I
believe in asset-based development, which means
that I am loath to itemize deficits and problems without putting at least as much
emphasis on the assets that any human community or nation possesses as
the basis for its own development. I am certain that Africa has tremendous assets:
cultural, social, and natural. Unfortunately, I lack the detailed knowledge necessary
to list the main ones. In lieu of an asset inventory, we ought to pay attention
to the following gaps or problems on the occasion of President Bush’s African
tour:
- life expectancy at birth: Sierra Leone = 34.5 years; USA = 77.1
years
- adult literacy rate: Niger = 16.5%; Estonia = 98.8%
- population
earning less than $1/day: Ethiopia = 81.9%; USA = 0% (reported)
- probability
at birth of not surviving to age 40: Mozambique, 56%; Japan = 7.5%
- population
without access to improved water source: Ethiopia, 76%; USA = 0%
- physicians/100,000
people: Mali = 1; Italy = 567
- health spending/capita: Guinea-Bissau =
$12; USA = $4,499
- undernourished people: Burundi = 69% of population;
USA = 0% (reported)
- percent of adults with HIV/AIDS: Zambia = 21.52%;
USA 0.16%
- official development aid received, per capita: Dem. Rep. of
Congo = $5; Israel = $172.4 (The new European Union members get more aid than
Israel, but their assistance comes with club membership in the EU.)
All
these statistics come from the "Human
Development Indicators" section of the United Nations Development Programme’s
Human Development Report 2003.