Sub-Saharan Africa: a Threat to Global Stability

Geoffrey A. Smith
Poli. Sci. 7 section #3053
Prof. Melvin Aaron
June 31 2012

Sub-Saharan Africa: A Threat to Global Stability
Still recovering from malicious colonialism, the southern half of Africa has incurred several other factors contributing to the regions underdevelopment. The southern half has a general inability to contain AIDS, corruption, and war in the region. Racism is still prevalent, there are dire food shortages, and to add, there is mounting debt in almost every country in the southern part of the continent. For decades, these issues have plagued the region, yet, there is little or no aid being pumped in to uplift the area, nor is there any end in sight. But what kind of threat does this pose for global stability? In failing to resolve these problems decade after decade, the southern half of Africa is only further pushing towards global instability. Constant warring, human rights issues and corruption keep the vicious cycle going. With the problems of the southern nations continuing, violence is spreading unimpededly, contributing to global instability.

Colonialism’s Mark
By way of the colonial powers Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, and Portugal, the southern nations were divided neglectfully. Those lines of division still stand today, making up the borders of the 15 nations included in the region. When they were initially split between the colonial rulers, there was disregard of culture, religion, and tribes. Which has led to civil wars and is related to being the root cause of many other problems. [1]The colonial rulers were also able to institutionalize their own legislation which has kept the natives from progressing all these years http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.htmllater. After decolonization, nations were left to fend for themselves (few allies, separation from the Western World). There were little or no foreign investors, the people were not educated, there was a lack of trained personnel, and all these problems give explanation to why Africa is so underdeveloped today. Using Zimbabwe as an example, although much of the arable land owned in the country (73%), prior to the year 2000, was owned by a dismal 0.3% white minority[2]. The whites in the country retained a monopoly over agriculture, which led to the land reforms of 2000. The Zimbabwean government began stripping land from white owners and redistributing it to black natives. But these land reforms in Zimbabwe led to distaste from foreign investors, a decrease in foreign aid, and poor agricultural production. The new black farmers did not have the experience or proper know how to work the lands for massive production, and the markets that were there for Zimbabwe’s agricultural products, were now gone. The international view on the way the reforms were handled, single handedly scared away possible income along with support from the West, causing inflation and sending the country deep into debt. [3]Similarly, in South Africa, 87% of land was still in the hands of the minority white owners, following the end of the apartheid period there. And it was through the colonial influence from which apartheid could flourish and exist from 1948 to 1994. It wasn’t until rather recently, blacks began to populate the middle class in South Africa. The hegemonic racial class in these nations are just recently beginning to reflect the demographics of the population. But it may take years to fully recover from colonization’s effects, which has set back the society and hindered its development.

Incurable Debt
Structural Adjustment Programs offered by the World Bank and IMF, have turned out to be traps rather than economically beneficial for most African countries. Made in and predominantly run by the Western aligned U.S., both the World Bank and IMF appear to be a form of neocolonialism. They offer loans in packages to developing countries under conditions that benefit Western corporations and governments, creating Western dependency. Both institutions aim to open up and privatize developing country’s markets, especially countries in Africa. Together, dubbed “the overloards of Africa” by the New York Times, have established Structural Adjustment Programs in 36 of the 47 Sub-Saharan nation. They have secured a firm grip on majority of the continent, and with most countries inability to pay these loans back, decreases their governments legitimacy. [4]These SAPs, since 1980, have caused a 15% fall in growth rate in the Sub-Saharan region. Poverty has increased to 350 million people living below the U.S. $1 poverty line, and Africa’s per capita income has been stagnant since 1960. Africa’s external debt, since 1980 has also increased by 500%. $15 billion goes out of Africa, to the wealthiest countries in the world each year, which is more than the entire continent receives in foreign aid. The compounded debt has affected education, with some countries paying back up to four times as much in debt repayments than they do on education. This surely has an affect on the literacy rate in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is at 60%, effectively slowing the region’s development in all areas.

Food Shortages
Incapable of breaking free of external debt, along with civil wars and other implicating factors, Africa as a whole, has had trouble with feeding its population. This inability to provide basic needs for the continent for such a long period of a time is a direct attack on global stability. 27 of the Sub-Saharan countries are now reported in need of food by the U.N.’s Food & Agriculture Organisation[5]. From civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, severe drought in Malawi, to hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, there are many interrelated issues preserving a shortage of food in the continent. Critical reasons to note, is poor governing of these nations, and lack of food production. Gathered from the book “The African Food Crisis,” in under 40 years, the sub-continent dropped from being a net exporter of basic foods, to becoming heavily reliant on food aid and imports[6].

AIDS Pandemic
Africa has experienced a long battle with the AIDS/HIV virus, which has infected roughly about 33.4 million people[7]. Amounting to about two thirds of the worlds infected population, Sub-Saharan African nations combined have an estimated 22.9 million living with the HIV virus, and 2010, 1.2 million died[8]. The containment of the epidemic, since the beginning, has been so insufficient, rendering a threat to global stability. There is a major lack of aid, healthcare, testing, protection, and proper funding for education about the virus. Poverty being a prevalent factor. Each issue works in prolonging the sustainment and spread of the epidemic.

Corruption & War Living in a constant state of war, Sub-Saharan Africa depends it debt, and makes way for more underdevelopment. Civil war and conflict in the region has been non stop for ages, caused by colonialisms footprints, corruption, and implications resulting from illegitimate governments, that have lost autonomy and capacity in managing the state. Civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been draining precious funds out of the state and several surrounding countries as well, adding onto the regional debt since 1997. But there are other ongoing civil wars that have lasted decades, like the Angolan and Sudanese civil wars. The fact that these two states have been warring civilly in each their respected lands for such a long period, is an example of the Sub-Saharan region failing to grasp control on their own, which could lead to global instability, attracting even more outside factors to get involved. A number of these wars are not meant to spread ideology or promulgate change, but pure acts of violence in order to gain a monopoly of control, if that. Like a plague, this disease of violence is unimpededly spreading across the continent[9]. Corruption, war’s largest source of funding, has kept the warring consistent. Corrupt faulty regimes in power, such as the Mugabe regime in Zimbabwe, have contributed to their states downfall and deprivation. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, has been criticized for siphoning aid money into involvement with the Congo Civil War, accused of reverse racism in the stripping of land from white owners, and put to blame for many sanctions brought on by the U.S., contributing to the underdevelopment of the country[10]. In the 1990s, 14 Sub-Saharan countries, a third of the total Sub-Saharan countries, experienced large scale civil war, while seven additional countries experienced minor civil warring. 3.3 million victims have come from Congo Civil War alone[11]. Democratization in the region is an additional factor to consider. Nations going through regime changes, particularly democratizing, are more likely to experience civil war rather than well institutionalized autocracies or well established democracies. The longer these wars go on, the deeper the region will sink into underdevelopment, causing more people to join in rebellion due to lack of opportunity in their war thrashed economies and societies[12]. And the more people join the conflict, the more corruption floods government, then legitimacy is lost, causing the conflict and vicious cycle of war to go on.

Foreseen Global Instability With an increase of militarization in not only the southern region, but the entire continent, and a failure to stop the expansion of the violence, Africa raises questions of global security. Interrelated to the warring going on, the ever so sinking economies lack future due to dismal growth and opportunity. Along with the poor economies comes little or no funding for basic needs such as food, education and healthcare. Thus, the rampant AIDS/HIV victims and deaths related to starvation. Both significantly causing the life expectancy to drop. And seemingly irreversible borders created by colonial rule of the past, still haunt and affect the people of the Africa, contributing to the many ongoing conflicts including racism and genocide. Incapable of curing the many issues above, the Sub-Saharan region has a serious affect on global stability, questioning if the region will ever fully develop. With growing dissent against Western practices and policies in the region, conflicts continue to emerge as the campaigning globalization of democracy rages on. Currently, Africa as a whole can be viewed as setback to global stability, and will be until these long term issues can be resolved.

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[1] http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-colonization-of-africa.html
[2] http://www.voanews.com/content/tenth-anniversary-of-zimbabwes-controversial-land-reform-program-84497672/153286.html
[3] http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/67905/bernadette-atuahene/south-africas-land-reform-crisis
[4] Impoverishing a Continent: The World Bank and the IMF in Africa, chap. 3 By Asad Ismi

[5] BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4662232.stm
[6] The African Food Crisis, CABI Publishing 2005
[7] http://www.globalissues.org/article/90/aids-in-africa#TheImpactofAIDSinAfrica
[8] http://www.avert.org/hiv-aids-africa.htm
[9] http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/02/22/africas_forever_wars
[10] http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/107/s494/text
[11] The Increasing Incidence of Civil Wars in sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing the Role of Democratization and Age Structure by Sarah

[12] The Increasing Incidence of Civil Wars in sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing the Role of Democratization and Age Structure by Sarah Staveteig