Last week, I attended Nicolas van de Walle’s discussion on the current state of economic development and poverty among African nations.  I tend to find the intersection between geopolitics and the economy very interesting because of the influence one usually has over the other.  Over the last few decades, both indigenous and foreign powers have influenced the development of emerging economies in different African countries.  This is one of the many factors accounting for the stark differences in economic strength of each country.

The influence of foreigners through donations has hurt African nations rather than helped them.  Various Experiments were implemented in different countries to improve economic growth and tackle many problems such as corruption and lack of education.  Projects were implemented to build infrastructure and to build a new generation of influential political leaders.  Nothing seemed to have fixed the problem of corruption and the powerful influence of individuals or private interests.  In fact, during the 90s, countries became worse off than before and even the wealthiest of cities fared poorly.  What Nicolas van de Walle is trying to convey is that foreign support is actually hurting Africa instead of benefitting the emerging economies.  All the projects and foreign monetary aid were meant to bring economic and political stability to African countries.  However, without the foreign monetary intervention, Africa is unlikely to undergo radical change and accept experiencing huge instability.

I wish I was a little more knowledgeable about the economic development of African emerging economies when going into this discussion.  It made me aware of my lack of understanding of what is going on in Africa and the corruption that spread across all countries.  It seems one of the main problems in Africa is the foreign influence and impact it has on many African economies.  For example, China has a huge presence in Africa because of China’s goals to exploit Africa’s resources and use its excessive capital to grow.  I wonder how China’s influence and exploitation will further impact the development of various African countries and the continent as a whole.