Globl Issues: Poverty and Development: Africa - 2010 Good News?

T he Global Issues ‘Poverty and Development’ topic focuses on the issue of the North-South divide and trends in global poverty. In the 80s the Latin Quarter warbled that they were ‘Hearing Only Bad News on Radio Africa’. Well here is a round up from iafrica.com which paints a slightly different picture: 2010 Africa Update:

Africa showed its potential in 2010 with a successful World Cup and economic growth, but violence and flawed elections tainted a year, in which a list of nations marked 50 years of independence.

There are also major challenges in the year ahead, including landmark elections in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation and largest oil producer where ballots have been consistently flawed.

Fears of a return to unrest also hang over Ivory Coast, where an election standoff following a November ballot has threatened to reignite tensions, and south Sudan, which will vote on its independence in a referendum on 9 January.

But despite the bad news, progress was easy to spot in a year that saw 17 countries mark a half-century of independence.

Such progress has given hope that a number of African nations may have started down a road that will see them cash in on their potential.

South Africa’s hosting of the continent’s first football World Cup is at the top of the list, with the country having defied doubters and shown it is capable of pulling off such a major event.

“There’s been a swing in the international discourse about Africa,” said Alex Vines, head of the Africa programme at London-based think tank Chatham House, while discussing the World Cup.

“We’ve been moving away from the discourse of humanitarian assistance ... to one of opportunity.”

However, he pointed out what many others also have: “Africa is not one country - it’s a continent. There’s tremendous variability.”

Another encouraging sign came from what some saw as a more unlikely place.

Guinea, ruled for decades with an iron fist by undemocratic leaders, held an election that observers said appeared to have constituted a significant step forward.

According to some analysts, the continent as a whole has registered progress when it comes to democratic standards.

While problems remain widespread and worrying, completely fake elections seem to be becoming a thing of the past, one observer said. Opposition parties have grown stronger and the population has become more engaged.

“Africa has actually moved out of the era in which it has make-believe elections,” said Jibrin Ibrahim of the Centre for Democracy and Development in Nigeria, who, however, pointed out that many flaws are yet to be overcome.

Ivory Coast served as an example of how a country can move in reverse.

Elections there were supposed to end a decade of conflict in the country, once the most prosperous in West Africa, but instead degenerated into a standoff between incumbent Laurent Gbagbo and his rival Alassane Ouattara.

UN-backed results show Ouattara won, and Gbagbo faces strong international pressure to yield power.

Two other high-stakes ballots will be held in early 2011.

South Sudan’s referendum is part of a 2005 peace deal which ended a two-decade civil war that cost some two million lives. Many analysts expect the south to vote to break away and split the continent’s largest nation in two.

In Nigeria, presidential, legislative and state elections are set for early April.

Violence and rigging have long been part of Nigerian elections, and one of the world’s largest oil producers will be under pressure to hold a credible vote while seeking to put a lid on unrest in the Niger Delta.

In what may be seen as a bad sign for the months ahead, twin car bombings killed at least 12 people near Nigeria’s independence day celebrations on 1 October.

Further north on the continent, extremist violence has also drawn concern. Al-Qaeda’s north Africa branch has claimed a series of attacks, including kidnappings of French citizens.

The continent will be hoping to ride a wave of economic growth in the upcoming year.

Many African economies registered strong growth in 2010, particularly with the world’s emerging powers, especially China, heavily investing in a continent rich in oil, minerals and other natural resources.

But familiar problems remain. Such growth has too often failed to result in real development and improvements in the lives of ordinary citizen, with corruption and mismanagement still major hurdles.

“The growth has not translated to job creation, poverty reduction,” said Sola Oluwadare of the African Institute for Applied Economics in Nigeria. “Governments must be made accountable for the resources at their disposal.”