The western intellectuals have debated for long on the topic- Is Africa the sick baby of the world? Most have concluded that Africa is sick and is always associated with anything negative which range from wars, despotic leadership, famine, extreme poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, polio, religious extremesem and so many other vices not mentioned here. But then, the question is Can anything good come out of a sick baby!
History has it that Africa was the continent that the Portuguese came to in search of spices! The whites came to Africa and traded in slave trade with the local chiefs. Those blacks sold into slavery worked on the plantation which built the economy of the 'New World' but when the abolishing of slave trade finally happened, many Africans were returned to an Africa that had been distorted. The map of Africa had affected the social construct of the people. The partitioning of Africa wasn't about the people, it was about the resources. The fact that Africa has so much crises is a reflection of the evils done to it by past relationship with the west.
Africa's challenge of 400 years ago is the same as we have now. African leaders produce the manpower for the development of the west through slavery hundreds of years back, today Africa produces raw materials, human talents and established brains for the west. There are schemes called 'Visa Lotteries' and cart away the brains but quick to blast the continent for the criminal elements that find their way in to their countries. Recently, a Nigerian schooled Doctor performed an operation which was termed astonishing, yet they term Africa as a sick baby. Africa has the largest deposit of Gold and Uranium.... The irony for sure is that, nothing good comes out of a sick baby, its all about liabilities. Africa is a blessing...not a curse!