Africa is the second largest continent in the world, it’s a beautiful continent that is very rich in natural resources. Unfortunately, its natural resources are stolen, in return Africa is branded poor by the West.
The people in the West have the mentality that without their aid or support to Africa, the people of Africa wouldn’t survive.
Dr. E. Obiri Addo, an Anthropology professor at Drew University once said, “Africa feeds the world, but the world eats without Africa”. This perspective shows how we starve the hand that feeds us. Some people believe it’s our moral obligation as humans to aid those who are less fortunate than us, especially Africa as we owe our wealth to the continent.
Others say it’s not their responsibility to help or aid Africa. They believe corrupt officials are the sole problem. They refuse to aid Africa purely due to the fact the money won’t reach those who need in, it simply just goes to the corrupt officials.
Africa is very rich in natural resources. Nigeria has one of the world’s largest oil reserves, it’s Africa’s largest oil producer. Within African countries, they have natural resources in which they can hugely benefit from, but this leads me to question, where is all this money going?
“$60 Billion Leaves Africa Illegally Each Year” – Voice of America.
The people of Africa want to be given the same rights and freedom as those in the Western countries. They want the same chances, opportunities, education and clean running water.
However, they are denied those rights due to corrupt officials. Instead of improving the roads, schools and hospitals, corrupt officials smuggle the money out and deposit it in secret offshore accounts in developed countries.
The Western governments will be quick to condemn corruption but will happily turn a blind eye whilst they do the robbing. The sooner we acknowledge the West is the problem, the better.
All the money leaving Africa is traceable, so why isn’t anyone doing anything about it?
It’s easy; the West will continue feeding Africa with tiny crumbs of foreign aid. The people of the West will continue looking down on Africa and telling Africa to be thankful for the money they’re given. They will watch as Africa starves and blame it on corruption, they will say Africa needs to help itself.
The people of Africa need to come together and demand an end to this. All those found guilty of stealing need to be prosecuted for their crimes. The West need to stop pretending they are trying to solve our problems and the future generations will continue paying the price of betrayal.
Europe became rich because it exploited Africa, and the Africans know that – Desmond Tutu
