What challenges face the rise of Africa in the 21st century? Essay

THE CHALLENGES FACING AFRICA IN THE 21ST CENTURY
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The Challenges Facing Africa In The 21st Century
Introduction
The African continent is home to over 1.2 billion people. It is the largest cobalt producer in the world, and approximately 30% of the earth’s remaining mineral resources CITATION Nat13 \l 1033 (National Geographic, 2013). Archeological findings have shown that Africa is one of the oldest populated continents. The oldest library was started in African by a woman in 859. All these facts paint a glossy picture of the continent. However, despite all these historical and current achievements, it is the most underdeveloped continent with permanent residents. 90% of all malaria cases worldwide occur in Africa, accounting for 24% of all child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa CITATION Nat13 \l 1033 (National Geographic, 2013). The continent is hardly developed even in the 21st century. Diseases, illiteracy, political instability, debt crisis, food security, and poverty have stifled development on the continent. While these are not only the challenges facing the continent, they have the highest impact. If only Africa could address them, it would become a developed continent in a few decades.
Diseases
Approximately 1.6 million Africans died of malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV-related illnesses in 2015 CITATION Tef17 \l 1033 (Pheage, 2017). These diseases are preventable and treatable, but they continue to kill many Africans. Globally, 50% of children under five who die of pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria are in Africa. These statistics highlight the state of healthcare on the continent. In most countries, the available healthcare facilities are overwhelmed, and they also lack resources to meet demand. Most healthcare facilities lack enough qualified doctors and or nurses to meet demand. The facilities are too few and, in some cases, getting a bed is unlikely. Secondly, Africa has been grappling with Ebola. Ebola outbreak in most sub-Saharan African countries has left thousands of people dead because of the weak healthcare system. It takes the intervention of other countries to control the disease. When COVID-19 struck, it spread across the continent, and though the disease has had relatively lower fatality rates than other parts of the world, it quickly overwhelmed the healthcare system. A doctor in Kenya died because she could not get an ICU bed fast enough CITATION BBC201 \l 1033 (BBC, 2020). The country has 354 ICU beds expected to serve over 48 million people. Insurance penetration is also very low, with many countries having less than 1% insurance penetration CITATION Sta20 \l 1033 (Statista Research Department, 2020). All these problems compounded make diseases one of the major challenges facing Africa in the 21st century.
Political instability
African political instability can be traced back to pre-colonial Africa. When European powers scrambled and partitioned Africa for exploitation in the 19th century, they drew boundaries completely disregarding the people and the diverse cultures. The boundaries remained largely unchanged even after colonization. Some communities were split into two or more countries with different ideologies and ...