do you think africa will get out of doldrum by 2020?
473658
Parts of Africa are fantastic. Do I think they will be a world power by 2020? No way.
404188
It will end up in complete disaster.  Once again for all the talk the UN and other countries wont do a thing to stop disaster in Africa.  Bottom line is all of the people with power (ie Western Europe, America, Japan, and a few others) dont care about people unless they are in their backyard.
1098811
Africa the Continent is not to blame for the problems you listed.\n\nselfish people have been plundering africa for centuries.\n\nRemoving the victims of this plunder will not bring back the forests and other habitats the animals need.
460201
TOO EARLY QUESTION..\n94 MORE YEARS LEFT..
1119957
I don't think the Empire will crumble for another hundred years or more. That is, if the world survives a hundred years. C'est la vie!
96616
I would love to visit Africa someday .. it's one of the most beautiful, exotic, cultural places on the planet. \n\nAs for Nigeria, all I know about the people there is from scams that I've received in the past year. There are too many to count. I get tons of emails from people in Nigeria claiming to be professionals handling large amounts of money, that they need my help getting their hands on ... then they plan to pay me a share of the profits ... stuff like that. Thank goodness, I researched beforehand and didn't lose any money in their schemes.
515292
Hopefully it will go better than the drilling in Sudan, which led directly to the genocide. Ethiopia also has a recent history of ethnic and political genocide. That part of the world is extremely unstable, and oil wealth into a few hands might just push it over the edge again.
145092
Since de-colonization, the West has paid very little attention to Africa. Yes, food is sent to some regions, occasionally, but we haven't helped nearly as much as we could (there's a genocide in Darfur, by the way. how many people know that?) Africa has very little resources to interest the West. Is is also a very unstable region, which is why no one wants to move their business there. Because the economy is so poor, there is more poverty and instability; the cycle never seems to end. In the near future, as China further develops its economic power, you'll start to see a lot of the low wage manufacturing jobs move out of China and into Africa.\n\nThe best way for you to help is to ask questions and get other people interested. There is a really great start up program called One Here, One There. It's a pilot program starting at Stetson University in Deland, FL and hoping to go nation-wide soon. For one $20 donation, you can send a child in Africa to school for an entire year. Books, transportation, everything. For one year. (for more info, contact Stetson University)
441559
I do not foresee Africa thriving in this century or the next.  It really saddens me though, since I am an African myself.
418435
Hi, All african countries have cars and houses so that's the wrong way to put it.  Judged by Gross Domestic Product we have unusual answers.  Yes, first South Africa is far ahead, but the other four contenders are Botswana, Namibia, Tunisia and Gabon.  All these countries have different development strategies, and I'd say that Botswana and Gabon are not developed at all, they simply have natural resources and a small population.  Botswana has diamonds, and Gabon has oil, but Botswana has a nearly 40% AIDS rate, and Gabon has most of its country as undeveloped jungle, with nearly no industries.  \n\nMy answers would be \n1) South Africa: it's industrialised and now with the end of Apartheid many blacks have risen to economic success. \n2) Tunisia: they've managed to become a prime tourist destination and use the money for industrialisation, they've done it all without oil or diamonds.\n3) Namibia: Quite similar to South Africa, was in fact part of Apartheid South Africa until 1992, so again industry created by European settlers with the usual problems of bad distribution and exclusion of the native population. \n4) Marocco: Another tourist destination in Africa, but they have done not as well as Tunisia in terms of lifting the rest of the population out of poverty.  \n5) An unlikely answer, but Ivory Coast: They were essentially doing well before the war and are likely to bounce back after it, the prosperity was starting to cause ethnic tensions and that really brought the country down in 2002.\n\nI exclude places like Algeria where despite the oil boom, most people live in fear.  Libya is still a one-man rule, I'll wait and see on that case.  I'm not impressed by oil or diamonds when they can't help an AIDS crisis or create good housing for all, so places like Gabon don't figure high in my statistics.  \n\nOh, and some the islands of Africa (Cap verde, Seychells, Mauritius are doing relatively well, partly due to offshore financial centres, and tourism).  But offshore finance also gives a veil of secrecy for capital to escape out of the resource rich countries, therefore harming the countries like Nigeria which is oil rich.  So Mauritius bankers are actually causing poverty in rest of Africa... see below the link.
1183276
I thought south africa was next?
599878
Africa's problems are of their own making.  Why people continue to think that writing checks and giving aid to the continent is the answer to its woes are wildly misguided.  The removal of corrupt leaders is key to any advancement.  As long as evil leaders reign, the Continent will remain a mess.  Where are those who promote women's rights when it comes to Africa?  Where are those who who understand that its poverty and famine are a man-made condition (by the current leadership)?  It is unfortunate, but African governments need to be overthrown before economic advancement, women's rights, and hunger, etc, can be overcome.  Any aid needs to have strings attached and should be directed and allocated by those provideding it, not corrupt leaders who steal it and disperse it to cronies and care nothing of their own people.  \n\nGive a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.
739497
Never, that is what I see.  It is not only the lack of education or the fact that African resources are being stolen.  If you gave Africa and it's resources back to the Africans, they would really not advance much, they would never become a superpower, I think they will always be a 3rd World Continent.
351540
i hate to say it, but i honestly think its going to be unlikely that usa moves on, given that we're in the group of death... ghana, czech republic, and italy... i think italy & czech republic will move on...
91226
There's no doubt Africa is in a bad way right now.  However, we must remember that most African countries are less than 50 years old.  Even the US was still having problems at that point.  Africa was more exploited by colonizers, and so it only makes sense there are more problems.  However, progress is being made.  Democracy is the way of rule in many countries, having progressed from dictatorships-- Ghana is a good example.  Botswana is doing well economically (comparatively).  Africa is moving forward, and that in itself is cause for hope.
393072
On paper it doesn't look likely at all, but then the World Cup is known to pull a few surprises or two and African teams are especially known to be unpredictable. Who would have thought that Senegal would qualify from their group in 2002? Or that South Korea and Turkey would make it all the way to the Semi-Final stage?\n\nHowever, I think you are correct. I cannot see any African progressing beyond the last 16. Maybe Ivory Coast but that again is a long shot.
304636
Not in the near future. It could happen some day though.