For post-colonial Africa, hopes deferred

Ghana celebrates its 50th year of independence this week, the first of many such anniversaries.

By Scott Baldauf, Rob Crilly and Tristan McConnell

from the March 6, 2007 edition

Page 1 of 3

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA; NAIROBI, KENYA; AND ACCRA, GHANA - When Ghana begins celebrations this week for its 50th year of independence – the first of a wave of African countries to throw off colonial rule in the 1950s and '60s – there will be brave speeches, feasts, free concerts, and plenty of the national colors of red, yellow, and green.

There will also be mutters of disappointment that one of Africa's most promising countries, which gained independence from Britain on March 6, 1957, hasn't achieved more. For many Africans, the lack of post-colonial progress is brought home by the fact that Ghana has done far better than most other African nations, but far worse than Asian countries that achieved independence at around the same time, such as India, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

If Ghanaians are the first to feel this pungent mixture of pride and resignation, it will not be alone. Over the next five years, dozens of other African nations will celebrate 50 years of independence – and decry the lost opportunities to make more of their freedom.

Ghana "lit the torch of African independence," says Vladimir Antwi-Danso, a lecturer in international affairs at Accra University in Ghana's capital. Mr. Antwi-Danso points to Ghana's relative stability in a war-torn West Africa as a major reason for the success. "What I mean by stability is that we have seen several military cycles, but we have not degenerated into carnage, civil war, and the kind of thing that some of the countries around us have, so we have something to be proud of."

As a continent, Africa remains home to 34 of the 48 poorest countries in the world, and 24 of the 32 least developed. It is by far the largest recipient of donor aid – $18.4 billion in current projects from the World Bank alone – but also home to some of the richest untapped oil reserves and natural resources in the world. That Africa as a whole remains economically stagnant and chronically unstable would have pained visionary independence leaders like Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah and Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta, as much as it does South Africa's Nelson Mandela today.

"If you look at the [2007] World Bank report [on global economic prospects] for 2030, most of the rest of the world will have eliminated poverty, except Africa," says Princeton Lymon, a senior analyst on Africa for the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. "Now, global environmental factors will have an effect, as Africa expects even more drought than it has the capacity to deal with. So things will be more difficult, rather than less."

Page 1 | 2 | 3 | Next Page