A New Direction For Africa

Africa has been known as a continent in peril since the independence of the first African nations fifty years ago. The following is a short list of the ideal goals each African nation should follow in order to achieve development, growth, and stability.

1. Stop supporting paramililitary actors in other countries.
African governments have a history of supporting guerrilla movements, financially and militarily, in neighboring countries for the purpose of destabilizing other African governments. Often, though, this support only causes more bloodshed, a degradation of nascent developmental projects, international criticism, and sometimes backlash.

2. Improve electoral practices.
Africa is known for having poor election history, with only four heads of government transferring powers peacefully over a 40 year period. An active government is known to bring stability, a sense of nationhood, and peace to countries, as long as elections are done in a fair and free manor.

3. Integrate with the global world and economy.
Over the last 50 years, Africa has been prone to resist integration with the world economy, not only because of corrupt leaders' tirades against Western "neocolonialism," but also because of the unwillingness of international corporations to invest heavily in the unstable countries of Africa. African leaders should make a commitment to liberalize trading policies and become open to imports from other nations. They should attempt to develop two or three "niche" market in which they have a competitive advantage. Also, as is already occurring, African leaders should continue the practice of bypassing old forms of technology for newer versions, to reduce expenses. For example, using cellphones as a means of telephone communications and building communication towers rather than laying phone lines.

4. Support and promote healthy practices.
African governments have been reluctant to promote health practice that are considered normal health procedures in the Western world. Especially with AIDS, African nations sometimes condemn the use of proven safety measures, such as wearing condemns. On other issues, some children are never taught of the importance of washing hands or following basic hygienic practices. African leaders need to promote these practices.

5. Focus funds and resources on developing rural areas.
Africa has a tradition of funneling money and attention to city centers, rather than rural areas. They do this because they know urban support is more valuable than rural support, and that an angry city populace has the potential to overturn a government. African governments should begin to focus on developing the agricultural sector so they not only can generate more food sources for the nation, but also to decrease the chance of violence from disenchanted farmers who join militias.