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What challenges did African countries face after gaining independence?

Durwood Gomme

After gaining independence from their colonizers in the mid-20th century, the African countries faced many challenges. One of the biggest was the lack of infrastructure, which means the basic things that a country needs to have to run smoothly, like roads, schools, hospitals, and electricity. The colonizers had not invested in building these things because they only cared about taking resources from the land and people.

Another challenge was the lack of trained professionals to run the new, independent governments. The colonizers had not allowed many Africans to receive higher education, which meant that when the time came to run the countries by themselves, they did not have enough trained people to do so.

Additionally, Africa faced challenges with external debt, which means that many of the African countries owed a lot of money to other countries or organizations like the World Bank. This debt often came from the infrastructure projects that the new governments had to build themselves, because the colonizers had not done it before.

Finally, another challenge was the division among the different ethnic groups. The colonizers had often drawn lines on maps that separated people who had previously lived together, and when countries became independent, these lines became borders. This led to conflicts between different groups who felt that they were not being treated equally by the new government.

Overall, the challenges that African countries faced after gaining independence were many and complex. However, they worked hard to overcome them and continue to do so today.