More than 40% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is younger than 15 years old.. 3 INTRODUCTION ABOUT SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe
Trang 1MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & TRAINING
OPEN UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY
SPECIAL TRAINING DEPARTMENT
INDIVIDUAL WORK ( FINAL EXAM) TOPIC:
THE POOREST CONTINENT IN THE WORLD SUB-SAHAR AFRICA
Nguy n Nguyên Minh - 2054012173 ễ
Subject: International Business
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First of all, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Mrs Truong My Diem While studying and understanding the subject of International Business, I have received her very dedicated and enthusiastic attention, help, and guidance She helped me access interesting practical activities to accumulate a lot of knowledge and experience, thereby having a more complete and profound insight into the subject and applying it to real life From that knowledge, I have gradually answered the questions and started writing this essay to study the international business environment
Knowledge is limitless, but my approach is limited and incomplete So, in the process of writing the essay, it is inevitable that there will be shortcomings I look forward to receiving your suggestions to improve my essay
Wishing her health, happiness, and success in her teaching career
Thank you sincerely!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary 2
Introduction about sub-saharan africa 3
Chapter 1 Overview of the situation of sub-: saharan africa 4
1.1.General situation in sub-saharan africa 4
1.2.The difficulties that sub-saharan africa is facing 5
1.2.1 Economic, political, social 5
1.2.2 Population 7
1.2.3 Education, human resources 8
Chapter 2: 5 Poor countries in sub-saharan africa 9
2.1 Central African Republic 9
2.2 Zimbabwe 10
2.3 Burundi 12
2.4 Liberia 13
2.5 Democratic Republic of the Congo 14
2.6 The reason directly affects the porverty of these 5 countries 15
Chapter 3: Solution for sub-saharan africa 17
Conclusion 18
References 19
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Sub-Saharan Africa is the richest land in the world, plagued by economic
mismanagement, corruption and ethnic conflicts Most of the countries here are
underdeveloped countries of the world Sub-Saharan African countries top the list of
countries and territories by fertility rate with 40 of the top 50 countries all having TFRs greater than 4 in 2008 All countries above the world average with the exception of South Africa The numbers for life expectancy, malnutrition, infant mortality and HIV/AIDS are all alarming More than 40% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa is younger than
15 years old Sub-Saharan Africa’s major economic sectors are vulnerable to current
climate sensitivity, with huge economic impacts, and this vulnerability is exacerbated by existing developmental challenges such as endemic poverty, complex governance and
institutional dimensions; limited access to capital, including markets, infrastructure and technology; ecosystem degradation; and complex disasters and conflicts Sub-Saharan Africa, however, also promises fresh advancements despite the fact that there are
numerous unresolved concerns in many places To rebuild its economy and move toward having a successful economy in the future, Sub-Saharan Africa still has a very long and difficult way to go
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INTRODUCTION ABOUT SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe an area of the African
continent south of the Sahara, or African countries located entirely or partially south of the Sahara It contrasts with North Africa, which is considered part of the Arab world The Sahel is a transitional zone between the Sahara and the tropical savanna (Sudan
region) and the mosaic-forest savanna in the south Africa and large areas of Sudan are geographically part of Sub-Saharan Africa but are in fact heavily influenced by the
Middle East and also part of the Arab world Sub-Saharan Africa is also known as Black Africa, because of the "black" people who live there Notable medieval Arab
commentators also used a similar term, translated as "land of the blacks" in contrast to the inhabitants of the ancient Islamic century Sub-Saharan Africa covers an area of 24.3
million km² From about 5,400 years ago, the sub-Saharan and sub-Saharan regions of Africa were separated by the very harsh climate and by the sparse population of the
Sahara, forming a sharp border separated only by The Nile River in Sudan, although the Nile is also separated by its waterfalls Sub-Saharan Africa has a wide variety of climates
or biomes South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are especially
considered to be extremely biologically rich countries The Sahel region cuts across all of Africa at latitudes about 10° to 15° North The countries that have part of the Sahara in their northern territory and part of the Sahel in the south include Mali, Niger, Chad, and Susan south of the Sahel, there is a belt of savanna, (Guinean forest-savanna mosaic,
Northern forest-savanna mosaic) that extends and includes most of Southern Sudan and Ethiopia to the east (East Sudanese Savanna) The Horn of Africa consists of arid semi-desert areas along the coast, contrasting with the savanna and moist broadleaf forests in the interior of Ethiopia
5 countries poor in Sub-Sahara Africa:
Central African Republic
Zimbabwe
Burundi
Liberia
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Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
1.1 General situation in sub-saharan africa
The majority Sub-Saharan Africa nations are underdeveloped and impoverished It may
be claimed that the transition from colonialism to the new post-Cold War era has been and continues to be unstable, and the main explanations for the economy are the rise of corruption and dictatorship the poor economy of the continent While the economies of other nations and areas have expanded quickly, Africa's economy appears to be static and has not actually had a significant impact Many of the countries in this region not only had little growth in trade, investment, GDP per capita, but frequently even regressed
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1.2.The difficulties that sub-saharan is facing
1.2.1 Economic, political, social
Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's poorest region, suffering heavily from economic
mismanagement, corruption, and ethnic conflicts Most of the countries here are
underdeveloped countries of the world The countries of Sub-Saharan Africa form the
ACP countries Malaria is a chronic disease affecting economic development This
epidemic has been growing slowly at a rate of 1.3% per year for the past time because illness and treatment costs have made it unstoppable According to the World Bank, the region's GDP would have increased by 32% in 2003 if the plague had been eradicated in
1960
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), if in 2020, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, sub-Saharan Africa will only grow -2.6%, by 2021, the economic recovery will also only moderate, estimated at 3.2% Foreign direct investment flows into Africa as a whole have decreased from $46 billion in 2019 to $38 billion in 2020 (-18%) FDI into sub-Saharan Africa decreased by 11% to $28 billion in 2020, of which $2.6
billion went to Nigeria and $1.5 billion to Senegal (mainly in the energy sector)
Africa is a continent with potential, but also contains challenges and is the focus of
world's great problems such as corruption, conflicts, terrorism, violence, poverty, disease and migration Corruption is Africa's biggest problem According to Mr S.Ngwenya,
General Secretary of the Common Market for East and South Africa (COMESA),
corruption in many fields, especially the public sector, has been hindering the macro
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policies of many African countries in the past develop the country This is one of the
main reasons for the unsuccessful industrialization process in this continent over the past
40 years In recent years, foreign investment in Africa has continuously increased, with
an estimated investment value of hundreds of billions of dollars per year However, the more investment, the more corruption
Africa is facing security challenges such as flashpoints in South Sudan, the decades-long conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, unrest in Cameroon, Libya, Zimbabwe,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic , Somalia; Terrorist threats are everywhere
In 2021, sub-Saharan Africa also faces some adverse risks Growth in major trading
partners may be lower than expected, impacting trade with the region Large-scale
distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine could face many obstacles, including inadequate
transport infrastructure and incompetent health systems Not only that, but these
challenges are exacerbated by natural disasters, such as recent floods that have caused widespread damage and increased insecurity, especially in the Sahel region, causing
economic recovery may be delayed
Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, which are fragile, have suffered more severely due to the Covid-19 epidemic According to the World Bank (WB), for the first time in 25
years, Sub-Saharan Africa region is forecast to experience a severe economic recession After posting 2.4% growth in 2019, the economic downturn in the region is expected to range from minus 2.1% to negative 5.1% in 2020 The two largest economies in the
region South Africa and Nigeria, as well as Angola, the second largest oil exporter in
Africa, are forecast to suffer a severe recession, between 6 and 7 % due to the decrease in the price of export raw materials Real GDP could fall sharply in the region's three largest economies as growth and investment continue to decline The epidemic will also cost the region's production value an estimated $37 billion to $79 billion
Sub-Saharan Africa is also facing a food insecurity crisis, with food production forecast
to decline by 2.6%, possibly even up to 7%, due to the blockade of trade Food imports will decrease significantly by 13 to 25% due to high prices and reduced domestic
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countries is younger than 15 years old, as well as in Sudan, with the exception of South Africa
Population chart of sub-Saharan Africa 2011 2021 –
Source: statista.com
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to improve dramatically but still lag significantly behind other regions
1.2.3 Education, human resources
Ninety-eight million children and youth between the ages of six and 18 are still out of
schools in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new data released by the United Nation’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest percentage of children outside the ambit of formal education, followed by the central and southern Asia, with 85 million
“We need a global mobilisation to place education at the top of the international agenda,” said Audrey Azoulay, the director-general of UNESCO
Female out-of-school rate in sub-Saharan Africa is 4.2 per cent higher than that of males The gender gap, or the difference between how many girls and boys drop out of school, has been eliminated globally The gender gap among children in primary school in 2000 was 2.5 per cent and among those in upper secondary school was 3.9 per cent These gaps have been reduced to zero, although regional disparities persist
While Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 12% of the global population, it employs 3.5% of the global health workforce to service a disproportionate 27% of the global burden of
disease A majority of countries across the globe for which the health workforce shortage
is classified as critical (36 out of 57) lie in sub-Saharan Africa Most sub-Saharan Africa countries are not able to attain an average health workforce density of 2.5 per 1000
population as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and half of the sub-Saharan Africa countries have fewer than ten physicians per 100,000 people The
low workforce density and high workload in sub-Saharan Africa especially impacts
hospital The shortage of supply to match demand further increases because of low
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retention rates among skilled health workers Therefore, many sub-Saharan Africa
countries are heavily affected by epidemics because of poor, outdated and poor sanitation and health conditions The average cost of health care in Africa is less than 100
USD/person/year Diseases that are rampant in sub-Saharan Africa such as HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria, meningitis, cholera, tuberculosis,
2.1 Central African Republic
Central Africa is one of the poorest countries in Africa The economy is mainly based on agriculture and forestry Agriculture accounts for more than half of GDP, timber accounts for 16% of export earnings, and the diamond industry accounts for 40% Agricultural
products include cotton, coffee, cassava, peanuts, rice, maize, millet In terms of
minerals, besides diamonds, there are iron, manganese, nickel but the output is low
The drawback of Central Africa is that the country is not adjacent to the sea, the transport system is outdated, and the majority of the workforce is unskilled Lack of direction in macroeconomic development Uncertainty hinders economic development Unequal
income distribution
The Central African Republic began to fall into a spiral of instability, since the
emergence of the Seleka rebel alliance of five mainly Muslim rebel groups Since
December 2012, the Seleka rebels have launched attacks in the North Central African
Republic and have captured several cities and towns
In January 2013, President Bozize and Seleka rebels reached a peace agreement to form a coalition government led by Mr Bozize and will remain in office until 2016 Also under the peace agreement, the government must release political prisoners, funding and
creating jobs for gunmen, and allowing gunmen to join the army, and withdrawing South African and Ugandan troops from the Central African Republic
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2013 until now, thousands of people have been killed, about 10,000 others injured and
800,000 people must leave this African country run away from their home to seek refuge
to avoid the constant bloody violence
2.2 Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe in the early 1980s experienced significant economic development However,
in the 1990s, when the political influence of President Robert Mugabe waned, his
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government was accused of being immersed in negativity, taking advantage of corruption
to maintain power
The consequences of the land reform, stemming from the government's land reform
policy (under the direction of President Robert Mugabe), in which white merchants - the country's main economic source was expropriated by the Government, chased away, in a land reform, followed by American and Western funding The land is divided among
many people but they do not know how to cultivate The country fell into food shortages, hyperinflation, weak economy, and collapse of public services
To overcome poverty and public debt, Mr Mugabe ordered the country's central bank to print more money to serve the import of basic necessities, leading to severe inflation
According to the Financial Times, inflation in Zimbabwe peaked in 2008, when prices doubled in 24 hours, and currency inflation reached 7.9 billion percent Unemployment rose to record highs, public services stalled, and Zimbabwe's economy shrank 18% in
2008
The 2008 global economic crisis had a very heavy impact on most of the world's
economies, combined with a weak domestic economy and amassed public debt, making Zimbabwe the first country in the world The 21st century suffers from hyperinflation Zimbabwe's economic decline began in 1999 when the country was suffering from a
severe drought that severely affected the country's agriculture Meanwhile, external debt has increased from 11% of GDP in 1980 to 119% of GDP in 2011
Despite having previously been regarded as the most promising country in Africa due to its economic potential and resources, hyperinflation has rapidly reduced this South
African nation to one of the poorest on the continent plentiful resources The
unemployment rate is 80% of workers Health and education systems across the globe have failed, including those of the nation Basic necessities are becoming more scarce, and there is political and economic ambiguity due to upcoming elections Many of the
"billionaires" in our nation are impoverished It may be argued that Zimbabwe's economy has entirely collapsed, making the use of the virtual currency Bitcoin a reluctance to
make payments