• Question: do you think that africa will ever change?

    Asked by ggd03 to Charlie, Eoin, Jemma, Julian, Steve on 22 Mar 2011.
    • Photo: Eoin Lettice

      Eoin Lettice answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi ggd03,
      What do you mean by change?
      Some african countries face some very tough challenges at the moment – from HIV to food shortages, poverty, voilence, etc. However there are other African countries that are very successful and peaceful.
      We in the developed world have an obligation to help out everyone in Africa to make sure that they all can enjoy the same healthy and happy lifes that we can enjoy.

      Eoin

    • Photo: Julian Rayner

      Julian Rayner answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi ggd03. Yes, definitely, and it is changing all the time. We get this perception from the media as Africa being one big basket case, but Africa is much more diverse and varied than that. Some countries are prosperous and making huge strides, while others are mired in internal disputes and have a long way to go. How well we deal with infectious disease like malaria play a big part in helping countries who are struggling more. The HIV/AIDS epidemic, for example, has had a huge negative impact on development in Africa. If you just look at raw numbers of things like life expectancy, there were massive falls in some countries because of HIV/AIDS, just when those countries started to have increasing rates. Malaria is just the same – if we can control fundamental things like this, countries have a much better chance to develop, because they can spend their money on growth instead of on curable diseases.

    • Photo: Stephen Moss

      Stephen Moss answered on 21 Mar 2011:

      Hi GGD

      If you are thinking about all the problems they have, then I do think in time Africa will change. But it seems a long way off to me, there is so much poverty, violence, disease, corruption and so on, you would really need a Nelson Mandela in every African country to make it happen.

    • Photo: Charlie Ryan

      Charlie Ryan answered on 22 Mar 2011:

      I do think that the economy of africa will change, and improve. Most countries in Africa only became independent, during the second part of the 20th century, so have only had 50 years to get on their feet.
      A good friend of mine is kenyan, and although he says that corruption is a big problem in Kenya, he feels that things are improving. ust look at what has happened in north africa in the lost couple of months, with the overthrow of many dictators and the move towards democracy!

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