Short Overview of African Countries
1
S. Yakovlev 'Short Overview of African Countries'
Учебный материал
РОССИЙСКОЙ КОЛЛЕКЦИИ РЕФЕРАТОВ (с) 1996
http://referat.students.ru; http://www.referats.net;
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PLAN
1. Introduction
2. Africa in postcolonial period
3. African economy today
4. Economic organizations in Africa
5. Problems and ways to solve them
6. Conclusion
1. Introduction
It isn't a secret that Republic of Armenia as well as other
former socialist republics is at
the end of the list of countries in terms of economy, but almost
everyone speaking about our country mentions that there are a number
of countries having more troubles with economy then our. Listening
to this kind of words makes listener think about Africa, Sahara the
countries situated there. Algeria (which situated in north Africa),
Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho,
Mozambique, Rwanda, Zaire (Democratic republic of Congo), Zambia,
Zimbabwe and a lot of others are countries traditionally considered
to be the poorest part of the world. This is the common image of
Africa. in the following report I would try to introduce a little
bit detailed picture of this object.
I think it will be better to begin with short historical
overview of the region, which is the home of one of the human races.
The historians have defined four periods of African history
research.
1. This period is 2000 B.C. up to 6-th century A.D. During that
time Egyptians were researching the north of the mainland. In 6th
century B.C. Carthaginians travelled along the west coast. Roman
travellers went far into Libyan desert.
2. 7-14 centuries A.D. This is a period of Arabian invasions.
After conquering the north they moved to the south and reached
Senegal and Niger rivers.
3. The third period of research is associated with the Europeans
desire to find a sea way to the wealth of India. By the end of
sixteenth century the continent has been outlined on maps.
4. This period of African history, which begins in eighteenth
century is probably the most shameful part of European history.
Europeans blinded with the magnificence of African wealth began
sacking its territory, the same way as they did it in America.
2. Africa in postcolonial period
From this time and up to 20-th century African continent was a
big colony of a number of European countries. After a century of
rule by France, Algeria became independent in 1962. Angola - former
Portugal colony got its freedom in 1975. Formerly the British
protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon
independence in 1966. The former French Cameroon and part of British
Cameroon merged in 1961 to form the present country. Chad was a part
of France's African holdings until 1960. The French Territory of the
Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in 1977. Formed from the merger
of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust
territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first country in colonial Africa
to gain its independence. Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of
Lesotho upon independence from the UK in 1966. Mozambique almost
five centuries was a Portuguese colony came to a close with
independence in 1975. Rwanda gains its independence in 1962. The
territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the South Africa
Company from 1891 until takeover by the UK in 1923. During the 1920s
and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration.
The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in 1964. The UK
annexed Southern Rhodesia from the South Africa Company in 1923. A
1961 constitution was formulated to keep whites in power. In 1965
the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK
did not recognize the act and demanded voting rights for the black
African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions
and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and
independence (as Zimbabwe) in 1980. But even after formal
independence most countries are heavily dependant on Europe in terms
of investitions and aids. After the "lost decade" of the eighties
when tumbling commodity prices, debt, economic and political
mismanagement brought African economies to near bankruptcy, the
majority of African countries have embarked on International
Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and donor supported economic reform
programmes. In December of year 2000, the World Bank gave US$155
million in credits to help seven African countries - Madagascar,
Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Zambia, and Uganda - cope with an
unexpected surge in oil prices and other losses in their terms of
trade. These factors were causing serious hardship for the poor in
terms of rising energy and transportation costs, which in turn were
jeopardizing the success of the countries' reform programs. Still,
poverty is higher in Africa than in any other region of the world.
According to the latest data two out of five Africans subsist below
a poverty line of less than $20 per month; the majority of these are
women. This mean that some 300 million Africans live on barely 65
cents a day. Africa has the most unequal distribution of income of
any region in the world. The richest twenty percent of Africans own
51 percent of total income, compared to 40 percent in western
countries and in South Asia. The last report on Africa made by World
Bank group also shows how civil conflict in the region has blunted
and reversed growth prospects for war-torn countries. While the
trend for many African countries during the 1990s was one of slow
but steady economic improvement, those in conflict suffered negative
growth and an alarming deterioration in basic conditions (Angola -
0.2 percent, Burundi -2.4 percent, Democratic Republic of Congo, -
4.6 percent, Rwanda, -2.1 percent, Sierra Leone, -4.6 percent). In
essence, the present forecast is that the world's poverty will
become even more concentrated in Africa.
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