Why Does the World Ignore Africa?

While Americans are keeping a watchful eye on the recent events that are accumulating in the Middle East, there is one country that seems to go ignored in the midst of foreign intricacies. Africa, a huge continent rich with natural resources and low in economic development, has been in the spotlight and at the same time, out of the spotlight when it comes to certain political concerns. The western world is well aware of what is going on over there, yet they choose to stay out of their troubles. The widespread notion of HIV and AIDS are a concern for the US to help African citizens particularly because this subject is a humanitarian cause. The civil wars that African states are having against each other are not of anyone's concern simply because they are what they are; wars against each other to exploit human rights. Major conflicts exist particularly in Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Colonial dictatorship along with poor political empowerment, intervention and divide in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has caused this land of people to live in despair physically, financially, and socially. Nigeria's Oil

Throughout the 1960's up until the 1990's, the former European colonial states in Africa gained independence. Thereafter, all of the issues were in each region's hands, in particular, the transfer of power and its resources. Corrupt politicians in Nigeria have caused hurdles for the citizens there including the enormity of oil it produces there. Oil, which could potentially have allowed Nigeria to be one of the wealthiest countries in Africa, has instead led it to become one of the poorest. (Shah, 2004)

The political will to make the oil work in Nigeria has been duped by its own leadership. Although Nigeria produces two million barrels of oil a day, most of the profit goes into foreign bank accounts owned by dictators, therefore allowing the per capita income to remain at an all time low. A total of three-hundred billion dollars were profited from Nigeria's oil supply in the past twenty-five years and instead of Nigerians gaining a spirit of financial rewards and gain, they seem to be more so torn apart by the outcome. The political theft of the profits generated from oil is one major issue in Nigeria. The large oil companies housed in Nigeria threaten the lives of people there. Water pollution causes major health issues including malnourishment and disease. Oil corporations take advantage of weak laws and lax enforcement in Nigeria to avoid responsibility for the environmental damage their operations cause. (Essential Action, 2000) These companies violate the environment of Nigerian communities, which, has caused uproar of local protests, thus getting the military involved. The military, which are only trying to bring order to their state and doing what they are told to do, use excessive force, mostly ending in torture, village burnings, and killings. The oil companies, who do not want to lose the profitability of their business due to hazards they have created, is causing more problems in recent years. Their involvement of trying to dismiss these protests by promoting violence so it can go back to business as usual, have only proven how Nigerian communities tally against one another along with all of the other issues that exist.
Rwanda Needed Help

Nations within Africa who resume fighting against one another are usually started with one tactic; fear. Ethnically, fear of one group being better than the other and nonetheless, more dominant portrayed the vile images of the short one hundred days of genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The Tutsi and Hutu tribes of Rwanda are two ethnic groups who were played against each other since the very beginning by Belgian rule. At first, the Tutsis were seen as more powerful than the Hutus, and the Belgians thought they even resorted to a more European look than the Hutus. In the eyes of the Belgians, Tutsis were more reliable to collect taxes, administer the justice system, and force labor upon the Hutus.

The Tutsis began a revolution in the 1950's up until 1962 to break from colonial rule under Belgium. In turn, the Belgians started to favor the Hutus not because of their physical appearance, but because of their obedience and ability to control this group. The once-dominate by accident Tutsis were now the minority who were being slaughtered while they tried to gain their independence. The Hutus who resented the Tutsis because of their favoritism in the first place began riots among the Tutsis, burned the Tutsi's homes and villages and allowed them limited access to better jobs and education. In 1962, Rwanda was granted independence by the Belgians and the Hutus ironically, were now the group in charge to form militia against the Tutsi tribe. Anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 Tutsis were killed in violence preceding independence, while some 120,000 to 500,000 fled the country to neighboring countries such as Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Shah, 2003)

Battle upon battle continued amongst the two groups. In all certainty, genocide had already begun, but not as significant as the killings in 1994 which resulted in a death toll of 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis. Bloody insurgent battles continued from 1959 all the way to the early 1990's. The Tutsis now had a new rebel group out of Uganda called the Rwandan Patriotic Front. They wanted to bring back the exiled Tutsis and pressured the president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyarimana to allow them to return. In 1990, President Habyarimana and the RPF had finally reached a peace agreement to bring back the exiled from Burundi. In early April of 1994, his plane was shot down, thus breaking the ultimate straw between who started what and why.

Tutsis killing Hutus, Hutus killing Tutsis-the common denominator in all this slaughter, until now, was the total absence of legal accountability for a single perpetrator at any stage over four decades. (Berkeley, 264) Who is to judge that one is better than the other? Who is at fault for all of the chaos that wiped out more than one third of Rwanda's population? The pit of the colonial past was far gone from even lending a helping hand to assist these two groups within a nation to cease slaughter and bring back order and stability to their country.

America watched in despair as the media tried to bring attention to the western world of what was going on in the third world and undermined Rwanda. The Clinton administration at the time did not intervene because they did not want to get involved in future civil conflicts. The United Nations did little to provide assistance and the once ruler Belgium did nothing to say the least. It is not uncommon for countries believed to cease and dismiss to stay behind the scenes even if it does cost the innocent lives of men, women and children. Rwanda is now in a healing process from their horrific genocide over a decade ago, thus still resuming civil wars with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Democratic Republic of Congo Unleashed

The Democratic Republic of Congo, (DRC), was named Zaire by the dominant and unruly leader Mobutu Sese Soko. Becoming president of Zaire, Soko was favorable for the western world to be used as a Cold War ally, therefore, he thwarted out Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba in 1960. Lumumba did not favor geopolitics of the Cold War and did not receive support by the US, Belgium or France. Soko was seen as an individual to denounce communism. But as economic downfall began and suffered during the presidency of Soko, who favored corruption and bribes for himself rather than discuss and improve the certainty of the citizens of Zaire, so did the military and financial support of the western world. The three-decade termed radicalized leader was enabled to take his country's matters into his own hands, particularly for his own benefit.

DRC is dripping with natural resources such as copper, gold and diamonds. The availability of these resources did next to nothing for the citizens since Soko was housing and banking the funds he received as his own personal fortune. Today his family holds his fortune, and his country holds his $12 billion debt. (Roodman, 2001) Laurent Kabila, a self-proclaimed rebel who was fed up with Soko's treatment denounced Soko as he then fled to Morocco, living in exile there until his death in 1997.

Kabila renamed the country from Zaire to DRC, but still undermined the interests of the citizens of DRC. The aid of Rwanda, Uganda, Angola, Burundi and Eritrea were supposed to be a reunion instead of deterioration. Like Soto, Kabila was supported by the US and accused of extortion of funds, deemed as a dictator, and in turn, retaliated against by the same states that were supposed to be bringing peace and order upon one another. Although Kabila received support from Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia, the fighting continued from rebels of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.

Rwanda was involved partly due to wanting to secure its border after fleeing to the DRC during the genocide era of 1994. Rwanda never denied invasion of the DRC but they have denied their own personal interests as to why they wanted to deploy troops there in the first place. Rwanda wanted to take control of DRC's diamond and vast mineral resources. Uganda had its best interest to secure DRC's mining zones, which have only enhanced interethnic conflicts and mass killings. People who resisted extortion have been killed and economic interests have continuously uplifted the ethnic rivalries. This ongoing war began in 1998, enumerating power from both sides, which only tends to create more conflict.

Although a peace treaty was signed in 1999, the fighting continues and the peace efforts are very minimal. Due to conflicts of interests, there were fears that the UN peacekeeping mission would be aborted. (Deen, 2000) Throughout all of the turmoil and non-restoration of DRC, the world sits back again and chooses to not see the aftereffects of this war. Humanitarian efforts are often not supported by would be groups who claim to assist the innocent citizens of DRC. Children are forced to work in dangerous mines, experience malnutrition and lack of health have accounted for the majority of these deaths since 1998. Forced displacement of the citizens who were able to escape and have no assistance. The population of the DRC has been largely abandoned to struggle for their own survival. The DRC remains a forgotten emergency. (Oxfam, 2000)
Sierra Leone's Hidden Gems

Sierra Leone is a state who like the DRC, human rights have suffered from civil war due to similarity of conflict of interest: diamonds. Diamonds flood the soils of Sierra Leone, and a rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) led by Foday Sankoh, at first had it in their best interests to denounce the corrupt governments of Sierra Leone back in 1991. The RUF had also been scheming to get what they probably wanted in the first place. They took extreme measures and committed horrendous abuses for a decade.

The utilization of children as soldiers to join forces against the government is a bit extreme for one to fathom. Liberia, who supports Sankoh largely in part to his assistance of smuggling diamonds to Liberia, defends the RUF as the two convey on their best interests and continue to do so. The war in Sierra Leone was not a cry for democracy from a former dictatorship, but to be able to hide under the atrocities of war while committing horrific crimes.

The trademarks of the RUF were to mutilate children and overtake the diamond fields. The western states benefited from this trade and cared less about the consequences the Sierra Leone citizens suffered from it. Many Sierra Leone citizens, who often resisted going along with these rebels, fought for their lives and were outnumbered with the forces of the RUF and the weapons they were able to purchase. Until the deployment of the U.N. mission in 1999, the developed countries also washed their hands of the situation, doing little more than imposing sanctions on diamond exports and weapons sales to the small country. These efforts did nothing to end the RUF's diamonds-for-guns trade because most of the RUF'S goods were smuggled out of Sierra Leone and sold into the mainstream from neighboring countries. (Campbell, 2002)

A peace deal (Lome Peace Accord) was allocated by UN Chief Kofi Annan and signed between Sierra Leone government and the RUF in 1999. There was still disregarded minimal justice for the citizens and refugees of Sierra Leone. No amnesty for the ferocious acts that was committed upon Sierra Leone would be granted and it was all the UN could do to prevent further killings and mutilations. The vile acts still continued on through the ending of 1999. An estimated 50,000 people were killed as a result of this civil war. (Human Rights Watch, 1999)

Compared to conflicts in Kosovo, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), concluded humanitarian efforts which were militant, therefore ceasing fire there in a short period of time. The civil war in Sierra Leone was displayed in the media, but not taken into consideration due to the nature of mass murders there. International media was forced to withdraw their reporters for fear of their safety. Although cease fire sanctions were ordered upon the rebels of Sierra Leone and Liberia, Sierra Leone's refugees still remain tormented by a state torn apart of its independence from its own people.
AIDS in Africa, Forever a Burden

To have gained independence in an African state and have it stripped from them due to imperfect balance of distribution of resources is one long standing problem. To be stricken with an infamous incurable disease is another. The worldwide media attention of AIDS in Africa is well known, moreso in recent years due to the large amount of people dying of this illness everyday. The death toll alone for Africans with AIDS exceeds the amount of deaths of all the wars on the continent between the years 1999-2000. (Brittain, 2000)

Media attention grabs the focus of the death toll due to the fact that it could affect economies in Africa and western states. The impact of poverty on AIDS creates hardships for those already living in despair. Rising costs of medication and the accessibility of it is very slim causing western states to finally get involved with the problem at hand. Africa has seen many montroscous acts of violence, racism, hatred, and genocide throughout their whole history, that it is quite difficult to have viewed the AIDS epidemic as any but important. Now faced with indebtedness to many western institutions, to play catch-up with the AIDS dilemma has been deemed impossible for most of Africa.

The many years of fighting for independence, survival of civil war and fair treatment of distribution of economical resources is looked upon as lost since the storm of HIV have hit Africa. The enforcement of witnessing deteriorating death is now in a different limelight.

Sub-Saharan Africa alone has over 25 million people living with HIV. (UNAIDS, 2005) Although reports of decreasing cases of people with HIV are seen substantially in Senegal, Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe, there are still many southern African states who are not receiving treatment. Word spread notions of HIV being a poverty stricken disease has gained attention. Links between poor health and poverty is spread amongst those that are trying to prevent or get treated for it. Funds have been allocated for treatment, but it may not be enough.

With the high numbers of statistics for those that have this disease in Africa, the issue at hand is not being reported enough. Ever since the spread of AIDS in Africa became a threat to the US did this urgency to report this issue strike an interest. Political interest had always lied in other plights during widespread illness of AIDS in Africa. In 1999 during the Kosovo crisis, there was an estimated 11 million people in Africa who had already died of AIDS. There was no concern for the people of Africa to even know that this was going on.

It is very ironic that the Clinton administration ignored the plight of AIDS in Africa when he was in office. Former President Clinton took four years to react to a 1994 intelligence briefing detailing the devastation AIDS was causing in Africa. (Sperry, 2003) In 1998, he sent officials to Africa to analyze just exactly how extreme the situation was. In 2003, President Bush visited Africa and signed a five-year, $15 billion initiative to reduce the cases of AIDS and treat those that already have it. If President Bush does not follow through with this initiative, he will be looked upon as having signed this initiative for his own purpose; to have a hand in Africa's newly found resources, oil. However the outcome, AIDS cannot be ignored like the past civil wars, turmoil, and blasphemy of genocide have been. Perhaps it is because of this tremendous suffering that Africans now have to go through to get attention about the global spread of AIDS in Africa. Hopefully history will not repeat itself when the assistance arrives in Africa to treat those with AIDS and those that want to assist, will not just have financial interests in mind, but for once, humanity for all.

In essence, history has repeated itself many times in Africa. It just so happened that now, with the huge plight of AIDS, they are finally getting noticed. Media attention is not really the focus to put this epidemic on the spotlight, but political interest is. The forgotten continent full of natural resources has the ability to reduce most of their problems. Centuries of fighting for independence and civilization have made the situations in Africa impossible to improve their quality of life, yet others watched and chose to turn their heads. Many western states do not want to tally with Africa's internal affairs for fear it will only drag on into another civil or cold war.

With that in mind, it is not okay for western states to only want to assist the poverty stricken people with AIDS in Africa for their own benefit. African local governments have made themselves look bad by killing one another after have fighting European dominance for many a century. Europeans destroyed African institutions of authority and government and have left a major political gap. (Mazrui, pg. 7) Although the struggle to rebuild Africa has been difficult throughout the many years it is taking for it to reform and most recently globalize, it is time to look beyond early colonialism as an excuse and stop wreaking havoc on its own people. Bigger problems await Africa. A genocide that mysteriously fell upon the nation out of nowhere will not change the circumstances in Africa overnight, but it is a start for them to start reuniting, help out one another and look to the future of finally coming together as a whole.
Africa Does Not Exist (Kapuscinski)

The many setbacks Africa have been faced with including dismantling of a nation and most recently, disease would and should be an automatic wake-up call for the nation to analyze the situations at hand and pool together their resources. It is not necessary to fight against one another while other states recognize the issue, but turn away. It is not the responsibility of other states to come to the rescue of Africa when they are in aid and in turn African states again retaliate later on of who has more resources or assistance. There will be many more circumstances of Africa being unable to pull themselves out of the reigns of strife with newly found growth of disease if they continue to destabilize their own country.

Why has the world ignored Africa with all of the continuing damage that is done to their land? Why conduct international trade there and pretend not to see the dangers that await the innocent citizens of Africa? The race to stay on top in a global economy is amongst all western states. The US have always led the world in terms of imperial status whether they want to admit it or not. Their best interests lie not in the crying for help mass of Africa, but it lies in how to maintain being the first, the best, and most successful country of all time. The US does not totally turn away from the ill-fated flaws of Africa; they are perhaps the largest donors to assist with the AIDS crisis in Africa. The attitude of most western states is, you cannot fix what has already been broken. This may be true to some extent, but it is definitely worth a try in regards to human mankind.

Works Cited:

Anup Shah, Nigera and Oil. Global Issues. July 2004. Internet http://globalissues.org

Essential Action Report, Oil For Nothing: Multinational Corporations, Environmental Destruction, Death and Impunity in the Niger Delta. Essential Action January 2000. Internet http://www.essentialaction.org/shell/report/

Anup Shah, Rwanda. Global Issues. June 2003. Internet http://globalissues.org

Berkeley, Bill (2001) The Graves Are Not Yet Full: Race, Tribe and Power In the Heart of Africa. New York, NY Basic Books

Thalif Deen, UN May Abort Peacekeeping Operations in the Congo August 2000. Global Policy Internet http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/congo/000804.htm

Oxfam International Report, A Forgotten War- A Forgotten Emergency: The Democratic Republic of Congo. Oxfam August 2001 Internet http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/conflict_disasters/forgotten_drc.htm

Greg Campbell, Blood Diamonds. Amnesty USA 2002 Internet http://www.amnestyusa.org/amnestynow/diamonds.html

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July 1999, Vol.11 No 3(A) Human Rights Watch

Victoria Brittain, More Die of AIDS than war in Africa, says Kofi Annan Guardian Unlimited March 2000 Internet http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,230425,00.html

UNAIDS, Sub-Saharan Africa and AIDS, UNAIDS, 2005 Internet http://www.unaids.org/en/Regions_Countries/Regions/SubSaharanAfrica.asp

Paul Sperry, Clinton ignored '94 intel on African AIDS crisisWorldNetDaily 2003 Internet
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=33241

Mazrui, Ali (1980) The African Condition, New York, NY Cambridge University Press

Reader, John (1997) Africa, A Biography of the Continent, New York, NY Random House

Kapuscinski, Ryszard (2001) The Shadow of the Sun���â'¬Å¡ï¿½ï¿½ï¿½Â� New York, NY Alfred A. Knopf