Read AloudRediscovering Africa
The general focal point of the 2024 Annual Bruessard Award has been on hunger and poverty. This bonus page focuses on Africa, in general, and sub-Saharan or black Africa, in particular. The reason for the focus on Africa is because Africa, as a region or continent, often scores either at the bottom or it scores close to the bottom on most socioeconomic measurement indices. From a socioeconomic perspective, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa tend to rank worst relative to or compared to other countries on Earth. Nowhere are the dual problems of extreme poverty and chronic hunger more acute than in certain pockets across the African continent.
However, as indicated by the 2024 Annual Bruessard Award winner page, sight should not be lost of the fact that there exist pockets of poverty and hunger all over the world. Moreover, there are low-income, middle-income, and high-income inhabitants in all countries on Earth. Africa, too, has its share of both rich and poor inhabitants. There seems to be a much wider gap between the rich and poor in African countries than in many other countries. Those inhabitants in Africa who are low-income tend to represent a disproportionately higher share of the African population.
See Also: Exploring Africa: List of Agricultural and Mineral Resources
Africa: Resources
Africa: Physical Geography
Africa: Human Geography
Obviously, history has not proven to be generous to the peoples of Africa across the past 200,000-year trek all the way until today (as of 2024). That is to say, from a scientific and technological perspective, the native peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, relatively speaking, appear to have stagnated. That is to say, comparatively speaking as of 2024, the state of sub-Saharan African socioeconomic development has consistently lagged behind the rest of the world on most measurement indices.
Amid other scientific and technological developments, innovations, and advancements around the globe, the following Agenda 2063 countdown clock serves as a vivid reminder of the time remaining before Africa reaches its Agenda 2063's end date, that is, commencing on 01-January-2014 and ending on 31-December-2063.
Agenda 2063 Countdown:
The Emergence of OAU/AU:
Now, as of 2024, there are some who think that humankind stands on the precipice of passing the torch from the Age of Homo Sapiens Sapiens (that is, the age of very wise human beings) by making a transition into an Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The peoples of Africa, too, must face the challenge of transitioning into an AI-governed, Society 5.0-guided type of living mode. The question becomes this: Will Africa keep pace with the rest of the world? According to the African Union (AU), the answer to this question is a resounding, "Yes."
Perhaps one of the most important contemporary developments in Africa was the emergence of the African Union (AU) in 2002. The AU was preceded by the 1963 formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). The OAU's main mission was to overcome the yoke of colonial rule in Africa. In contrast, the AU's main mission is to end African stagnation by overseeing the formation of "An Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena." In essence, the African Union is meant to be a unifying force for Africa in much the same way as the European Union (EU) has served as a unifying force for Europe. The African Union is meant for Africans to take a leading role in improving themselves.
The existence of a unified governmental structure across the entirety of Africa has proven to be more difficult to attain compared to the EU. Some reasons for the difficulties might be the prevalence in Africa of such traits as tribalism, superstitions, lower educational outcomes, insufficient infrastructure, nepotism, conflicts, terrorism, colonialism, and so forth, not to mention the heterogeneity factor. These traits are not necessarily present in Europe particularly with the same level of acuteness.
In 2013, the AU unveiled its ambitious, 50-year Agenda 2063 initiative (from 2013 to 2063), which somewhat mirrors the UN's 15-year Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) initiative (from 2015 to 2030). Establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals initiative was preceded by the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) initiative (from 2000 to 2015). Of course, a distinction must be made between ambitious aspirations on paper and actual accomplishments delivered on the ground.
Without a doubt, Africa is on the move, so to speak, as witnessed by its various flagship projects currently underway and in progress. Funding, physical capital, and expertise—or a lack thereof—have always been major impediments to progress for most African countries. Reliance on external, non-African parties for funding, resources, and expertise implies that the AU's mission is more susceptible to be influenced by, sidetracked by, co-opted by, or more or less relegated to the interests of those external parties and donor nations. An exploitative, colonial-like relationship should not exist between the African population and their non-African sponsors, donors, financers, and partners who profess a genuine desire to help boost Africa's development and self-sufficiency.
The following flipbook summarizes the overall global progress towards attaining the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), but the "country profiles" section of the flipbook has been restricted to focusing only on the 54 African countries regarding their overall SDG progress (with Western Sahara also known as Sahrawi Republic, the 55th country, being subsumed under Morocco):
See Also: Sustainable Development Report 2024: Africa Only Dashboards
Click here to view full report: Sustainable Development Report 2024: The SDGs and the UN Summit of the Future
See Also: Agenda Dashboard v2 | AUDA-NEPAD
According to the honorable professor Dr. Kariuki Muigua, in his paper titled "Actualizing Agenda 2063 for Sustainable Development in Africa," Africa currently is not pacing to attain Agenda 2063's mission as scheduled by 2063. When it comes to the AU's enforcement proclamations and directives, much like the situation with the impotence of the United Nations (UN) during times of international conflicts, the AU is only as effective as its members want it to be. As is the case with the UN having to carefully navigate around the national sovereignty prerogatives of its more powerful members and their willingness to take concrete action during times of international conflicts, there is a general unwillingness by some members of the AU to yield their national sovereignty, their national interests and autonomy, and their domestic politics to the AU's mandates and dictates. It is very difficult to implement a master plan for Africa under such discombobulated circumstances and with various roadblocks.
Albeit the AU is off to a good start with its ambitious Agenda 2063 initiative, even the eminent professor Dr. Tim Murithi has noted that the AU's pace of change has been slow. In view of indices such as the Multidimensional Poverty Measure index, the Extreme Poverty index, or the Refugee Situations map, it becomes apparent that the peoples of Africa are more severely impacted by poverty—and humanitarian crises—relative to the other peoples of Earth in terms of Africa's overall poverty incidence. As echoed by the great Bill Gates in the video immediately below, a lot of work remains to be done before there is a realization of Agenda 2063, granted, only almost 12 of 50 years have elapsed as of 2024.
China successfully defeated poverty in the span of 40 years while simultaneously emerging as an overall prosperous (upper-middle-income) nation. China's example serves as a precedent to show that victory can be achieved in the war on poverty. Perhaps Africa can accomplish a similar outcome as China if it remains disciplined, organized, coordinated, and focused like a laser beam on making Agenda 2063 a reality. (See, also, the Agenda 2063 countdown clock above.)
It should be acknowledged, however, that there is one gigantic distinction between the country of China eradicating poverty and the continent of Africa eradicating poverty. The distinction is that China is a homogenous country housing a homogenous people, culture, language, political economy, and so on. The continent of Africa, in contrast to China, is a heterogenous continent consisting of 55 different countries housing a multitude of peoples, cultures, languages, political economies, and so on. This homogenous-vs.-heterogenous distinction presents another layer of complexity to Africa's quest to eradicate poverty and achieve the other Agenda 2063 aspirations and goals across the entire continent.
The following flipbook outlines Agenda 2063's vision of a unified, cohesive, prosperous, and self-sufficient Africa; the flipbook also contains both an Agenda 2063 progress report and an Agenda 2063 next-steps report:
The Agenda 2063 initiative is sub-divided into a series of five, Ten-Year Implementation Plans (TYIPs). The purpose of these 5, 10-year implementation plans is to facilitate and expedite Agenda 2063's fruition during its established 50-year timeframe:
- TYIP01, with a duration from 1/1/2014 to 12/31/2023 = 10 years
- TYIP02, with a duration from 1/1/2024 to 12/31/2033 = 10 years
- TYIP03, with a duration from 1/1/2034 to 12/31/2043 = 10 years
- TYIP04, with a duration from 1/1/2044 to 12/31/2053 = 10 years
- TYIP05, with a duration from 1/1/2054 to 12/31/2063 = 10 years
In the West, there are ongoing discussions and debates about the extent to which China—and to a lesser extent Russia—hence, the Communist East, is influencing or shaping Africa's destiny vis-à-vis the capitalist West's influence, in general, and the USA's influence, in particular. The truth of the matter is that Africa maintains development relationships with various external partners coupled with its development relationship with the UN and various philanthropic entities. The following graphics and videos lend insight into the extent to which external investors are present in Africa.
The above graphic [Figure 1.2] clearly shows that, for the period from 2017 to 2022, the West (particularly Europe) has injected more funding into Africa than has China. The difference seems to be in the quality of the injections (vis-à-vis China) rather than the quantity (vis-à-vis the West). The above table [Table 1] provides a more complete view of Africa's funding sources as of 2021.
As of 2024, Africa's partnership with China appears to have produced the most visible and tangible fruits. To be sure, some have described China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with its emphasis on constructing road, rail, energy, and digital infrastructure projects, as a sort of Marshall Plan for Africa.
Speaking of allegation about "France secretly owning 14 countries" as depicted in the above video, it also has been alleged that there is a direct link between Haiti's historical debt burden to France and the present-day collapse of civil order in Haiti. Say what you will about China's involvement in African development. There is little denying the fact that not only are the Chinese wizards at STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) in general but also they have proven to be quite proficient at mastering other esoteric pursuits such as space travel, robotics, biotechnology, genetic engineering, supercomputing, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics, and so on, in particular. So, if China is willing to partner with Africa to assist its inhabitants in developing their economies by initiating various infrastructure types of projects while simultaneously not impinging on the ability of the Africans and their leaders to govern themselves, then I do not see anything at all wrong with China's presence in Africa. I do not see anything at all wrong with China receiving a return on its investment in Africa.
Alan Batchelder, in his book titled The Economics of Poverty makes it abundantly clear that impeded, discriminatory, and preferential access to physical capital (coupled with the presence of a broad and diverse manufacturing base) by the privileged few in a country is a key driver of poverty. In working with Africa, China has demonstrated a willingness to roll up its sleeves, go in there, and do the hard work of infrastructure building, so to speak, which is not to minimize the tremendous ongoing role that the West (and others such as the UN, NGOs, and charities) is (are) playing in fostering Africa's development. China is not playing around; it arrives with its physical materials and gets to work constructing things.
For instance, if China shows a willingness to partner with the inhabitants of Africa to extract their natural resources, then I do not see anything at all wrong with such a partnership so long as the inhabitants of Africa who work in these extractive industries are being paid fair wages for their work. More importantly, in such a partnership, the indigenous business people who reside in Africa must always maintain major ownership and management stakes in these various extractive enterprises. After all, the minerals are located on African sovereign property and are resting underneath African soil. In turn, African business leaders and government officials must invest the resultant monetary windfall or utilize the monies earned from these Africa/China business partnerships—coupled with domestic taxation—to further invest in Africa's development in other areas set forth in Agenda 2063 (for example, to build schools, hospitals, water-treatment facilities, sewage-treatment facilities, trash and garbage landfill facilities, communications grids, transportation hubs, solar-power grids, financial networks, etc., and to make scheduled payments on the debt owed to external funders). Ultimately, over the long term, if a China/Africa partnership can emerge to the extent of helping Africa to erect glistening and thriving cities comparable to the cities located in China, then that would be a very significant outcome for Africa. After all, it is an ancient Chinese proverb that says "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Over the long term, an Africa/China partnership potentially could become a win-win situation [just as could a Western/Africa partnership become a win-win situation]. It could become a win for China by establishing made-in-China markets for China with the inhabitants of Africa as loyal consumers of Chinese products; it could become a win for Africa in realizing its hopes for an integrated, cohesive, prosperous, peaceful, and self-sufficient Africa. Such an Africa/China partnership would be a step in the right direction towards transforming Africa from its present-day Third-World, low-income status to perhaps a Second-World, middle-income status and ultimately to a First-World, high-income status. To be sure, Dr. Sydney Mwamba, executive director of Zambia's Policy Monitoring and Research Centre, seems to have a keen interest in pursuing China's approach to national development.
Getting to Know Africa A Little Bit Better
In this section, several indices are reviewed in an effort for the reader to get to know Africa a little bit better. Click each link for each country in the table below to start exploring Africa.
Welcome to Africa, Part 1 of 3
| Count | Country | Code | Region | Language(s) | Trade | Development | Universities | Travel | News | Governance1 | Governance2 | Embassies | Urgent Situations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algeria | DZ | Northern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 2 | Angola | AO | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 3 | Benin (Dahomey) | BJ | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 4 | Botswana | BW | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 5 | Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) | BF | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 6 | Burundi | BI | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 7 | Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) | CV | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 8 | Cameroon | CM | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 9 | Central African Republic | CF | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 10 | Chad | TD | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 11 | Comoros | KM | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 12 | Congo, Democratic Republic of (Zaire) | CD | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 13 | Congo, Republic of the | CG | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 14 | Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) | CI | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 15 | Djibouti | DJ | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 16 | Egypt | EG | Northern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 17 | Equatorial Guinea | GQ | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 18 | Eritrea | ER | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 19 | Eswatini (Swaziland) | SZ | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 20 | Ethiopia | ET | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 21 | Gabon | GA | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 22 | Gambia, The | GM | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 23 | Ghana | GH | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 24 | Guinea | GN | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 25 | Guinea-Bissau | GW | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 26 | Kenya | KE | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 27 | Lesotho | LS | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 28 | Liberia | LR | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 29 | Libya | LY | Northern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 30 | Madagascar | MG | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 31 | Malawi | MW | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 32 | Mali | ML | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 33 | Mauritania | MR | Northern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 34 | Mauritius | MU | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 35 | Morocco | MA | Northern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 36 | Mozambique | MZ | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 37 | Namibia | NA | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 38 | Niger | NE | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 39 | Nigeria | NG | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 40 | Rwanda | RW | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 41 | Sahrawi Republic (Western Sahara) | EH | Northern Africa | Link | Link | N/A | N/A | Link | Link | N/A | N/A | Link | N/A |
| 42 | São Tomé and Príncipe | ST | Central Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 43 | Senegal | SN | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 44 | Seychelles | SC | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 45 | Sierra Leone | SL | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 46 | Somalia | SO | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 47 | South Africa | ZA | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | N/A |
| 48 | South Sudan | SS | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 49 | Sudan | SD | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 50 | Tanzania | TZ | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 51 | Togo | TG | Western Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 52 | Tunisia | TN | Northern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 53 | Uganda | UG | Eastern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 54 | Zambia | ZM | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
| 55 | Zimbabwe | ZW | Southern Africa | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link | Link |
Welcome to Africa, Part 2 of 3 (Click Each Country's Name for More Information)
Welcome to Africa, Part 3 of 3 (Click the Pushpin Marker on Each Country's Name for More Information)
Map of African Capital Cities
The map below marks the locations of all African capital cities for exploration. At any point while exploring, click the Reset Map button to restore the map to its initial African-centered view.
- Hover the mouse over one of the small circular red markers, and a pop-up window will reveal the country's name along with its capital city name.
- Click the mouse's right button on a marker to temporarily remove the marker.
- Click the Reset Map button to restore a removed marker.
- Click the mouse's left button on top of the small circular red marker to zoom into a view of the capital city.
- After zooming into a view of the capital city, drag the yellow pegman and release the pegman onto a blue-highlighted location within the capital city to obtain a street-level view of it (if available), or click on one of the street-view markers on the map along with the Google link to obtain a street-level view of the marker location.
- If the street-level view is shown, click the left arrow (←) symbol in the upper left corner of the street-level image to restore the map to its initial view (or click the Reset Map button).
- After zooming to a particular capital city, to view all of the red markers again, either adjust the slider downward or click the Reset Map button to restore the map to its initial African-centered view.
The Africa World Heritage map, image, and table below explore the Africa World Heritage Sites in greater details. These (and all) World Heritage Sites have been designated as being among some of the most unique and interesting places to see on Earth.
Africa World Heritage:
Africa World Heritage Image:
World Heritage Africa Table:
| ID Number | Unique Number | Site Name | Category | Location | Criteria | Year Inscribed | Country Code | Region | Image | Website Link | Map | Longitude | Latitude | Area (Hectares) | Language1 | Site1 | Description1 | Nation1 | Language2 | Site2 | Description2 | Nation2 | Language3 | Site3 | Description3 | Nation3 | Language4 | Site4 | Description4 | Nation4 | Language5 | Site5 | Description5 | Nation5 | Language6 | Site6 | Description6 | Nation6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID Number | Unique Number | Site Name | Category | Location | Criteria | Year Inscribed | Country Code | Region | Image | Website Link | Map | Longitude | Latitude | Area (Hectares) | Language1 | Site1 | Description1 | Nation1 | Language2 | Site2 | Description2 | Nation2 | Language3 | Site3 | Description3 | Nation3 | Language4 | Site4 | Description4 | Nation4 | Language5 | Site5 | Description5 | Nation5 | Language6 | Site6 | Description6 | Nation6 |
Africa Search Database:
Moving beyond Africa's capital cities and its World Heritage Sites, the Africa search database below provides a more in-depth and exhaustive view of the African terrain. The database below is based on the data compiled by geonames.org.
- Input applicable keyword(s) into one or more of the applicable Search boxes below.
- Click the Submit Search Term(s) button to search the database.
- Wait for the results to display (patience please; due to the size of the database, it could take over a minute for the results to display).