapidly advancing technology. The higher poverty, unemployment, and homelessness rates lead to higher rates of both organized and unorganized crime of all kinds. This makes the country far more dangerous, producing more problems in itself. It often results in civil wars, revolutions, and riots to emerge; many of these conflicts cause the leader to take action and have the country's military enforce a strict rule over the people, frequently killing innocent citizens in the process. The danger and poverty within these countries often causes people, especially women and children, to flee as refugees to other areas. As most refugees cannot or do not work, this reduces the work force, especially for farmlands, and ends up hurting the economy even more.
If corrupt dictators continue to control Africa, the continent will not be able to achieve modernity or advance in national power. This would change if Africa had not been interfered with by European colonists, and was instead left to establish its own leaders. These individuals would have a greater chance to be beneficial to their society because they came to power naturally with input from their people instead of superficially by being appointed by European colonists. If better leaders are appointed, Africa will be able to lower its rates of poverty, war, and ideally make it a safer country with improved economy and industry. Leaders with the country itself in mind rather than their own benefit are crucial to solving this problem. Corrupt leaders need to be removed and replaced with learned officials whose main priority is in the people of the country. With this in place, the impoverished and dangerous regions of Africa would gradually improve, and the continent would be able to move its attention towards modernization.
References
Ayittey, G. (2012, June 6). The Devastation and Destruction Wrought By Africa's
Dictators. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.zimeye.org/the-
devastation-and-destruction-wrought-by-africa’s-dictators/
No comments:
Post a Comment