[Atabong]

[quote]

Originally Posted by Smartass

Africa is doing poorly according to whom?
If you read history you may free yourself of the feeling of despair and frustration at the fate of Africa

But Research has shown that Africa is by far the World's poorest continent, and it is, on average, poorer than it was 25years ago(Wikipedia)
NBER News calls this an Economic Tragedy and says the first culprit has been the lack of investment. That since 1975 the investment rate has declined to 8.5 percent for the entire continent compared to the investment rates for the average-performing OECD economy of between 20 and 25 percent, and for East Asian Economies of 30 percent.
Chief Emeka Anyoaku, a former Secretary General of the Common Wealth a few weeks back bemoaned the fact that, far from growing, Africa’s Economy has shrunken drastically, with Sub Saharan Africa accounting for just 1-5 percent, in terms of International trade.
WorldMonitor.info paints a very bleak picture with no room for any prospects whatsover and also states that Sub-Saharan Africa has fallen so far behind the rest of the world economically that a serious 'brain drain', or exodus of the most highly educated people, to the affluent West has made it difficult for the region to retain people especially critical to its development

Civilisations rise and fall, when the Chinese and Japanese had well planned cities with roads and sewage disposal methods the Europeans lived in cramped buildings and emptied their chamber pots on to the streets, it was not genius or planning that led them to change but calamity in the from of the plague and cholera.

I'm still to see an African University ranked amongst the World's top 200, records of our people showing some great traits, philosophers, thinkers, Prophets of God, Black Scientists, Black Popes etc. Could any such records all have been burnt or looted? Is it too late to start compiling and safeguarding our own records? Does it help to just generalise the fact that civilization started in Africa? But Egyptians of today don't identify themselves as Africans. Libyans call black Africans slaves. I'm I getting something wrong? What really went wrong?

My point is Kingdoms rise and wane. Who would have thought the sun would ever set on the British Empire or the USSR would crumble or the dollar would weaken or that there would be another currency to counter the dollar?

Has the British Empire really crumbled? I don’t think so, I think it's jsut a matter of changing from the power of the gun to the power og the pen. I don't see any records of an African language amongst the world's popular languages. The USD is still largely the world's reserve currency.

Do not despair its just our place in time in the vicissitudes of life we have had our highs these are our lows

Thank you for the encouragement but It’s hard not to wallow in despair. I'm not ashamed of being black African, yet I must admit that I'm a little embarrassed at times; and I’m sure this is the same for any right thinking black African. Those who are truly desperate are they who are caught up in the million churches and mosques that have sprung up here and there after every block in Africa. Even if there is a God I’m sure He’d not expect our people to be living in destitution yet praising or come kissing His feet every now and then.