{"id":42264,"date":"2023-04-01T17:05:20","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T17:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries"},"modified":"2023-04-01T17:28:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-01T17:28:10","slug":"african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries","title":{"rendered":"African Unity and the race towards the Most Developed Countries"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>Economists, development experts, human life improvement druids or whoever understands these things, I beg your indulgence. What is the difference between Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and poor countries, if it\u2019s not that they are all poor?<\/p>\n

But no! Some organisations have listed those LDCs and poor countries which I, in my ignorance, thought would be in the same way, only to find them listed so differently it baffles. The only thing the ten at the bottom share is being African.<\/p>\n

While in the group of ten poorest countries you find South Sudan, the DRC and Malawi, you won\u2019t find them in the LDCs group. And Burkina Faso, Mali, Guinea and Guinea Bissau are in the latter, but not in the former. It makes you smell a \u2018rat of cooking\u2019.<\/p>\n

In determining poor countries, they list low Per Capita Income, slow growth rate, economic inequalities, low level of living standards, low rate of capital formation and backward techniques.<\/p>\n

LDS are marked by inadequate technology and capital. But isn\u2019t it the case for poor countries?<\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it ditto for low saving rates? Dual economies (advanced farming together with traditional farming); varying dependence on international trade; rapid population growth; low literacy and school enrolment; unskilled labour force and poorly developed institutions?<\/p>\n

Personally, all the above spell claptrap to me!<\/p>\n

Except to some level in Scandinavian countries, where don\u2019t you find glaring economic inequalities and backward techniques among most advanced economies? Haven\u2019t you been approached by a person in these countries who asked you to help them fill a form because they are practically illiterate? Can\u2019t we cite more?<\/p>\n

If they ask me \u2013 of course they won\u2019t! \u2013 they should descend from their multi-storeyed building offices \u2013 where they consult their laptops for statistics \u2013 and get down to the homes of the people of these countries, see the different lifestyles, and only then give us their verdict.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk about Rwanda which they place as 24th among the LDCs, a little better but not exactly a flattering position. As for being among the world\u2019s poorest countries, I don\u2019t precisely know her position. What I know is that it\u2019s not one to write home about, either.<\/p>\n

But consider a villager on her\/his own humble land but enough to host fields with different crops and to them, throw in a couple of animals (some cows, goats, chickens, more). She\/he has a permanent house and separate kitchen behind, all lit by a few electric bulbs. Consider, too, the fresh air that the family enjoys.<\/p>\n

There is running tap water at a spitting distance. A school for those of his\/her three children who have not yet gone for their secondary or tertiary education. A health facility and they are all beneficiary of health insurance \u2013 Mutuelles de Sante\u0301 \u2013 which they get for a song. Nearby, there are shops, a market, milling factory, dairy, the lot.<\/p>\n

But apart from hiring a tractor now and then, paying farm hands, paying taxes, school fees and selling and buying a few things, the family hardly engages in any other fiscal activity.<\/p>\n

Remember, villagers are the majority in African countries. Pray, does such a villager appear on the radar of the development gurus of these organisations?<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s take the UK that\u2019s among the rich and Most Developed Countries (MDCs). Consider a London sleek civil servant or employee of any company, organisation. He\/she works for these but he\/she and his\/her money never come in contact.<\/p>\n

His\/her credit card does all his\/her transactions. It pays his\/her flat in a congested skyscraper, pays health insurance, shopping, washing machine, cooker, fridge, microwave, car\/daily commuter tube, laptop, mobile phone, occasional concert or film, on and on, all on loan.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn loan\u201d because the card does not have to have credit on it till the salary falls due.<\/p>\n

He\/she comes in contact with free fresh air only once in a while at Hide Park or the shores of the Thames. But, mind you, this latter will only be possible during summer time.<\/p>\n

These kinds of workers are the majority in these rich and MDCs.<\/p>\n

Such a worker is rich and most developed because he has adequate technology, adequate capital, high saving rate, feeds on products of advanced farming and is fully involved in international trade? His\/her country has slow population growth, high literacy and school enrolment, skilled labour, highly developed institutions? Well, give me another!<\/p>\n

Of course, every African country would like to be among the MDCs. And, save for the countries that court strife as if wishing to permanently play in the mire like kids as their best thing in the world, there is no doubt many African countries are inching there. But while we aspire to get there, may we take a different route and create ourselves a better space?<\/p>\n

Already, the light is shone by the fact that the BRICS has overtaken the G7 in global GDP. That \u201cS\u201d stands for South Africa. Much as it\u2019s been performing disappointingly, it\u2019s evidence that other African countries can get there.<\/p>\n

Heed the adage \u201cl\u2019union fait la force\u201d, Africans. Let\u2019s come together and work in unison for the sake of Mother Africa\u2019s rapid growth!<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. Economists, development experts, human life improvement druids or whoever understands these things, I beg your indulgence. What is the difference between Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and poor countries, if it\u2019s not that they are all poor? But no! Some organisations have listed those LDCs and poor countries which I, in my ignorance, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":42263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-42264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nAfrican Unity and the race towards the Most Developed Countries - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Economists, development experts, human life improvement druids or whoever understands these things, I beg your indulgenc ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"African Unity and the race towards the Most Developed Countries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Economists, development experts, human life improvement druids or whoever understands these things, I beg your indulgenc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-01T17:05:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-01T17:28:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1680352530.23.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"666\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"African Unity and the race towards the Most Developed Countries\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-01T17:05:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-01T17:28:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries\"},\"wordCount\":906,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2023\/04\/postQueueImg_1680352530.23.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/african-unity-and-the-race-towards-the-most-developed-countries\",\"name\":\"African Unity and the race towards the Most Developed Countries - 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