AFRO1131: Contemporary Issues in Africa

While issues in Africa have been discussed widely, little attention is given to what African nations have achieved since their independence. The course critically questions the generally pessimistic international viewpoint on African economic prospects and emphasizes some of the continent’s national successes. This course examines the factors underlying contemporary issues in the continent, discussing Africa’s major challenges, including climate change, problems related to extractive industries, the brain drain, illicit capital flight, and the burden of debt. It outlines how challenges such as the migration of professionals and extractive industries could be turned into opportunities to transform the continent’s educational and health sectors and improve revenue at local levels by looking at case studies in which these problems have been at least partially overcome. The course uses data derived from cultural anthropology, geography, political sciences, and economics.

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