Africa Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Post-colonial Africa=== {{Main|Postcolonial Africa}} {{See also|Decolonisation of Africa|Neocolonialism|Status of forces agreement|Non-Aligned Movement}} Today, Africa contains 54 sovereign countries, most of which have borders that were drawn during the era of European colonialism. Since independence, African states have frequently been hampered by instability, corruption, violence, and authoritarianism. The vast majority of African states are republics that operate under some form of the [[presidential system]] of rule. However, few of them have been able to sustain democratic governments on a permanent basis{{snd}}per the criteria laid out by Lührmann et al. (2018), only [[Botswana]] and [[Mauritius]] have been consistently democratic for the entirety of their post-colonial history. Most African countries have experienced several [[Coup d'état|coups]] or periods of [[military dictatorship]]. Between 1990 and 2018, though, the continent as a whole has trended towards more democratic governance.<ref>tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13510347.2019.1613980</ref> Upon independence an overwhelming majority of Africans lived in [[extreme poverty]]. The continent suffered from the lack of infrastructural or industrial development under [[Colonialism|colonial]] rule, along with political instability. With limited financial resources or access to global markets, relatively stable countries such as [[Kenya]] still experienced only very slow economic development. Only a handful of African countries succeeded in obtaining rapid economic growth prior to 1990. Exceptions include Libya and Equatorial Guinea, both of which possess large oil reserves. Instability throughout the continent after decolonization resulted primarily from [[Institutional racism|marginalization of ethnic groups]], and [[Political corruption|corruption]]. In pursuit of personal [[Divide and rule|political gain]], many leaders deliberately promoted ethnic conflicts, some of which had originated during the colonial period, such as from the grouping of multiple unrelated ethnic groups into a single colony, the splitting of a distinct ethnic group between multiple colonies, or existing conflicts being exacerbated by colonial rule (for instance, the preferential treatment given to ethnic [[Hutu]]s over [[Tutsi]]s in Rwanda during German and Belgian rule). Faced with increasingly frequent and severe violence, military rule was widely accepted by the population of many countries as means to maintain order, and during the 1970s and 1980s a majority of African countries were controlled by [[military dictatorships]]. Territorial disputes between nations and rebellions by groups seeking independence were also common in independent African states. The most devastating of these was the [[Nigerian Civil War]], fought between government forces and an [[Igbo people|Igbo]] [[Biafra|separatist republic]], which resulted in a famine that killed 1–2 million people. Two [[civil war]]s in Sudan, [[First Sudanese Civil War|the first]] lasting from 1955 to 1972 and [[Second Sudanese Civil War|the second]] from 1983 to 2005, collectively killed around 3 million. Both were fought primarily on ethnic and religious lines. [[Cold War]] conflicts between the United States and the [[Soviet Union]] also contributed to instability. Both the Soviet Union and the United States offered considerable incentives to African political and military leaders who aligned themselves with the superpowers' foreign policy. As an example, during the [[Angolan Civil War]], the Soviet and Cuban aligned [[MPLA]] and the American aligned [[UNITA]] received the vast majority of their military and political support from these countries. Many African countries became highly dependent on foreign aid. The sudden loss of both Soviet and American aid at the end of the Cold War and [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|fall of the USSR]] resulted in severe economic and political turmoil in the countries most dependent on foreign support. There was a [[1983–85 famine in Ethiopia|major famine in Ethiopia]] between 1983 and 1985, killing up to 1.2 million people, which most [[historians]] attribute primarily to the forced relocation of farmworkers and seizure of grain by communist [[Derg]] government, further exacerbated by the [[Ethiopian Civil War|civil war]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/703958.stm|title=BBC: 1984 famine in Ethiopia|date=6 April 2000|access-date=1 January 2010|work=BBC News|archive-date=19 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419011700/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/703958.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Robert G. Patman, ''The Soviet Union in the Horn of Africa'' 1990, {{ISBN|0-521-36022-6}}, pp. 295–296</ref><ref>Steven Varnis, ''Reluctant aid or aiding the reluctant?: U.S. food aid policy and the Ethiopian Famine Relief'' 1990, {{ISBN|0-88738-348-3}}, p. 38</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/722691 | jstor=722691 | title=The Consequences of Resettlement in Ethiopia | last1=Woldemeskel | first1=Getachew | journal=African Affairs | year=1989 | volume=88 | issue=352 | pages=359–374 | doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.afraf.a098187 | access-date=20 May 2022 | archive-date=20 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520194833/https://www.jstor.org/stable/722691 | url-status=live }}</ref> In 1994 a [[Rwandan genocide|genocide in Rwanda]] resulted in up to 800,000 deaths, added to [[Great Lakes refugee crisis|a severe refugee crisis]] and fueled the rise of militia groups in neighboring countries. This contributed to the outbreak of the [[First Congo War|first]] and [[Second Congo War|second]] Congo Wars, which were the most devastating military conflicts in modern Africa, with up to 5.5 million deaths,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/democraticrepublicofcongo/8792068/Is-your-mobile-phone-helping-fund-war-in-Congo.html|title=Is your mobile phone helping fund war in Congo?|date=27 September 2011|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|first=Gordon|last=Rayner|access-date=3 April 2018|archive-date=18 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018135029/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/democraticrepublicofcongo/8792068/Is-your-mobile-phone-helping-fund-war-in-Congo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> making it by far the deadliest conflict in modern African history and one of the [[List of wars by death toll|costliest wars in human history]].<ref>{{cite news|date=22 January 2008|title=Congo war-driven crisis kills 45,000 a month-study|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-congo-democratic-death-idUSL2280201220080122|access-date=20 May 2022|archive-date=14 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414093820/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/22/us-congo-democratic-death-idUSL2280201220080122|url-status=live}}</ref> <gallery mode="packed"> File:African nations order of independence 1950-1993.gif|An animated map shows the order of [[Decolonisation of Africa|independence of African nations]], 1950–2011 File:Africa’s wars and conflicts, 1980–96.svg|Africa's wars and conflicts, 1980–96<br>{{legend|#cc4c02|Major Wars/Conflict (>100,000 casualties)}}{{legend|#fe9929|Minor Wars/Conflict}}{{legend|#fed98e|Other Conflicts}} File:Political Map of Africa.svg|Political map of Africa in 2021 </gallery> Various conflicts between various insurgent groups and governments continue. Since 2003 there has been an ongoing [[War in Darfur|conflict in Darfur]] (Sudan) which peaked in intensity from 2003 to 2005 with notable spikes in violence in 2007 and 2013–15, killing around 300,000 people total. The [[Boko Haram Insurgency]] primarily within Nigeria (with considerable fighting in Niger, Chad, and Cameroon as well) has killed around 350,000 people since 2009. Most African conflicts have been reduced to low-intensity conflicts as of 2022. However, the [[Tigray War]] which began in 2020 has killed an estimated 300,000–500,000 people, primarily due to [[Famine in the Tigray War|famine]]. Overall though, violence across Africa has greatly declined in the 21st century, with the end of civil wars in Angola, [[Sierra Leone Civil War|Sierra Leone]], and [[Algerian Civil War|Algeria]] in 2002, [[Second Liberian Civil War|Liberia]] in 2003, and [[Second Sudanese Civil War|Sudan]] and [[Burundian Civil War|Burundi]] in 2005. The Second Congo War, which involved 9 countries and several insurgent groups, ended in 2003. This decline in violence coincided with many countries abandoning communist-style command economies and opening up for market reforms, which over the course of the 1990s and 2000s promoted the establishment of permanent, peaceful trade between neighboring countries (see [[Capitalist peace]]). Improved stability and economic reforms have led to a great increase in foreign investment into many African nations, mainly from China,<ref name=Africa/> which further spurred economic growth. Between 2000 and 2014, annual GDP growth in sub-Saharan Africa averaged 5.02%, doubling its total GDP from $811 Billion to $1.63 Trillion (Constant 2015 [[USD]]).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD?end=2014&locations=ZG&start=2000 | title=GDP (Constant 2015 US$) – Sub-Saharan Africa | Data | access-date=21 May 2022 | archive-date=21 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521052321/https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.KD?end=2014&locations=ZG&start=2000 | url-status=live }}</ref> North Africa experienced comparable growth rates.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344266156 |last1=Onyishi |first1=Augustine |last2=Solomon |first2=Ogbonna |date=2019 |title=The African Continental Free Trade Zone (AFCFTZ): Economic Tsunami Or Development Opportunities In Sub-Sahara Africa |journal=Journal of Development and Administrative Studies. |issue=1 |pages=133–149}}</ref> A significant part of this growth can also be attributed to the facilitated diffusion of information technologies and specifically the mobile telephone.<ref>Jenny Aker, Isaac Mbiti, [https://ssrn.com/abstract=1693963 "Mobile Phones and Economic Development in Africa"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330032528/https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1693963 |date=30 March 2021 }} SSRN</ref> While several individual countries have maintained high growth rates, since 2014 overall growth has considerably slowed, primarily as a result of falling commodity prices, continued lack of [[industrialization]], and epidemics of [[Western African Ebola virus epidemic|Ebola]] and [[COVID-19 pandemic in Africa|COVID-19]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/117/469/543/5038419 | journal=African Affairs | date=October 2018 | volume=117 | issue=469 | pages=543–568 | doi=10.1093/afraf/ady022 | last1=Frankema | first1=Ewout | last2=Van Waijenburg | first2=Marlous | title=Africa rising? A historical perspective | access-date=21 May 2022 | archive-date=21 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521052321/https://academic.oup.com/afraf/article/117/469/543/5038419 | url-status=live | doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.un.org/africarenewal/news/development-prospects-africa-undermined-severe-economic-downturn | title=Development prospects in Africa undermined by a severe economic downturn | newspaper=Africa Renewal | date=25 January 2021 | access-date=21 May 2022 | archive-date=21 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220521052321/https://www.un.org/africarenewal/news/development-prospects-africa-undermined-severe-economic-downturn | url-status=live }}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page