

The next big thing: Africa - TriinT
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4849

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yardie
I really hate these articles that paint really broad swaths of generalizations
on entire continents.

People, Africa is not a country! There are 40+ countries in Africa at the
moment. Some are more stable than others. Some have had good success since
decolonialisation. Others are in perpetual civil war. Many are still
recovering from past events. If the author meant Africa is the next big thing
for mineral exploitation. That would seem obvious, but the creation of a
sizable, sustainable, educated middle class for the entire continent seems
decades away.

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joel_feather
Which countries are in perpetual civil war? Are these wars confined to smaller
regions within the country or do they encompass the entire country?

What's your opinion on the Balkan countries? Are they also in perpertual civil
war?

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biohacker42
If Africa was as overrun with NATO troops as Bosnia is, Africa would be as
peaceful as Bosnia is today.

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jganetsk
Is it the next big thing after BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China)? Because
those countries still have yet to fully develop.

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garply
I think so - as these countries have their middle classes develop, they're
going to need cheap labor to fulfill the roles that their citizens are no
longer willing to do themselves. So, far in the future, China will export its
low-wage factory jobs to Africa as China increasingly focuses on the type of
goods that are currently produced in the US.

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DrJokepu
I wish that would happen. I really wish. Foreign Policy is generally an
excellent publication but I just don't see that happening.

Apart from a few countries such as South Africa or Botswana, African countries
don't have anything resembling a middle class, whose existence is indisposable
for things like commerce, political stability or a fair judicial system.

It's really a shame but I'm afraid Africa will remain impoverished for a very
long time and I can't see the Western World or anyone else being able to help
them as it is now obvious that throwing money at the problem won't solve it.

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newsdog
Africa is doomed.

After Mandela dies there will be a Rwanda style massacre of the remaining
whites and no one will care.

The Chinese will then move in and build a pitiless slave empire and no one
will care about that either.

All worse case scenarios will come true, a massive die off of blacks,
pollution, strip-mining and extinction of many African wild species.

I'm sure the anti apartheid movement will be very proud.

