new
internationalist 139
September 1984
| AFRICA The facts |
|
|
Making Africa Poor
Africa's crisis has some very visible victims -
victims born of drought, civil war, and
despotism. But the majority are less visible.
According to UN Secretary General Perez
de Cuellar 'Five million African children
will die from malnutrition in 1984 and
another five million will be handicapped for
life.' Most are victims, not of natural calamity, but of a cycle of dependence that is
sinking Africa even deeper into debt and
poverty.
|
Raw Cash
Africa must buy what it does not produce - anything from railway engines to
transistor radios - and that means earning hard currency, or foreign exchange’.
MostAfrican economies depend for their foreign exchange on the export of just one or two
raw materials: either cash crops or minerals. And here they are at the mercy of world
markets: prices are fixed in New York and London and with nothing else to sell, a slump in
cocoa or copper, tea or tobacco, spells immediate crisis.
|
Imports
|
|
Food
|
16.9%
|
|
Agriculture-materials
|
2.2%
|
|
Ores-and-metals
|
6.3%
|
|
Fuels
|
9.5%
|
|
Manufactured goods
|
64.3%
|
Bare Necessities
The manufactured goods that Africa buys with its foreign exchange rise steadily in
price. A large proportion are luxuries for the wealthy or expensive weapons for the
military. The basic needs of the majority of Africans are frequently ignored.
|
Source: IMF |
|
|
The Debt Trap
The gap between what is earned and what is spent is covered by borrowing. Paying back
interest on these debts becomes yet another drain on scarce foreign exchange. Pressure
grows to increase exports in order to meet debt repayments. When this fails more borrowing
follows, and so the debt spiral takes another upward turn.
Source: World Bank
|
|
A world apart
The basic indicators of human well-being - health, life expectancy and literacy
- reveal that Africa is very badly off indeed. Worse off not only than industrialised
countries but the rest of the Third World as well.
Source: Overseas Development Council, Washington.
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|
The Food Gap
Sub-Saharan Africa’s population of 362 million is expected to double in the next
25 years. Meanwhile agricultural production is in decline and expensive food imports are
on the increase. The result, predicted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAQ),
is that Africa will provide for only half its food needs by the year 2020.
|
|
Poverty Index
| |
Population
(in millions)
|
Birth Rate
(per 1000)
|
Infant Mortality
(per 1000)
|
Life Expectancy
|
Adult Literacy
|
$ GNP
(per capita)
|
| Angola |
8.0
|
49
|
165
|
43
|
5
|
1,247
|
| Benin |
3.7
|
49
|
117
|
48
|
25
|
310
|
| Botswana |
0.9
|
51
|
83
|
48
|
33
|
902
|
| Burundi |
4.3
|
47
|
123
|
47
|
23
|
280
|
| Cameroon |
9.3
|
46
|
92
|
53
|
41
|
890
|
| Central Afr Rep |
2.4
|
41
|
119
|
48
|
39
|
310
|
| Chad |
4.6
|
42
|
161
|
44
|
15
|
80
|
| Congo |
1.7
|
43
|
68
|
60
|
50
|
1,180
|
| Equatorial Guinea |
0.3
|
50
|
147
|
40
|
38
|
175
|
| Ethiopia |
32.9
|
47
|
122
|
47
|
15
|
140
|
| Gabon |
0.7
|
34
|
117
|
44
|
12
|
3,909
|
| Gambia |
0.6
|
49
|
198
|
41
|
15
|
348
|
| Ghana |
12.2
|
49
|
86
|
55
|
30
|
360
|
| Guinea |
5.7
|
49
|
190
|
38
|
20
|
310
|
| Guinea-Bissau |
0.8
|
40
|
149
|
41
|
28
|
185
|
| Ivory Coast |
8.9
|
48
|
119
|
47
|
41
|
950
|
| Kenya |
18.1
|
55
|
77
|
57
|
50
|
390
|
| Lesotho |
1.4
|
42
|
94
|
53
|
52
|
510
|
| Liberia |
2.0
|
50
|
91
|
54
|
25
|
490
|
| Madagascar |
9.2
|
47
|
116
|
48
|
50
|
320
|
| Malawi |
6.5
|
56
|
137
|
44
|
25
|
210
|
| Mali |
7.1
|
48
|
132
|
45
|
9
|
180
|
| Mauritania |
1.6
|
43
|
132
|
45
|
17
|
470
|
| Mozambique |
12.9
|
49
|
105
|
51
|
28
|
240
|
| Niger |
5.9
|
52
|
132
|
45
|
5
|
310
|
| Nigeria |
90.6
|
50
|
109
|
50
|
29
|
860
|
| Rwanda |
5.5
|
54
|
126
|
46
|
50
|
260
|
| Senegal |
6.0
|
48
|
155
|
44
|
10
|
490
|
| Sierra Leone |
3.2
|
49
|
190
|
38
|
15
|
390
|
| Somalia |
4.5
|
48
|
184
|
39
|
5
|
290
|
| South Africa |
30.4
|
40
|
55
|
63
|
57
|
2,670
|
| Sudan |
20.2
|
45
|
119
|
47
|
20
|
440
|
| Swaziland |
0.6
|
48
|
135
|
46
|
55
|
844
|
| Tanzania |
19.8
|
47
|
98
|
52
|
74
|
280
|
| Togo |
2.8
|
49
|
122
|
47
|
16
|
340
|
| Uganda |
13.5
|
50
|
120
|
47
|
48
|
230
|
| Upper Volta |
6.5
|
48
|
157
|
44
|
9
|
210
|
| Zaire |
30.7
|
46
|
106
|
55
|
58
|
190
|
| Zambia |
6.0
|
50
|
105
|
51
|
44
|
640
|
| Zimbabwe |
7.5
|
54
|
83
|
56
|
71
|
850
|
Source: World Bank; Overseas Development Council, Washington.
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