Reasons for the continuing state of underdevelopment in Africa

Reasons for the continuing state of underdevelopment in Africa

The Bane (Hindrances) of National Development in Africa

Africa, for all practical purposes, remains largely underdeveloped in spite the availability of vast human and natural resources. All the development plans and structural adjustment programmers have failed to yield expected results.

The two most touted reasons for the continuing state of underdevelopment in Africa are its:

• Colonial experience
• The scourge of bad governance as a result of inept leadership

However, while these factors contribute to the underdevelopment of many of the countries in Africa, there appears to be a more fundamental factor responsible for its state of underdevelopment: a moral deficit in the psyche of both the general citizenry and also the people who are to execute the development plans and programmers.

This manifests in various forms of vices that include dishonesty, greed, discrimination and injustice across virtually all spheres of social existence. These vices in turn generate a lack of focus, accountability and insufficient dedication that fuel underdevelopment in Africa.

In this regard, there is the argument that sustainable social development is dependent on an asymmetrical relationship between the level of control human beings have achieved over the physical world and the mastery of their world of politics, religion, culture and interpersonal relationship.

It is observed that while humans have achieved an impressive level of control over the physical world, as is evident in the innumerable scientific and technological achievements, we have not achieved the same level of success in terms of human morality and spirituality.

Hence, many people are still enslaved to basic instincts, personal desires,  emotions  and prejudices that impede the readiness of people or groups of people to actually cooperate with one another, undertake requisite actions and make sacrifices that are necessary for the kind of development that is both inclusive and sustainable.

In addition to the above, there is also a general technical deficit in many African nations. Accounts abound on the fact that Africa is backward scientifically and technologically, and how this contributes to its general state of underdevelopment.

The realization of the important role of science and technology in the process of development accounts for the technical conception of development as the acquisition of scientific knowledge and technical know-how with their associated material and economic benefits.