The first of these is that African governments focused excessively upon import substitution, while the second is that too much revenue was invested in the expansion of state institutions. This paradigm emerges from the success of European and other Western economic developments. However, such strategies were far from suitable for the African continent, as it resulted in a lack of investment in Africa's richest resources: agricultural and mineral development.
Maponga and Maxwell (97) mention the concentration of national economies as a further factor that may lead a lack of concomitant growth for countries (and in particular African countries) that are rich in natural resources. In addition to the above factors, the authors hold that African countries tend to also invest excessively in the development of a single export commodity such as mineral or fuel, and thus create excessive dependence upon this commodity while neglecting other equally rich resources.
The reason the authors cite for this is that policy makers tend to excessively favor the highest-yielding investments while neglecting the development of other equally important aspects of the economy. This is particularly true of food production and manufacturing, which declined with the rise of the 1970s petroleum industry in Nigeria, for example (Maponga & Maxwell 98).
The authors also mention post-colonial political factors as contributing to the crisis of accumulation. The paradigm of post-colonial one-government systems for example often leads to civil conflict, with rival groups fighting for control of natural resources. The wealth generated from these is then applied towards funding military effort rather than general economic growth for the country as a whole. Another aspect of this is that governments retain control of resources, increasing their own wealth and further applying this towards suppressing opposition groups. In both cases, the economy of the country does not benefit, as resources are tied up into the personal and political interests of individual groups.
In addition to these political...
Water in Sub-Saharan Africa is of special interest because of my background but water is a fascinating issue in general, one that I think will play an increasingly large role in the 21st century, as the effects of population growth and climate change bring about significant changes to our water usage and availability. A lack of water in particular has a substantial destabilizing effect. Water as a social issue combines a
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Africa - Politics Africa and democracy haven't always been two words that go together well, because following the colonization of much of Africa, democracies were established but they struggled (and sometimes failed) to become stable -- and many continue to struggle today. This paper reviews the democratic movements in Africa, some of which failed, and some have succeeded. This paper also projects the success or failure of future democracies in Africa. What
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