CHALLENGES FACING AFRICACOLONIALISM: European powers paid no attention tribal boundaries when drawing borders of countries They sometimes put enemies in the same country, separated tribes in different countries Might favor one tribe over another Gave Africans little voice in government Raw materials were sent to Europe, very little benefit to African citizens Might take bribes, might be corrupt When Africans became independent (mostly after 1945), they set up governments like the colonial powers they had knowncorrupt officials, controlling governments, unstable governments, taking resources and returning few services Military coups are common“This affects economic development in Africa because people are afraid to invest in a country with an unstable or dishonest government, because they may lose their money.”CONFLICTS (give one example per type of conflict) Conflicts between two countries Conflicts entirely within one country Tribal conflicts Conflicts over resources Conflicts over foreign companies developing resources Civil unrest Rebel armies continuing to fight after the war is officially overSide effects of conflicts: destruction of infrastructure: destruction of food crops: inability to transport food or medical supplies: loss of population: women and children suffer most; human trafficking, mostly of women and children; female children kidnapped and given to rebel officers as prizes of war; male children kidnapped and forced to become “child soldiers”.“Conflicts affect economic development in Africa because it destroys infrastructure, uses available resources, kills of potential workers and customers, adds costs to any future development, as the infrastructure will have to replaced, and may result in the direct destruction of businessesno one wants to invest in a war zone.”TRIBALISMThe belief that your tribe is better than all other tribes, and that it is okay to discriminate against other tribes.Examples are found throughout Africa; the most famous is Rwanda. Genocide can be a result of tribalism.“Tribalism affects economic development in Africa by causing inequality, encouraging corruption by the more powerful tribe, and possibly causing conflict. This discourages development, as investors want their investment to be safe, and to be able to hire and offer services fairly, not of the basis of tribal loyalties.”LACK OF INFRASTRUCTUREInfrastructure means the physical systems necessary to run a society in an effective way, such as paved roads; electric plants; electrical and gas lines; natural gas distribution; telephone poles, land lines, cell phone towers; television stations and TV cables; internet and wireless capacity; water purification plants, water pipes and sewer systems. Other systems include medical infrastructure such as hospitals, pharmacies, ambulances, life-flight helicopter services and emergency rescue vehicles. Educational infrastructure includes school buildings, state education services, textbooks and textbook publishers, manufacturing school supplies, and the availability of teachers.Sometimes the lack of infrastructure is due to lack of money on the part of the government. In such cases, the capital city usually has paved roads, electricity and water treatment plants. They have public schools and some hospitals. If the country is peaceful, and there is some sort of steady growth, the infrastructure will gradually expand into the countryside.Some areas DID have infrastructure, but it was destroyed by war or natural disaster, or both. Infrastructure destroyed by war is usually very slow to be repaired, as there is no money for repairs (due to the war), or because people believe the wars will just break out again, and the infrastructure will be destroyed again. Children fall behind in school due to the lack of electric light at home. Families are prevented from working at night due to lack of light. One very recent solution to this has been the use of solar lanterns. These lanterns sit in the sunlight all day and power up; the families then use them to complete homework, work on indoor tasks, and manufacture good in cottage industries. However, the lanterns cannot be manufactured locally and the cost of $7.00 is beyond the means of many people in less developed areas. So far, the lanterns are donated by charities; theft has not been a major issue.In order to build infrastructure, you have to have money to invest, and a conflict-free area in which to build. People dont want to invest in a war zone.DISEASE/EPIDEMICDifferent areas of Africa suffer from different diseases. Some diseases, like HIV, have spread across the continent, but at very different rates of infection in different areas. Epidemics are widespread outbreaks of a disease; epidemics are usually preventable through isolating the infected, destroying items used by the infected, and inocula