Will Africa ever become a world power?

[Andhaira]

Could it happen, you think? It used to be a major power and great centre of learning during the height of the mighty Muslim Empire, but now it is a shithole, with the exception of certain North African countries.

 

[GothicGothicness]

I think it is only a matter of time. The fighting has to stop first though.

Also, they are facing the threat of the global warming which might turn it into a huge desert before that happens.

 

[Drithius]

China's already investing in it to some degree. But first and foremost, need to get rid of the despots; you can throw all the money in the world at a problem and it won't matter a bit if it gets funneled to a guy's bank account.

 

[Thaurin]

Eh. Africa is a big continent with different countries. It's like asking: "Will South America ever become a world power?" Senseless.

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

Once Asia's wealth and salaries have caught up (which may still take a few years / decades), where else would manufacturing relocate to? Well, maybe if we continue shooting ourselves in the economic foot a little more, it could be Europe

 

[JemyM]

Will South America ever be... No wait

 

[GothicGothicness]

Eh. Africa is a big continent with different countries. It's like asking: "Will South America ever become a world power?" Senseless.

I don't really agree, it is very common to speak in terms of North America, Europe , Asia etc. To reply the question South America is very quickly becoming a world power to count on. When you ask a broad question like that you'll consider the influence of the continent as a whole on the world status. It would make much less sense to ask when will Zanzibar and Zimbabwe have a major influence on the world ?

 

[Pladio]

Africa is too big a continent to just talk about it in this sense. Especially since it's subdivisions are yet again subdivided into more subdivisions. You can talk about Europe, because the culture and way of thinking is quite similar in each country.

If you just look at Nigeria or South Africa, both are the biggest powers in Africa at the moment. Nigeria has two major religions dividing the country and it has more than 200 ethnic tribes. It has 3 major languages along with at least 100 other minor languages and this doesn't include small dialectic differences.
South Africa has 450 different languages, ...

Well, you get my point.

Europe has about 25 languages, most countries are Christian....

See, not the same.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Yeah, Greece and Germany are so similar that is why the euro is no problem at all ?

 

[aries100]

I disagree about Africa being a 'shithole'. Yes, certain countries in central africa could perhaps be classified as such. However, countries such as Botswana, Guinea-Conakry, and some other countries on both the African west coast and the African east cost, and shouldn't be classified as such. Especially since the countries do alright in nearly every aspect of life.

When we talk about North America, we actually mean the US, not Canada nor Mexico.
As for the Ottoman Empire (ruled by the turks), this empire only covered certain parts of Africa, and by that I mean North Africa.

 

[BillSeurer]

I don't really agree, it is very common to speak in terms of North America, Europe , Asia etc. To reply the question South America is very quickly becoming a world power to count on. When you ask a broad question like that you'll consider the influence of the continent as a whole on the world status. It would make much less sense to ask when will Zanzibar and Zimbabwe have a major influence on the world ?

Brazil is becoming a world power; the rest of South America hardly matters re: world power.

And that should be the clue. In the modern world only big countries with lots of resources and people CAN be world powers. There's just no way that relatively small countries like England and Spain (and even Germany) which once were world shaking powers can do it any more. They just do not have the resources or people.

Looking at Africa I don't think there are any countries big and populous enough to make it to the top tier of world power. There are few outside shots maybe at best.

 

[GothicGothicness]

Well, you have to decide in that case. Either you count on a a country level.... and you'd have USA and China.

Or you count on a continent level, where you'd have Asia, North America, and europe.

Fairly simple ? any objections ?

 

[Pladio]

Yeah, Greece and Germany are so similar that is why the euro is no problem at all ?

Compared to Northern and Southern Nigeria of compared to Cape Town and Johannesburg, the two are the same.

 

[Pladio]

Brazil is becoming a world power; the rest of South America hardly matters re: world power.

And that should be the clue. In the modern world only big countries with lots of resources and people CAN be world powers. There's just no way that relatively small countries like England and Spain (and even Germany) which once were world shaking powers can do it any more. They just do not have the resources or people.

Looking at Africa I don't think there are any countries big and populous enough to make it to the top tier of world power. There are few outside shots maybe at best.

Nigeria has 150 million people, lots of oil and other minerals. South Africa has 50 million people and tons and tons of minerals.

Brazil has 200 million people and is part of the BRIC countries. Russia has 140 million people.

 

[xSamhainx]

Oh absolutely, it's just a matter of time. Their missile program has advanced by leaps and bounds in the last few years.

 

[Jaz]

Wrong forum.

 

[Thaurin]

I don't really agree, it is very common to speak in terms of North America, Europe , Asia etc. To reply the question South America is very quickly becoming a world power to count on. When you ask a broad question like that you'll consider the influence of the continent as a whole on the world status. It would make much less sense to ask when will Zanzibar and Zimbabwe have a major influence on the world ?

So what if some countries in South America would gain influence? What about the three or more other countries that are still in poverty? How can you speak as South America as a whole when they are independent of each other? It's almost an insult to speak of them as one nation.

 

[Thaurin]

There's just no way that relatively small countries like England and Spain (and even Germany) which once were world shaking powers can do it any more.

Hey! What about Holland! Arguably the richest and most powerful country in the world at one point!

 

[GothicGothicness]

So what if some countries in South America would gain influence? What about the three or more other countries that are still in poverty? How can you speak as South America as a whole when they are independent of each other? It's almost an insult to speak of them as one nation.

The same way as you can speak about Asia as one unit, there is a whole lot of extremely poor countries there also. Actually... if you didn't know there are extremely poor countries in Europe as well... so your point would be what?

 

[zakhal]

Lots of ethnic hate and other issues in africa. I dont think its going to happen anytime soon.

North africa on the otherhand might become something in future. Perhaps.