Sub-Saharan Africa Essay - 2751 Words

Sub-Saharan Africa: The Causes of Postcolonial State Failure On the vast continent of Africa, there are fifty-three countries; of these only six are not located below the Sahara Desert. This leaves the Sub-Saharan region of Africa to encompass a total of forty-seven countries. Many of these countries south of the Sahara have been in state failure, either partial or complete collapse of state authority. This has led to an inability to†¦show more content†¦In colonial Africa, colonial officials created political borders based on the claims of European powers. This arbitrary boundaries making failed to take into consideration the previous settlement patterns , which created political systems that, bunched and split distinct pre-colonial communities. Scholars suggest that colonial officials would systematically grant favorable treatment to the members of those groups who seemed intellectually superior or more cooperative while all the others were demoted to the lower echelons of society. Evidence of this is provided in Rwanda where the B elgian colonial officials granted social and political privileges to the Tutsis in order to catalyze colonial domination. The Hutus faced discrimination and exploitation at the hands of the colonials, which promoted ethnic violence between the Hutus and Tutsis cumulating in the death of more than 800,000 people during the mass genocide in 1994. * In Sub-Sahara Africa, during the last four decades thirty-five major armed conflicts have occurred, taking the lives of almost ten million people. There is a high correlation between the risk of conflict and a low ranking on the Human Development Index (HDI), due to the weak capacities and inability of these poor countries to guarantee the security of its citizens, rebellions and conflict have a high occurrence rate. United Nations has observed that conflictsShow MoreRelatedEssay about Sub-Saharan Africa1833 Words   |  8 PagesSub-Saharan Africa Africa is the second largest of the earths seven continents, covering about twenty-two percent of the worlds total land area. From its northern most point, to its southern most tip is the distance of nearly five thousand miles. Africa is both north and south of the equator. The Atlantic Ocean is located west of the continent, and the Indian Ocean is on the east. Width of the continent is also nearly five thousand miles. Although Africa is so large, much of it is inhabitableRead MoreDeveloping Sub Saharan Africa Essay1158 Words   |  5 PagesSome of the world’s poorest countries, with some of the highest child labor and illiteracy rates lie in Sub Saharan Africa. People generally associate the region only with poor economic conditions and all of the social disorder that goes along with 3rd World Status. 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