Do you know the fastest growing economy in the world today? No, it is not America and no, it is neither Europe nor Asia. It is Africa. Africa is the fastest growing economy in the world today. Africa is rising and rising faster than you could ever imagine. Foreign aid to the continent has declined significantly and yet, the continent keeps rising higher and higher.
As I said in one of my posts, most of us have come to realize the need to stand up on our own feet instead of relying on external support.
Foreign aid as we all know, does more harm than good to Africa. Since 1960, rich countries have given almost 500 billion in aid to Africa and yet what did we see? That did not help at all. Foreign aid sponsors dictators, terrorists, and creates killing machines to kill innocent people in Africa. That is what the 500 billion in aid mostly did to Africa.
Why is Africa now rising? Africa is now rising because the aid has reduced significantly, and many African countries have come to realize the need to come together as one people and do it on our own.
The freedom wind of democracy is blowing fiercely in Africa today, and many Africans are standing up tall so as to be counted and get their voices heard. Not long ago, just about 3 out of the now 55 countries in Africa had democratic systems in place. However, today, at least 25 countries have democratic systems in place in Africa, with others struggling very hard to achieve true democracy. More than 22 countries held elections in 2012 alone. Only four out of the now 55 countries - Eritrea, Swaziland, Libya and Somalia lack a multi-party constitution. Libya is already on the way to a multi-party constitution. Ghana once again led the way with a near perfect electoral process in 2020.
Education as we all know, is the key to success. Education is the key to solving almost all of the problems we face in the world today, and thank God, most Africans are waking up. Most Africans today are beginning to cherish proper education more than anything else, and that has had great impact on the continent as a whole. As I mentioned earlier on, elections have become quite frequent and many civil wars have finally ended all thanks to education, peace, and reconciliation.
Secondary-school enrolment has risen by about 50% in Africa since the year 2000 after many states expanded their education programs and scrapped school fees. Although most families still struggle to make ends meet, quality education is helping a lot in the family building process, making families healthier and happier. Education has also helped a lot in the fight against deadly diseases such as malaria and the deadly HIV/AIDS. Over the past decade, malaria deaths in some of the worst-affected countries, have declined by about 30% and HIV infections by up to 74%. Life expectancy across Africa has increased by about 10%, and child mortality rates in most countries have been falling steeply all thanks to education.
As I mentioned earlier on, Africa has the fastest growing economy in the world today. In fact, six countries from the continent made it on the list of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world today. The difference that this booming economy has made can be seen all across the continent. People are getting formal education, which is helping raise the income per person on the continent. Over the past ten years, real income per person has increased by more than 30%, whereas in the previous 20 years it shrank by nearly 10%. Africa is rising and Africa is expected to rise even higher. Over the next decade, Africa's GDP is expected to rise by an average of 6% a year.
Regional integration has also played a major role. The various regions across the continent are coming together to look for ways of uniting the continent towards common goals. This is helping a lot in removing some of the economic, social and political barriers across the continent. This has helped a lot especially in intra-Africa trade. Why? Because, it enables the free flow of goods and services across the continent.
Africa has done it before so there is no doubt Africa can do it again, and even better.