“Violent conflict exists in 20 African countries, and potential upsets in others cannot be ruled out. The violent activities of extremist groups are spreading.”

So wrote Mark G. Wentling, a retired diplomat (“Much Cause for Worry; A Clear-eyed Look at Africa,” The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022.) Wentling spent most of his career working in aid programs for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID.)

At one point, back in the 1970’s, when Wentling began his work in Africa, the future seemed hopeful. Many countries were gaining their independence from colonial rulers. Today, writes Wentling, “It is difficult to find an African country where competent and honest governance prevails and where justice is rendered to the people.”

Wentling details numerous areas of concern: population growth that has not made the transition the rest of the world has made toward sustainable birth rates; a massive movement of the population into cities without historical parallel; low educational and health standards; and an agricultural system unable to meet the continent’s food needs.

Of course, since the Portuguese first explored Africa’s coastal areas, too many developed countries have seen Africa as merely a treasure for them to exploit, beginning with slavery and extending to its mineral and natural wealth. Except for the work of a few missionary and aid organizations, Africans were not given the freedom or the means to make the transition taken earlier by today’s developed nations.

Wentling ends his article on a pessimistic note: “It seems few Americans care about Africa. I care, but I am helpless to change the course of history. I can see that if the negative trends of this large and diverse continent of more than 2,000 ethnic groups are not reversed, there is much cause for worry.”

These words do not have to be the epitaph on a continent with such possibilities. Some have seen the possibilities and determined different courses. They include two past presidents, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush. African writers also are more prevalent, bringing their stories to Western readers.

Perhaps what is needed now is more awareness, not only of Africa’s needs, but also of her gifts, of how revolutionary Africans would be if her young people were given the educational and vocational training they need.

Perhaps if we centered on encouraging the skills, both educational and vocational, for ordinary Africans, the people themselves would be able to change their governments and protect their vast resources.