Poverty in Africa and its Causes

The term poverty in Africa is generally used to refer to the lack of basic human needs among people in some of the societies in Africa. Most of those people can't afford to have some of the basic things such as soap as well as food among others. Many of the African nations are considered to be developing countries, because there's little monetary activity, despite that fact that there is a fortune of normal resources among most of them. Most of these nations possess a low yearly GDP, which is estimated to be less than two hundred dollars.
It has also been believed that on average, a European earns practically twenty times as much as an African earns. However, it must be noted that poverty in Africa can be attributed to various factors, some of which we intend to look at here.

One of the top causes of poverty in Africa is the mismanagement of land and its resources. Africa is one of the planets hat is regarded as having one of the most fertile soil. However, most of this land is actually owned communally and tribally. There is, therefore, little individual ownership of land, which in turn leads to poor utilization of the said land. In several African countries, disadvantaged groups have no right over land, which implies that they can not get any kind of cultivation done. Individual land ownership in Africa would really go a long way in fighting Poverty in Africa, since land ownership would mean more food for most families.

Another factor that has led to poverty in most of these nations is misuse of money. Most African nations are dependent on foreign aid. It has been estimated that up to five hundred billion dollars is sent to these nations each year in form of aid. However, of this, only a small percentage actually gets to do what the money was intended to do. The money, therefore, does not benefit the local population in any way. The money is often invested in arms and some of it is even sent back to the west through foreign investors. In addition, given the fact that most of the nations are deep in debt, they spend their money on paying off these debts, as opposed to investing it in education and health care among other sectors. Corruption is another issue that has led to misuse of money. Many government officials believe in putting the money into their pockets, as opposed to developing their nations and helping the natives.

Diseases are one of the biggest problems that most African nations have to face and they have led to the wide spread poverty. Most people in these countries do not have clean drinking water, and health care. As a result, they are prone to various infections and diseases.