Short Overview of African Countries

Introduction Africa in postcolonial period African economy today Government of South Africa Economic organizations in Africa Problems and ways to solve them Conclusion

It isnt a secret that Republic of Armenia as well as other former socialist republics is at the end of the list of countries in terms of economy, but almost everyone speaking about our country mentions that there are a number of countries having more troubles with economy then our. Listening to this kind of words makes listener think about Africa, Sahara the countries situated there. Algeria (which situated in north Africa), Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Chad, Djibouti, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mozambique, Rwanda, Zaire (Democratic republic of Congo), Zambia, Zimbabwe and a lot of others are countries traditionally considered to be the poorest part of the world. This is the common image of Africa. in the following report I would try to introduce a little bit detailed picture of this object. AlgeriaAngolaBotswanaCameroon ChadCongo(Zaire)Djibouti

This period is 2000 B.C. up to 6-th century A.D. During that time Egyptians were researching the north of the mainland. In 6 th century B.C. Carthaginians travelled along the west coast. Roman travellers went far into Libyan desert centuries A.D. This is a period of Arabian invasions. After conquering the north they moved to the south and reached Senegal and Niger rivers. The third period of research is associated with the Europeans desire to find a sea way to the wealth of India. By the end of sixteenth century the continent has been outlined on maps. This period of African history, which begins in eighteenth century is probably the most shameful part of European history. Europeans blinded with the magnificence of African wealth began sacking its territory, the same way as they did it in America.

From this time and up to 20-th century African continent was a big colony of a number of European countries. After a century of rule by France, Algeria became independent in Angola – former Portugal colony got its freedom in Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in The former French Cameroon and part of British Cameroon merged in 1961 to form the present country. Chad was a part of France's African holdings until The French Territory of the Afars and the Issas became Djibouti in Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Basutoland was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho upon independence from the UK in Mozambique almost five centuries was a Portuguese colony came to a close with independence in Rwanda gains its independence in The territory of Northern Rhodesia was administered by the South Africa Company from 1891 until takeover by the UK in During the 1920s and 1930s, advances in mining spurred development and immigration. The name was changed to Zambia upon independence in The UK annexed Southern Rhodesia from the South Africa Company in A 1961 constitution was formulated to keep whites in power. In 1965 the government unilaterally declared its independence, but the UK did not recognize the act and demanded voting rights for the black African majority in the country (then called Rhodesia). UN sanctions and a guerrilla uprising finally led to free elections in 1979 and independence (as Zimbabwe) in But even after formal independence most countries are heavily dependant on Europe in terms of investitions and aids. After the "lost decade" of the eighties when tumbling commodity prices, debt, economic and political mismanagement brought African economies to near bankruptcy, the majority of African countries have embarked on International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and donor supported economic reform programmes. In December of year 2000, the World Bank gave US$155 million in credits to help seven African countries Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Zambia, and Uganda cope with an unexpected surge in oil prices and other losses in their terms of trade. These factors were causing serious hardship for the poor in terms of rising energy and transportation costs, which in turn were jeopardizing the success of the countries' reform programs. Still, poverty is higher in Africa than in any other region of the world. According to the latest data two out of five Africans subsist below a poverty line of less than $20 per month; the majority of these are women. This mean that some 300 million Africans live on barely 65 cents a day. Africa has the most unequal distribution of income of any region in the world. The richest twenty percent of Africans own 51 percent of total income, compared to 40 percent in western countries and in South Asia. The last report on Africa made by World Bank group also shows how civil conflict in the region has blunted and reversed growth prospects for war-torn countries. While the trend for many African countries during the 1990s was one of slow but steady economic improvement, those in conflict suffered negative growth and an alarming deterioration in basic conditions (Angola -0.2 percent, Burundi -2.4 percent, Democratic Republic of Congo, -4.6 percent, Rwanda, -2.1 percent, Sierra Leone, -4.6 percent). In essence, the present forecast is that the world's poverty will become even more concentrated in Africa.

GhanaKenya LesothoMozambique ZambiaRwanda Zimbabwe

But not only the economic problems were quaking the continent. Continuous warfares wouldnt give a chance to develop national economy of that region. But what is the present situation there? It seemed like the countries stepped on a way of democracy, but as a recent World Bank report on Africa notes, "a sharp distinction should be drawn between formal and real democratisation". During the 1990s, 45 out of 50 African countries held multiparty elections, in addition to the four African countries that had such a system at the start of the decade. But in only ten elections did these lead to a change of government. With the significant exception of Senegal, the trend in the most recent elections on the continent appears to be one of even fewer changes in government. According to the OAU (Organization of African Unity), 26 African conflicts have taken place since 1963, affecting 61 percent of the population. Today, 21 percent of Africa's peoples are in war and conflict (Algeria, Angola, Burundi, Comores, Congo, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda). It is comparable with Asia (Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Tibet) or even Europe (Balkans, Northern Ireland, Russia or Spain). According to a recent survey on political rights and civil liberties by Freedom House, 23 out of 50 African countries are classified as "not free". But overall, over the last decade Freedom House has moved Africas status from "not free" to "partly free"- a significant improvement. Where there is conflict there is no democracy, there is hardly an economy, and- as we've seen in Somalia and Liberia - one may even question whether there is a state. Poverty, political instability and war go together.

Economists use a number of indicators to measure a welfare of population of given country. Undoubtaly the most important of them are GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and GNP (Gross National Product). In order to make the comparision more expressive, these indexes are calculated not in absolute values but per capita. This method helps researchers to disengage themselves from the size of the country. Two of other important indicators are Life Expectancy at Birth and Illiteracy Rate. In 1998 real GDP growth was higher in Africa than any other developing region, while inflation was slightly higher than in Asia and significantly lower than other developing regions. Half the world's ten fastest growing economies are in Africa, although growing off very low bases was not a good year for Africa. Armed conflict increased and looks set to continue. The slow-down in the world economy affected stock markets; caused currencies to depreciate; and reduced foreign exchange income from oil, minerals and metals and agricultural products. Aid to the region is reducing and investors are having second thoughts, leaving many projects on the drawing board. Aids, malaria, cholera and other diseases are rampant. Foreign debt servicing and corruption mean that little foreign exchange trickles through to fund education, health and infrastructure. Tourism and, strangely enough, information technology provide the best hope for the dark continent.

The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority is vested in the President of South Africa who is head of state and head of government, and his Cabinet. The President is elected by the Parliament to serve a fixed term. South Africa's government differs greatly from those of other Commonwealth nations. The national, provincial and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in the South African Constitution as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated". Operating at both national and provincial levels ("spheres") are advisory bodies drawn from South Africa's traditional leaders. It is a stated intention in the Constitution that the country be run on a system of co-operative governance.

Legislative: Parliament, consisting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces Executive: The President, who is both Head of State and Head of Government Judicial: The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the High Court.

The bicameral Parliament of South Africa makes up the legislative branch of the national government. It consists of the National Assembly (the lower house) and the National Council of Provinces (the upper house). The National Assembly consists of 400 members elected by popular vote using a system of party-list proportional representation. Half of the members are elected from parties' provincial lists and the other half from national lists. Following the implementation of the new constitution on 3 February 1997 the National Council of Provinces replaced the former Senate with essentially no change in membership and party affiliations, although the new institution's responsibilities have been changed; with the body now having special powers to protect regional interests, including the safeguarding of cultural and linguistic traditions among ethnic minorities. In ordinary legislation, the two chambers have coordinate powers, but all proposals for appropriating revenue or imposing taxes must be introduced in the National Assembly. The President is elected by the members of the General Assembly. Upon election the President resigns as an MP and appoints a Cabinet of Ministers from among the members. Ministers however retain their parliamentary seats. The President and the Ministers are responsible to the Parliament, of which they must be elected members. General elections are held at least once every five years. The last general election was held on 7 May 2014.

The President, Deputy President and the Ministers make up the executive branch of the national government. Ministers are Members of Parliament who are appointed by the President to head the various departments of the national government. The president is elected by parliament from its members. The ministers individually, and the Cabinet collectively, are accountable to Parliament for their actions.

The third branch of the national government is an independent judiciary. The judicial branch interprets the laws, using as a basis the laws as enacted and explanatory statements made in the Legislature during the enactment. The legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law and English common law and accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations. The constitution's bill of rights provides for due process including the right to a fair, public trial within a reasonable time of being charged and the right to appeal to a higher court. To achieve this, there are four major tiers of courts: Magistrates' Courts – The court where civil cases involving less than R , and cases involving minor crimes, are heard. High Courts – The court of appeal for cases from the magistrates courts, as well as the court where major civil and criminal cases are first heard. Supreme Court of Appeal – The final court of appeal for matters not pertaining to the constitution. Constitutional Court – The final court of appeal for matters related to the constitution.

The provincial governments of the nine provinces of South Africa have their own executive and legislative branches, but no separate judicial systems. In each province the legislative branch consists of a provincial legislature, varying in size from 30 to 80 members, which is elected through party-list proportional representation. The legislature elects one of its members as Premier to lead the executive branch, and the Premier appoints between five and ten members of the legislature as an executive council (a cabinet) to lead the various departments of the provincial government.

Local government in South Africa consists of municipalities of various types. The largest metropolitan areas are governed by metropolitan municipalities, while the rest of the country is divided into district municipalities, each of which consists of several local municipalities. After the municipal election of 18 May 2011 there were eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 226 local municipalities. Municipalities are governed by municipal councils which are elected every five years. The councils of metropolitan and local municipalities are elected by a system of mixed-member proportional representation, while the councils of district municipalities are partly elected by proportional representation and partly appointed by the councils of the constituent local municipalities.

In each legislative body, the party or coalition of parties holding a majority of seats forms the government. The largest party not in the government is recognised as the official opposition.