1. Great poverty is common.
A. The middle class is rare and opportunities to improve are few.
B. Problems resulting from poverty: 1. Illiteracy
B. Problems resulting from poverty: 2. Hunger
B. Problems resulting from poverty: 3. Disease
B. Problems resulting from poverty: 4. Poor Infrastructure
C. Small, Elite Ruling Class
2. Most live in rural areas
65%-85% rural population
B. Rural areas lack many opportunities for development
3. Subsistence agriculture is the main occupation of Africa
A. Little income, little savings
B. Women produce most of Africa’s food
C. Modern farming techniques/equipment are rare.
D. Crop yields are low.
4. Per capita food output in most countries has declined or has not increased since independence
A. Today’s Africans eat 10% less than 20 years ago.
B. poor agricultural practices
C. rapid population growth
D. warfare and drought cause shortages
5. Drought is a persistent problem in most countries
A. occurs repeatedly in some areas
B. Sahel – region south of the Sahara
6. Lack of education hinders development
A. 2/3 of African countries have less than 50% literacy rate.
B. In many areas female literacy rate is far below males. Low female literacy = high birth rate
7. Poor transportation hinders development
A. High heat and humidity makes building difficult.
B. lack of technical skills
C. poor transportation = poor trade
8. Serious public health problems
A. Infant mortality rate is 137 per 1000 (12 per 1000 in US). High birth rates usually mean high infant mortality.
B. High incidence of disease and parasites due to tropical climates.
C. shortage of doctors and medicines
9. The national economies of all countries except South Africa are under-industrialized and overly dependent on the export of a few primary products, particularly minerals and cash crops
A. Africa produces food and raw materials for overseas.
economies are dependent on the demand for these products; no demand = no $
C. creates unfavorable balance of trade Finished goods sell for more than raw materials.
10. Almost all countries are heavily in debt to foreign lenders
A. Many late 1970s loans were made based on economic growth that didn’t occur.
B. IMF and World Bank have asked for austerity measures before restructuring debt.
11. Economic and humanitarian assistance to the region has slowed since the end of the Cold War era
A. No more communist threatUS aid to Sub Saharan Africa was cut by 30% between 1985 and 1992.
B. “compassion fatigue”
12. Authoritarian govts have been the rule since independence, but progress towards democracy is now widespread
A. Many countries have a history of military govts and one party states often dominated by one ethnic group. Idi Amin of Uganda
B. Democratic elections often come with violence.
13. Serious political instability in many countries
is based on tribal rivalries which are reflected in issues of economic class and political representation
14. A diverse array of political, economic and social ideas from the West, the Communist bloc, the Muslim world and traditional African values influence Africa today
A. From the West: democracy, capitalism, socialism, land ownership
B. from Communism: one party military dictatorships
C. from Islam: theocracies
D. traditional African values – roles of men and women, leadership, land ownership
15. Although formal political colonialism has vanished, most countries still have important links with the colonial powers that formerly controlled them
A. and many of the corporations that operated in the colonial era still have a strong presence.