Consumer Credit Reports South Africa
Poverty is a black thing?
The poor performance of African economies and economies, where people of different color than white people have asked to ask whether poverty is a black or a color thing.
This question on poverty, a black Ding has gained belief in many circles. This question is also asked about Africa, because it is the poorest continent on earth. It is a continent where for 30 years there is no real economic development has been compared to the rest of the world. There behind all the other continents in terms of economic and social development. Most, if not all African countries have similar economic problems, namely high unemployment, high inflation, higher deficits, poor economic condition of the and social infrastructure such as roads, ports, education, airports, telecommunications, health and hygiene and rail system. Africa is a continent where people are dying Lack of food, water, and against common preventable diseases. It is a continent full of misery, despair and hopelessness. It is a continent where only very few children under At the age of five survive the threat of the six killer diseases. It is a continent where people lack access to basic necessities of life. It is a Continent, where people walk several miles for water and children have no access to education and medical care. It is a continent where rural life is nothing but a conviction, the bitter poverty. It is a place where people live in mud / thatched houses with bamboo / raffia leaves as roofing. It is a continent full of Wars and armed conflicts. It is a continent of dictators and kleptocrats, a continent where corruption is rewarded and performance is avoided, a continent where the entry is seen in public life / service as a means of acquiring wealth and a means for top positions. It is a continent where life expectancy is low and corruption very high.
It is one thing, skin color or race? I must say that I do not agree or subscribe to the notion that poverty conclude in any color it has and that the underdevelopment and poverty, which is widespread on the African continent is deeply rooted in centuries of slavery and colonialism, coups, armed conflicts, brain drain, endemic corruption, mismanagement, dictatorial rule, Kleptocracy, foreign intervention and the struggle for control of natural resources.
Slavery and colonialism
Centuries of slavery and colonialism robbed the continent on the location of their human and economic resources. The men and women may have been removed to the plantations of the Americas (in progress all about 30-40 people) and they helped to make America and Europe, what they are today. Millions of young Africans were forced to abandon the continent of their origin and were transported more thousand miles to a country where they had no historic site with. They traveled in a very deplorable conditions without adequate food, water and air. When in the so-called new worlds they were made to work from morning to sunset set the only time she had on her own, was on Sunday in which they respond to everything they own on their used such planting their crops, had to repair their homes. It was a very unpleasant experience to our work without pay. Some have even worked dead until they dropped. The slave trade deprived continent their active men and women is a vital resource in any development process and lowered the the continent in intellectual wilderness.
Plundering of resources
About the same time that slavery was vigorously pursued, natural resources, including timber, gold, diamonds, tin ore, ivory and many more were in large quantities by the European Countries plundered namely Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy. After slavery, the plundering of natural resources abolished continued. The irony is that virtually all the income from these funds was to finance the economic and infrastructural development of the European Countries with little or no use to the various countries to develop, where these resources came from. A clear example is the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where King Leopold II of Belgium enslaved Africans, forced to pay, no work, and killed about 10 million plundered the country of its resources and almost nothing has been used to invest the Africans in the country with the exception of weapons used to terrorize the Belgian army and kill. If the Democratic Republic of Congo has been transferred from Leopold II to plunder the state of Belgium and kill until DRC gained its independence continued in the 1960s. In fact, Democratic Republic of Congo (Congo Free State) was the major supplier of rubber is an essential raw material for the tire industry and all the money from the sale of rubber went to Belgium. King Leopold II could be transformed to Belgium as one of the poorest countries of Europe into one of the richest courtesy the enslavement and looting of Africans and their resources.
Belgium was not alone in what they have on the continent. Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy, plundered all their African gold, diamonds, Ivory, wood, cobalt, coltan, tin, bauxite, manganese, and all the minerals you can think of. The Africans, the resistance to the illegal activities were killed in their millions, than in West Africa (today Namibia), where the Germans in 1904-1907, the first genocide of the 20th Century committed by the killing happened the Herero and Nama people. While Europe has become richer Africa were becoming poorer and the trend continued until the 1950s when the African country's independence "began to gain their" beginning in 1951 with Libya, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, all in Ghana in 1956 and 1957.
With little or no investment in the continent of the various post-colonial governments inherited countries virtually no infrastructure: roads, railways, ports, telecommunications, education, health and hygiene and airports. The only areas that few have seen investment in infrastructure during the colonial period were those in which raw materials were hard won. Algeria gained independence does not come on silver Plata., Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa to some extent master reaches all their independence from the colonial struggles of poor and in most cases, there were few facilities were destroyed, that because of the conflict.
Foreign participation
As if slavery, colonialism and the looting of the continent were not enough resources on the continent was a battleground during the Cold War, when the two superpowers and their allies were fighting for influence and control on the continent for its locally Resources. As a result, many African governments that were deemed pro-Russia and America were to be overthrown with the help of the military. One example was that of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana fall to 24 February 1966. Another example is the overthrow and assassination of Patrice Lumumba of the Congo on 17 January 1961.Other leaders such as Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for both commitment to the independence or improve conditions for Africans. CIA and western intelligence have for the engineering of the assassinations and the overthrow involved the elected leaders of Africa. For example, Larry Devlin, the CIA station chief in Congo during Patrice Lumumba, the Daily Post said Washington in December 2008 said he refused an order to assassinate Patrice Lumumba, but not stop his refusal, and the Belgian government, the CIA to overthrow and assassinate him out. The Assassination attempt on Egypt's Gamal Nasser, 24 October 1954 and the assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, was charged with the work of the British M16 are because of their refusal to hand over the management of the Suez Canal to the British.
The CIA, KGB and its allies encouraged and financed wars and political instabilities across the continent. Angola became a battlefield for the CIA, KGB and the Chinese than any attempted to gain control of the country, its people and resources. The civil war in Angola in 1975 swallowed up in 1991 ended after 26 years of conflict. When the war ended, the few infrastructure after the war of independence was (1961-1974) were gone.
On 7th March 2004 a British national Simon Mann, a veteran mercenary and former officer of the elite Special Britain's Forces (SAS), and 69 other mercenaries were arrested at a military airfield outside Harare, Zimbabwe. Their goal was Equatorial Guinea in West Africa. Your Mission was, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, president of the oil-rich Equatorial Guinea, a country of 600,000 people fall. While his defense mentioned He some powerful members of the British establishment as his financiers and backers, including Jack Straw UK Justice Minister, Peter Mandelson, former European Union Trade Commissioner and now Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, Sir Mark Thatcher, a businessman and son of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Jeffrey Archer, a key Tory member for perjury and Ely Calil Smelly a Lebanese oil dealer accused of funding the plot sentenced was. Mark Thatcher was arrested and charged in South Africa supply the aircraft, the Harare carried out to Simon Mann. Mr. Thatcher pleaded in South Africa and was later guilty made to pay £ 300,000 in exchange for a prison sentence. The attempted coup Severo Moto, were an opposition leader living in Spain, responsible for the land taken. The coup was to give both the conspirators and their backers indisputable free access to oil reserves in the nation. When the man and his coup Cronies had succeeded, would Equatorial Guinea one of the usual sad stories in Africa to have bloodshed, corruption, mismanagement, poverty, and what have You. The governments of Spain, South Africa and others were involved heavily in the West for being privy to the plot. Thanks to the vigilance of the Robert Mugabe regime, the coup was to nip in the bud. Unfortunately, most resource-rich countries on the continent does not mean that everyone is happy.
Among the mercenaries, according to Africa sought to return to their former colonial masters was Bob Denard. In fact, Simon Mann is just a small fish compared to Bob Denard, a French, The leaders made a career as mercenaries to overthrow in Africa. If Bob Denard died in 2007, he had more than a dozen coups to his credit. Four of these coups found in the Comoros Island alone. French author Jean Guisner who has followed Denard's career and written extensively on the French government says, Denard did nothing that was contrary to the interests of French – and he allegedly acted in close cooperation with the intelligence. Denard's mercenaries career took place between the 1950s and the 1980s. During this time he is to have been in post independence Nigeria, Benin participated in 1977, Angola, Zaire – now Democratic Republic of Congo and the former Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe. Register their frustration and lack of justice for the Comorians said Mr. Abdou Soule Elbak, former President of the Comoros Grande "This man sullied our history," refers Denard. "I regret it was not made to all the crimes he committed in our country, the murders and the torture that he was guilty, "said Said answer Moustoifa Sheikh, the leader of the Democratic Party front. All these activities of mercenaries found on the continent because of its natural resources.
These were the product of all the political instability and the destruction of life and want The property that have afflicted Africa, to this day. As the elected leaders of the continent were murdered, and thrown subjected to all forms of Cold War tactics, including Bribery, blackmail and arm twisting of the continent and degenerate faulted on all aspects of human endeavor. The new crop of leaders who replaced the post-colonial Heads of State and Government and the independence largely puppets of the European and American governments increasingly authoritarian and corrupt. Joseph Mobutu Sese Seko, the Election was the Americans, after helping to murder Lumumba of the Congo reigned for 32 years and in those years, the country was poorer than Mobutu and his cronies got richer and in Western countries, especially U.S. and its allies had a free hand looting of natural resources especially cobalt is a very important mineral for the development required by rockets. Little development has been carried out by Mobutu. As a result of the Congo today can be accessed mainly by the River Congo only by boats and canoes.
When tyrants and dictators, won the support of Western governments and did what they wanted with their economies without question their people became poorer and hopelessness and despair were the trademarks of their lives. Since the little money into the government coffers were taken by corrupt government officials and officials there were almost no money for the implementation infrastructural development and poverty increased. Poverty, despair and hopelessness visited the people and coupled with their inability, their leaders democratically Change were sown in the different populations that serve as breeding grounds for further coups, civil wars and civil disturbances. This was evidence in Ghana, Nigeria, Niger, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Liberia, Mauritania, Algeria, Gabon, Togo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Sierra Leone experienced coups in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, even in the early years. These waves have been through civil wars of coups followed that Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Congo, Chad, CAR, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Angola, Niger and Guinea-hit. These wars are far from human cost was also to the destruction of roads, ports, airports, railways, telecommunications, hospitals, schools, and the livelihood of the people. With the lack of Infrastructures of the countries were not able to make any progress in terms of economic development.
World Bank, IMF and the role of foreign companies
The World Bank and the IMF (Bretton Wood institutions) and foreign companies also have their share to contribute to the poverty endemic played on the continent. Most African countries billions of debt incurred through loans from the Bank and the IMF. Most of these conditional Loans were used to debt already from these poor countries' service. The loans were also used for foreign expatriates who came to pay the Continent as "technical experts".
Some of these loans were also used for projects and programs that require only benefited the rich. Again Part of the loan was diverted away by corrupt politicians and officials.
The Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP forced) to which poor countries in Africa, which forced the Bank and the IMF to the various governments to abandon their support for the public sector with significant consequences. The withdrawal of Agricultural subsidies in particular has made it difficult for farmers with their Western counterparts, the millions of dollars in state subsidies received to compete every year. The Riots and disturbances on the food shortages and high food prices that have occurred in Egypt, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mauritania, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia and Sierra Leone in 2008 were the direct result of the Bank and the IMF's bitter pills prescribed to these poor countries.
Because of SAP and other policies of the IMF and World Bank investments in education, health, transport and other sectors of the economy decreased substantially. The governments were forced to privatize state-owned enterprises. The sad aspect of this exercise was that almost all companies to foreigners were the proceeds are used to debt settle already heard of these poor nations. The pay off their debts caught not more cash, these poor countries turned to the Bank and the IMF for additional loans and the response was a bank open your markets to foreign goods and accept globalization. As a result, the continent has become a dumping ground for foreign Goods. Can the influx of cheap foreign goods to compete, most local companies have no choice, close, laying off millions of workers and devastating many families. Mr. John Jenkins, the author of "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man 'has written extensively about how the Bank, the IMF and the various large cartels and corporations conspired to keep the Africans and the developing countries in the state where they are today. Please John Jenkins Clock youtube on youtube, as he tells his extraordinary story. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTbdnNgqfs8
The presence of companies such as Shell, Mobil, Chevron, BP, Total, Rio Tinto, Texaco, BHP Billiton, Anglo-American and others to the high poverty contributed to the continent. These companies, which mainly have the raw materials of nature destroyed the once fertile soil in Africa, so that many farmers off their farms lose and give up their livelihoods. were used rivers and streams, fountains and streams of people for their daily activities such as washing and drinking by this profit-making companies charged. Fishing in most mining and oil communities has ceased the pollution, the fish stocks in these rivers and lagoons make fishermen killed unemployed. Communities that were once sparkling with life, are now ghost towns in the countryside, rivers, lagoons and wells were destroyed. Breathing, nausea and other mining-related diseases are on the rise in many communities, which take place in mining and oil production, but this profit Companies have to give up their social responsibility they owe to the people. In August 2006, a Dutch company called Trafigura dumped toxic waste in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, killing 17 people and sickening thousands. Such inhumane acts byTrafigura is only a tip of the iceberg.
Brain Drain
The poverty on the continent has achieved come as a result of severe brain drain that the continent has made in the last Time. The flight of doctors, engineers, architects, attorneys, judges, bankers, accountants, teachers, nurses, planners, surveyors and other agricultural implement our ability to develop projects and programs is limited. The flight made these intellectuals, many government agencies have very weak. In some communities there are hospitals without doctors and nurses. In other countries there are universities and colleges without faculty and teachers. Countries such as Malawi, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and have so much of its professionals to the very rich countries of Europe and America so much that many have lost their sectors attitude taken by foreign Know-how in order to be ready. For example, there are more doctors in Malawi Manchester City alone than the entire combined Malawi. The irony is that governments use scarce resources, to leave these intellectuals train only for the country for greener pastures abroad. Britain and the U.S. are major beneficiaries of this brain drain, and although they are aware of the enormous negative impact it is having on these poor developing countries, they have done nothing to discourage it, in most cases, they have encouraged.
Corruption and mismanagement
Corruption is another cancer that is very is tragically poor from the continent. From South Africa to Egypt there is no country where corruption is endemic. the African Union (AU), about $ Under 148 billion servants are stolen from the continent by its lead ERS and civil rights. In 2006 Forbes' list of the most corrupt countries had 9 of the first 16 countries from Africa. Since oil was first discovered in Nigeria about 50 years ago, several billions of dollars have been realized from the day but the whole population continue to live in abject poverty and the country has nothing to show. As a result, men and women fight against dangerous seas to enter, only Europe and try their Happiness. Others have to follow a popular impostor to 419 people used to cheat given out valuables and money. Those who appear to have benefited from the oil are corrupt politicians, officials and the big oil companies like Shell, Mobil, BP and their American colleagues. In fact, Nigeria has consistently among the top 1% presented the most corrupt nation on the planet. Between 2005 and 2007, several governors and their immediate family members were arrested on money through corruption Scotlandyard in London and money laundering charges. Among them are James Ibori of the oil-rich Delta State and his wife Theresa, their $ 35,000,000 asset by the English Court had frozen. Mr Ibori worth about a thousand dollars a month, but during his eight years as governor of the state, he managed to wealth in the amount of $ 35 to purchase and was a major donor to the campaign of the current President of Nigeria. He owns a private jet and lavish London home. Another corrupt governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa State, money laundering charges was also arrested in London for money. Mr Alamieyeseigha broke his bail conditions and turned in the UK by dressing as a woman. When the police conducted a search of his London house they discovered a million pounds worth of cash in his house. Another governor, who was arrested in England Joshua Dariye of Plateau State. He was arrested development in a London hotel to steal money meant his state. In South Africa, Jacob Zuma is still battling it out with the court for his role in the multi-billion arms deal in 2001 in South Africa. He was forced to resign as Deputy President of South Africa. The late Mobutu in his 32 years as president of Zaire, now Democratic Republic of Congo gained billions of dollars out of the Congo people. In 2006 the former President of Malawi Bakili Muluzi was donated for pocketing $ 12m, arrested at his poor country by foreign governments. Even former President Frederick Chiluba of Zambia was arrested along with two businessmen and Aaron Chungu Faustin Kabwe and charged with 11 counts of stealing money intended for development in Zambia. In Equatorial Guinea, where oil exports, the country has earned billions of dollars, the 600,000 People living in the country live in poverty, while Teodoro Obiang Nguema and his cronies, the oil revenues without accountability siphon away. Angola and Gabon, both oil exporting countries are not different. In fact, the governments of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea as best Kleptocracy that the government described by thieves. In countries such as Nigeria, Egypt, Cameroon, Gambia, Sudan, Uganda, Libya, Tunisia Kleptocracy class of people have nothing replaces democracy. In these countries, very few people the power to continue to remain, and people have no say in the way their country to govern or be executed. Gaddafi Libyan example 39 has been in power since then to at Years. Omar Bongo of Gabon 31 years, Teodoro Obiang Nguema in Equatorial Guinea 28 years, Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe 28 years, Hosni Mubarak from Egypt 27 years, Paul Biya in Cameroon 26 years, Yoweri Museveni in Uganda 22 years, Omar Al Bashir in Sudan 19 years, 17 years Iddriss Derby of Chad, Gambia, Yahya Jammeh of 14 years, and the list is endless. It is clear that these are not elected leaders too poor to accumulate more wealth at the expense of their countries and continue to mismanage what their corrupt acts remains. Because most leaders are former officers or former rebels no understanding of economics and management, they are not good economic policy formulation to make to grow their economies so that the poverty has not to know a part of the people but their leaders, which is poverty. A visit to the Niger Delta of Nigeria shows that majority of people are unemployed. Years of oil spills have made the soil unfit for any agricultural activity. Its streams and fountains are polluted and the people have no access to basic necessities of life, even though billions of dollars per year realized from the sale of oil from this region. In the 1990s, economic hardship, grinding poverty, environmental degradation and forced the people Ogoniland a say in the shell works, but the military regime led by General Sani Abacha arrested the environmentalist Ken Sorowiwa led and executed demand. It is this money for developing countries meant that these governors were caught trying to bank off in Europe. Any attempt to develop, maintain the government in Nigeria until the oil rich areas fell over death Ears, access to the unemployed youth to take up arms against the states. They kidnapped foreign oil workers and demanded their victims before ransom released were. They disturb the oil production, the oil companies forced to move several miles off the coast for their own safety, but they were either not secure. Finally the company had reduced its production by 25% in 2007-8. These disorders affect the supply of oil to force on the world market price to soar to $ 140 per barrel in the summer of 2008.
In the DR Congo is estimated that gold and diamond deposits alone could bring the country $ 23,000,000,000,000 not silent-tantalite from the abundance of wood and other various minerals such as Columbo, which are found in large quantities such as (coltan) and cassiterite (tin ore), nor Years of corruption, mismanagement, conflicts and foreign participation, these resource-rich country is one of the poorest in the world. Coltan, for example, phone is used in every mobile phone and a number of electronic devices in the world. Cassiterite used in electronic circuit boards is the most traded metal on the London Stock Exchange. It is often said that can not say the Western nations, their current level of life without the Congo and most companies West simply go broke in without Congo The question is. If Congo is the bloodline of the West and the West is rich because Congo Congo is why so bad? And where are the billions of dollars from the sale of those minerals? The answer lies in the history of the nation, the complications is the corruption, slavery, Colonialism, murder, armed conflicts and foreign countries. Since its independence from Belgium in 1960 there has been no peace in the country. Several million Congolese have about 4 Million of them in the last eight years, died alone and most of the dead are civilians. The conflict in Congo is largely about who the major resources in the country, he controls. The enormous size of the country has made their management difficult. And the problem is exacerbated by poor training and sickness, undisciplined and terrorize very corrupt Congolese army to kidnap, rape and murder the people, instead of protecting them.
The various Militias operating in the east of the country life very difficult and unbearable for the civilian population. These armed groups, with support from Rwanda and Uganda are operating with impunity in the region remain largely – kidnapping, rape, robbery and massacre of the poor. Jean Pierre Bemba, who now face is for war crimes in The Hague was a notorious warlord, whose activities are not) escaped the International Criminal Court (ICC. Another notorious warlord, the is still operating with impunity is Laurent Nkunda. A visit Walikale town in the east of the country explained clearly why people are so tragically poor. People have their farms left and went into the mines, but what becomes of the mining was taken away from them by the Congolese army and the ever-present predators that is, the armed groups. These armed Groups to force people to pay me the minerals without. Can farm and not paid for their work, most of them have to credit food to in Walikale to survive. Everyday more than 16 aircraft from the city with many minerals for Rwanda bound to fly. These stolen more minerals find their way into the Western mineral market in London and Switzerland. The proceeds will be divided by the remaining warlords in the Congo, the generals, politicians and business people in Rwanda and that will be used to purchase weapons from being used to terrorize the people and prolong the war. Please click on the link below to view a video of the Congo to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io8c81xHLmw
Recommendations and Conclusion
It is clear that some forces to make inside and outside the continent, the poorest continent in the Earth contributed. But there is no time to look back, but a time to look ahead, and our acts together to organize ourselves and start something do. The progress has been made by Korea Taiwan China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, the Gulf States including Bahrain, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar shows in the last 30-50 years that poverty has nothing to do with skin color or race. Nations have become poor because their leaders, the policies and Programs to articulate their problems fail.
To reverse the negative effects of centuries of slavery and colonialism on the one hand and decades of coups, civil wars, corruption, mismanagement, and foreign intervention on the other hand, governments should focus their attention on the reform to organize their democratic institutions and free and fair elections. You should do more to fight corruption and mismanagement, creation of an independent watchdog Corruption, strengthening the judiciary and accountable to the people.
You should curtail the power of the army and go on concrete, clay and results Policy and offer more incentives to discourage brain drain.
Governments should focus on the development of social and economic infrastructure – schools, hospitals, Roads, railways, telecommunications embark, airports, ports, markets, that the foundation for economic and social development will create. You should the research to find out how best the various use of natural resources the people use it. As the saying, "says resources are not, but they are ', so you can all the world's natural resources in but if you do not have the ability, it into useful Convert raw materials / consumables to the people they benefit nothing.
The AU should be more concerned about the fight against poverty as a straight talking shop for corrupt, kleptocracy and dictators.
Outlook: The weekend and on Monday a few newsy things happened over the weekend and Monday.