“HOW TO HELP AFRICA – WAYS TO HELP AFRICA”

“HOW TO HELP AFRICA – WAYS TO HELP AFRICA”

Negative images of Africa dominate the news. The Africa of HIV/AIDS. The Africa of Malaria. The Africa of Poverty. The Africa of Hunger and The Africa of Disaster. This is the Africa we hear all the time in the News but there is one Africa people do not hear too often. It is true that HIV/AIDS is destroying the continent of Africa. It is true that Africa is a poor continent. It is also true that there is Hunger almost everywhere in Africa. This is the Africa we hear all the time but there is one Africa people do not hear all the time and this is the Africa of Hope. This is the Africa of Opportunities. This is the Changing Africa where people want to take their destinies in their own hands. This is the Africa where people want to take care of their own future. Africa is not one nation but a continent of about 52 different countries.

A country like Nigeria has a population of over 150 million people. Do not judge Africa based on what is going on in Darfur. Do not judge Africa based on what went wrong in Liberia, in Uganda or may be in Congo because those are past and gone. The Old Africa is gone. We are in the present and we must look forward to the future Africa not to the past.

The most the external actor can do is to present the opportunity but the ability to transform that opportunity into something beneficial depends mostly on the internal actors (internal capacity). It is good to treat but the best way to treat is not to treat the symptoms but may be the causes of those symptoms. Africans are hungry and Africans need food to survive today. Africans are suffering from Malaria and Africans need malarial drugs like chloroquine to survive today. Africans are suffering from HIV/AIDS and need anti-retroviral drugs to survive today. It is good to feed the poor. It is good to cloth the poor and it is your duty to care for the poor and the needy because you are a human being. But you cannot feed the poor all the time and you cannot cloth the poor all the time. You rushed in to feed the poor and the hungry Africans because you can feed yourself. You rushed in to cloth the poor Africans because you can cloth yourself. Since you can feed yourself and cloth yourself then why not teach the poor how to feed themselves and why don’t you help the poor feed him/herself so you don’t have to feed the poor all the time.

You are feeding the hungry children in Africa because their parents are not able to provide for them. Their parents are not able to provide for these children because these parents are unemployed and even those employed receive just a little which cannot cater for themselves and their children. What Africa needs right now is not a massive increase in foreign aids but rather how to use those aids to create meaningful jobs for the poor Africans. It is good to put money in a place where money can grow. What Africa needs right now is investment. A country like Ghana in West Africa is a very stable country after nearly two decades of political stability and economic improvement. There are resources in Ghana and above all, the majority of the people in Ghana are educated and hospitable. Investing in countries like Ghana cannot be a waste but rather profits for those who invest and also Jobs for the Ghanaians. In this way, the investor is helping him/herself and also helping the poor Africans by providing meaningful jobs. What African mothers and fathers need right now is not loaves of bread from charities but how to make these loaves of bread themselves.

Africa today is not the Africa of Yesterday. Africa is changing and we must change the way we perceive Africa. Africa today is the Africa of Hope and the Africa of opportunities not just for the selected few but opportunities for all Africans. Africa has the resources and Africa is stable except just 2 or 3 places like Darfur but remember Africa is a continent of over 52 different nations and most of these countries are ready for investment. All Africa needs right now are investors who will come and invest in Africa and create jobs in Africa so that the poor mothers and fathers in Africa can get meaningful jobs to do so they can be able to cater for themselves and their children.

Mr. Acheampong Daniel

Ghana, W/A