(AT) Africa Governance Lesson

Africa Governance

Africa is often known for its political instability, but there are several countries with well-established republics. Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa all have a form of democracy, whether it be parliamentary or presidential. Citizens take an active role in the government by choosing their leaders through elections. Even though we have active democracies in Africa, there is still widespread instability. This instability often leads to an increase in political corruption, poverty, and the spread of AIDS.

Comparing Africa's Governments

Comparing Africa's Governments

Government Systems	Government Types	Types of Democratic Governments
Unitary--power is held by one central authority Confederation--an association of independent states that agree to certain limitations on their freedoms by joining together Federal--power is divided between central authority & several regional authorities	Autocracy--  person possesses unlimited power & citizens have limited role in government Oligarchy-- small group exercises control & citizens have limited role in government Democracy--supreme power is vested in the people & exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation involving free elections	Parliamentary– citizens elect members of Parliament, and then the members select the leader. The leader works with or through the legislature Presidential--a system of government in which the leader is constitutionally independent of the legislature; citizens directly elected a leader. The leader works separately from the legislature

Click through each Republic to learn more.

 

Instability in Africa

Three biggest problems in Africa:

1. Civil war
2. Famine
3. AIDS

Africa is a large continent, but also the poorest continent in the world. It had many natural resources before European colonization. Today there is widespread poverty due to the instability caused upon the end of European colonization.

Many health problems are caused or made worse by poverty. Poverty creates poor living conditions, such as a lack of clean water or food. Often those in poverty live in crowded areas causing diseases to spread. Poverty can cause them to not have access to doctors or medicine. Lack of education causes ignorance on how to stop the spread of disease.

Famine in Africa

• Famine—occurs when a region does not have enough food for a long period of time.
• More than 25 million Africans needed emergency aid in 2008 and 200 million suffer from chronic hunger.
• Factors that have led to famine in Africa:
• Climate changes: drought (lack of rain) makes food scarce because crops die
• Human forces: wars can disrupt farming which causes food shortages
• Weak economies: poor prices of African goods on the world market
• Disease: like AIDS and malaria
• Poorly organized and/or corrupt governments
• There is simply not enough food on Earth for everyone to eat well.
• Many people live where they cannot grow food or where food cannot be transported easily.
• Sub-Saharan Africa (Africa south of the Sahara) has the highest risk of famine in Africa.

HIV/Aids in Africa

 

STATS

Sub-Saharan Africa is more heavily affected by HIV and AIDS than anywhere else in the world.

An estimated 22.4 million people are living with HIV in the region - around two-thirds of the global total. In 2008 around 1.4 million people died from AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and 1.9 million people became infected with HIV.

The average life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa is now 47 years when it could have been 62 without AIDS. There are drugs that slow down the progress of HIV infection to AIDS, but there is no cure. Education and prevention are the most important tools for fighting AIDS.

Africa needs more money to pay for education and prevention programs.

As African countries gained their independence, the governments had to deal with civil wars and famine, so AIDS did not receive the attention it needed. The African economies have suffered due to the staggering burden of healthcare and lack of health workers.

 

 

 

 

Challenge

 

Take Away

European imperialism left Africa in political chaos as diverse groups were left to work together to form new governments, after years of being controlled by European colonial powers. The 20^th century saw the continent being divided as new countries formed. Although many of the countries tried to turn to constitutional based governments to allow for either a parliamentary or presidential democracy, many fell into dictatorships due to a lack of infrastructure and continued economic partnerships with Europe. Poverty, AIDS/HIV, famine, and political corruption also contributed to their difficulties in forming new governments and persist as major issues facing African nations today.

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