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Linda Logan
Prof. P. Mbajekwe
HIS 371-90: Fall 2014 Final Examination
December 7, 2014
Question # - 3A/B
The various challenges that African countries have faced since the end of the cold war are
the results of the withdrawal of economic and military aid provided by the Soviet Union and the
U.S. because Africa was no longer a critical factor in the policy chess match between these two
governments. The Soviet Unions aid dried up because she no longer existed and the United
States had to distance herself from having supported repressive dictatorial leaders and the
ideological compromises she made to win. In other words, the United States left Africa out in
the cold, which by the way was a real dumb move, but I digress. As a result, Africa was left with
the challenge of having a mixed bag of single party, military and big man regimes vying for
control over regions and combined with a growing popular discontent among its populations it
presented a conflicts between all parties involved. At the time the cold war ended only three
small countries maintained electoral democracies and combined to make up less than 35
million of the population (1).
South Africa the most industrialized region of the continent was still held under the
white supreme rule of apartheid and worked to destabilize surrounding neighboring countries;
Nigeria the most populated county was suffering from a series of corrupt military leaderships (2);
and conflicts in Liberia helped to have destabilizing effects on neighboring Sierra Leone and
Cote dIvoire. Other challenges that existed was the collapse of the Somali state and the ensuing
famine that claimed the lives of an estimated 220, 000 people in a 12 month period (3); two civil

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wars, in Rwanda and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), claimed the lives of over 5.5
million people* (4); the worldwide pandemic of HIV/AIDS which has been estimated to kill 1.5
million Africans a year (5), (and yes, I did the math!) since 1992, and according to my
calculations is a total of 32 million Africans; and losing its most precious natural resource, her
best and brightest to other countries because of better education, wage and living conditions
found in hegemonic countries.
With all of these challenges and tragedies that have occurred in Africa you think, How
difficult it must be for leaders to focus on democracy, growth and economic development in the
face of these overwhelming obstacles? In efforts to help, the international community has
provided considerable assistance to the Somali Famine Relief, even though death tools continue
to rise and it has been reported, that from April 2010 thru October 2012, 258,000 Somalias have
died including 133,000 children under five (6). Also, worldwide contribution in stopping the
spread of HIV/AIDS has led to the coordination and distribution of much needed medicines that
are helping to extend the lives of millions of Africans suffering from this disease. Unfortunately,
the majority of those in need of treatment are not receiving it because they are not aware of their
status and campaigns to prevent new infections are lacking in many areas (7).
In areas of economic and political growth, Africans are not fairing competitively in the
international open market and foreign exports of food, household goods and clothing are cheaper
than domestic products produced in local markets and movement towards a democratic Africa as
a whole does not appear to be rapidly expanding, even though today their exists over twenty
countries participating in active democratic elections. Botswana, one of the first three of African
countries to become an electoral democracy in the early 1990s, maintains one of the worlds
most impressive records of sustained growth (8).
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Africans tired of international influence in their economic affairs have struggled to create
sustainable growth in financial markets as well. In the early days of the post-cold war, Africa
received guidance on financial matter from the IMF and World Bank and these guidelines
required strict budget cuts and cuts in spending. Africans used government funding in the form
of patronage to conduct political business and were not aligned with IMF/World Bank standards
of doing business. However, other financial aid was provided thru conditional loans based on
Africas abilities to produce cash crops thereby limiting its ability to grow food for domestic use
needed to gain stability and self-reliance. Because of drought, famine, Civil war, non-existent
infrastructure and transportation systems, Africas had no form of transporting cash crops to port
cities for export, creating a debt crisis that still exists today.
Africas challenges are the result of a systemic economic and cultural imperialism that
exists between well-developed industrialized nations and those that are struggling to rebuild from
the devastating effects of colonialism and subsequently, decolonization. However, to build into
the future, I think the U.S, should focus on developing the same relationship that it undertook
with China twenty years ago. Develop strategies that are designed to fit the comparative
advantage that is Africas and allow her to compete in international markets. Decrease foreign
farms subsidies in Africa and allow her to produce food for home and abroad: Forgive interest
on conditional loans, and work to divert those funds into much needed repairs of roads and
transportation infrastructure, hospitals and schools destroyed by civil war. Provide VISA
extensions, scholarships and grant money in the form of a consortium of nations in providing
international educational aid to allow for African students to study abroad, and then return home
working in developmental, medical and educational capacities.

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Works Cited
1,2,8 http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0016.202/--democracy-and-development-inrgn=main;view=fulltext

africa?

3.http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/may/02/somalia-famine-worst-25-years
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide
5-7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HIV/AIDS_in_Africa
6. http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2013/may/02/somalia-famine-worst-25-years

*Note: estimated 500,000 1,000.000 deaths in Rwanda; 5 million deaths in DRC.