Africa: An Emerging Continent

Our Friday morning discussion group recently spent an hour discussing the continent of Africa, its problems and its future.  Hardly enough time to even scratch the surface, but several things seem clear.  Africa is a continent made up of 54 countries, each with different types of government, different resources, and different needs.  You cannot lump all of Africa together, as each country is unique.  There are many common problems on the continent, including Aids, Ebola, terrorism, unemployment, lack of clean drinking water, poverty, political corruption and lack of education, just to name a few. (does this sound like us?) Many African leaders jumped for joy when Barak Obama was elected, thinking that because he had a Kenyan father, he would be handing out aid right and left.  That has not been the case, and as someone in our discussion said, "Obama had a few other things on his plate," like a recession, unemployment, two wars, and Homeland Security, just to name a few.

Recently there has been more talk of how to help Africa, as China has become a big player on the international scene, and is investing a lot of money in Africa, and is actually their biggest trade partner.  It remains to be seen what the U.S. will do in terms of trade agreements.  There is a lot of controversy on this topic.

Regina brought up the fact that Obama has actually done a great deal for Africa by founding the Young African Leaders Initiative.  Obama launched this program in 2010 to support an emerging generation of African leaders as they work to drive economic growth, enhance democratic governance, and strengthen the civil society structures that will help the continent grow and prosper.  This fellowship connects young African leaders to leadership training opportunities at some of America's top universities.  Obama also initiated new public-private partnerships to create a continuum
 of programs, platforms and support for young African leaders.  With 60% of Africa's population under 35, the future success of African nations will depend on the leadership, skills, and ingenuity of this emerging generation of leaders.  The 500 exceptional young people involved in YALI will go back to their countries and hopefully, make a difference.

Investing in people, is the best way to make a difference.  Training young Africans will pay great dividends in the future.  Instead of just giving handouts in the form of food and medicine, we are training young Africans to build their own drinking wells and grow their own crops.  Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and he'll never go hungry.