50 million orphans live in Africa. 3000 are killed each day because of malaria. 589 million Africans live without electricity, and 40% of people in the world who don’t have access to clean water live in Africa (Facts). Wealthy aristocrats of the country enjoy luxurious lives with proper education and healthcare, while at the same time, millions of citizens lack basic necessities like food or housing. Most people understand that this is a serious matter, but they don’t realize the gravity of the issue until they hear that two hundred of the richest people in the world hold more wealth than the entire African population (Miyandazi). The first step to solve this issue is finding the root of it.
A major cause of this unequal division is the deep rooted problems from colonial and apartheid times that have not disappeared from Africa’s society. These events have delayed the industrial development of the country, making it difficult for the government to sustain money. This causes lower class citizens to fall into debt. While trying to rebuild the country, division of social classes have only worsened. For example, although Angola is the second largest producer of oil in Africa, producing 30 billion dollars worth of oil in 2007, 25% of lower class children living in the country die within five years of birth (Wengraf). Furthermore, segregation between whites and blacks is still evident. Thalepo Nambo, an African citizen, shares some personal experience. In his hometown of Tshwane, Nambo notices, “The facilities that majority of the whites access are much higher quality than to that of their black counterparts” (Nambo). As described by Nambo, social class inequality between the two races correlates with colonial and apartheid history.
The extreme conditions of the poor are only worsened by the lack of interest the government holds. They have the ability to help, but the ruling class shows no compassion. Corrupted by their lavish lives, they are ignorant of the dire situation. According to Bloomberg, in the past ten years, 11 cities in Africa have increased their GDP by 51% (Miyandazi). However, it was shown that the conditions of lower class citizens stayed the same or worsened in those years. The government has not given lower class citizens enough opportunities, like helping them open small businesses or finding a job. The PEW Research Center found that less than 6% of Africans are considered middle class, meaning that the majority are either extremely poor or extremely rich (Few). The scant amount of industries can not generate enough employment, making it difficult for citizens to find proper jobs.
Although this may seem like a futile situation, there are people attempting to deal with it. For example, companies and individuals have donated to the cause. Google gave 2.4 million dollars, and Dustin Moskovitz donated 25 million dollars to African charity organizations (Brown). Another approach is raising awareness. Africa Industrialization Day is on November 20, and is meant to encourage everyone to help with the industrialization of Africa. Industrializing the country allows lower class citizens to gain opportunities (Industrialization). In addition, several organizations like ActionAid are continuously fighting for the equality of all citizens in Africa (Miyandazi).
However, despite aid that this issue is receiving, it is not enough to bring the poor out of poverty. As World Bank shows, the number of people in poverty increased from 4.11 million to 415.8 million in a single year (Miyandazi). In spite of this, if people around the world take action, no matter how small, it will eventually help close the gap between the poor and rich.
Works Cited:
Brown, Ryan Lenora. "To fight poverty in Africa, a new-old solution: cash handouts." Christian Science Monitor, 11 Dec. 2016. Global Issues in Context. Accessed 7 Mar. 2017.
“Facts & Statistics About Africa.” Children.org, Children International. Accessed 13 Mar. 2017.
“Few and Far Between.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 22 Oct. 2015. Accessed 4 Mar. 2017.
"Industrialization key to poverty reduction in Africa: researcher." Xinhua News Agency, 25 Nov. 2016. Global Issues in Context. Accessed 7 Mar. 2017.
Miyandazi, Luckystar. “Inequality in Africa: Effects of the Ruling Class.” ActionAid International, Act!onAid, 4 May 2016. Accessed 4 Mar. 2017.
Nambo, Thapelo. “Race,Class,Gender in an Unequal South Africa.” news24.Com, News24, 18 Jan. 2016. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
Wengraf, Lee. “The Class Dimension of African Social Struggles.” Isreview.org, International Socialist Review. Accessed 6 Mar. 2017.
I thought that this article was very informative and interesting to read. I think the biggest take-away that I have is that the 200 richest people in the world are richer than all of Africa. How is the donated money being used to help the people in poverty?
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of your article was you great flow and cohesion throughout, which made it easy to read. I also like your great utilization of facts. I was fascinated that in one year, over 410 million people went into debt, nearly a hundred times more than the previous year. I was also interested to learn that colonial and apartheid social situations are still affecting the African economy. What will they do with the money that is being donated to help improve the wealth gap? Build factories? Do outreach helping the poor get jobs?
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ReplyDeleteI think that the hook could use some work, it was a bit too factual right at the beginning, but it did get the point across. The article was very informative and interesting, and had smooth transitions. How would you compare the uneven distribution of wealth in South Africa to America?
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