Africa in 2011: A Review

2011 cannot be forgotten in a hurry on the African continent. The year started slowly, almost as if the status quo would remain the same, but no, it wouldn’t be. Mohammed Bouazizi, the young man who set himself ablaze in Tunisia at the tail-end of 2011 sparked a nationwide protest that consumed the 23year old Government of President Ben Ali, who fled alongside his wife into Saudi Arabia.

Buoyed by the success of young Tunisians who demanded and got their freedom on the streets, young Egyptians took to the streets in droves in a historic protest which began on January25. The world watched as Egyptians, young and old, men and women, children and adults defied the odds and demanded that President Mubarak step down as President of Egypt, a position he occupied for close to 30years. It felt unthinkable, but after several days of protest, the regime of President Mubarak crumbled as he stepped down and retired to the resort town of Sharm El-Sheik. He now faces trial for the death of Egyptian protesters and also for corruption charges.

Libya was next, and it wasn’t as easy as the first two nations, The Libyan protest quickly snowballed into a civil war as President Ghadaffi who dreamt of presiding over a United State of Africa saw his beloved Libya that he had ruled with a iron-fist crumble before his eyes. He fought to the last, vowing never to give up and he died in controversial circumstances in the process.

It wasn’t only a year of revolutions, many countries took to the polls to elect or re-elect their leaders. Zambia stood out in its electoral process as the opposition was able to defeat the incumbent president, a seemingly impossible feat in many African countries. Nigeria improved its election process as it conducted an election which was adjudged peaceful and well managed (save for pockets of disturbances and rigging) by local and international observers.

Rwanda excelled in the 2011 Ease of doing business report, an annual survey published by the World Bank, the country which became infamous for its civil-war is now been held high as an example to the entire continent on how to reform economies.

South Africa, unarguably the continent’s largest economy was formally admitted into the BRICS nation, joining the committee of countries whose economy is on a steady pace in meeting up with developed economies.

The Economist, a global news magazine captured Africa’s future succinctly when on its cover it changed its stance on Africa from a doom continent to a hopeful one ‘Africa Rising’.

At the tail end of the year, Africa received another dose of good press when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia won the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Tawakkol karman of Yemen.

Africa is rising, sometimes the continent takes two steps forward and one step backward, but there are more countries on the continent than ever before committing to sound economic reforms and making attempts at democracy.

in 2012, Africa’s progress will likely be judged on how it handles its hot-spots and how countries strategise to lift its people out of poverty!