Where I come from in West Africa, we have a saying:”A fool at 40 is a fool forever”, and most African countries have nowbeen independent for over 40 years.
Most are blessed with all the elements to help compete on aglobal stage – abundant natural resources, a young population and theclimate and conditions to be a major agricultural force.
And yet today, my continent, which is home to 10%of the world’s population, represents just 1% of global trade. I haveno doubt we have to take responsibility for our failures. We can’tafford to keep playing the blame game.
But when 50 years of foreign aid has failed to lift Africa out of poverty, could corruption be the reason?
Could that really be all there is to it?
Causes of corruption
The symptoms of corruption are easy to spot.
Teachers demand bribes from their students because they cannotget by on their wages. Government officials, doctors and nurses stealdrugs meant for their patients to sell on the black market. Africanleaders have property portfolios across the globe, while their citizenslive on $1 a day or less.
It is in the classroom that many get their first taste of corruption
But searching for the causes, I had to ask myself some difficult questions.
People often say a nation gets the government it deserves. Andwe Africans have certainly made some bad choices in terms of leaders,but all too often Western aid has ended up bankrolling them.