I believe this is an interesting topic. Let us  hear from your part of the globe what the world thinks of Africa

The world sees Africa as the richest and the most beautiful continent that is inhabited mostly by primitive people.

Nigeria is seen as a corrupt country (as according to a magazine i read) which is at fault for it's down falls and increase in thieves since the money is been taken by the weathly and no option is left for the working class but to steal for their upkeep.

Africa is seen as a developing continent which needs lots of help to stand on it's feet's, there are lots of questions as to if it ever will due to poverty, dept, malnourishment, unculivated lands disease e.t.c.
But in general beauty Africa is the best the weather, the often wealthy land and natural resouces.

ok i was watching bbig brother uk recently and the situation in the house was they failed a task so they were on basic rations. some housemates were complaining that they were hungry, some used th word starving. then another housemate started chiding them and told them to be grateful for wot they have and eat wot little they've got then she said

" starving? this isnt starving. starving is like africa, starving is like africa" i was so angry. y must pple who haven't visited africa before make such judgements? there are some poor countries in africa, we know that but we also know that there are poor countries in other parts of the world, but no one seems to associate them, with poverty and hunger.

recently, unis in the uk went on strike, and one of my friends was complaining to one of my lecturers that the strike was causing delays and wasnt nice generally and he said

"who r u to talk? coming from africa, u should be used to it by now" we tried reporting him but we didnt get very far cos we had final yr exams and all.
so thats how some of them see africa, we're hungry, poor, and generally not capable of taking care of ourselves some are even surprised we have cars ( i swear someone said that to me once) . i hope their mentality changes one day, i really do.

i hope their mentality changes one day, i really do.

I do not care what they think, they think that Africans are stupid people that is why they fall mugu for yahoo boys. Now they think Nigerians are Criminals.
Tommorrow who know what they will think?

wot is 'yahoo boys'?

omonozozo:

The world sees Africa as the richest and the most beautiful continent that is inhabited mostly by primitive people.

do u watch TV atall or do u listen 2 wat ppl say bout Africa ?

What tv do you watch?

do u watch discovery channel and all dat

yes I do, do you?

yes i do so don't u see d way dey show Africa up in there

On channels like Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel, History Channel etc. they frequently depict how rich Africa is in terms of its resources. South Africa, for example, is the largest exporter of gold in the world. Africa has the largest deposits of diamonds in the world. There is an abundance of Uranium, which is used to generate nuclear energy, in Niger. I could go on and on. People all over the world would see this as Africa being wealthy. Wealth is not only defined as a country's economy, but also its resources.

As for beauty, Africa has some of the most beautiful landscapes and locations in the world. The Seychelles, for example, are unsurpassed in terms of its beauty. I think they do show that on television, don't they?

As for primitive, most channels focus on rural areas with native inhabitants, which has the rest of the world believe that the whole of Africa is primitive.

The bottom line is this: the media conveys the picture that Africa is beautiful and has all these resources, but doesn't know how to make the best of it because its people are primitive.

k if u say so but dat ain't what i see on tv

What ya see?

ppl workin almost naked and whit ppl tryna help dem kidz ppl living in some cave shit like dat

That is exactly why I said they portray primitive people.

oh ok

i don't care how the world sees africa. all i know is that africa is a very beautiful place to live.

the important question is how do africans see demselves? i am aware of africans abroad who try as much as possible to deny there heritage,back home here the emphasis is not on what unites us but wat divides us. so africans are the ones to create a new image for demselves. ppl in the western worlds will only regard you if u hold urself with respect/dignity.

This is how the world views africa.

Africa still struggles for democracy By EDWARD HARRIS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 3, 3:36 AM ET



Whether a new peace or more violence lies ahead for Congo, its people have embraced the chance to join fellow Africans who are increasingly finding their voices through the ballot box.

The vote Sunday in Congo, a massive country in the center of Africa that's been ruined by war, typifies the continent's postcolonial struggles — and its hopes that legitimate governments will at last act on their citizens' behalf.

African countries once torn apart by strife and injustice have now held multiparty elections, and voters say the advance of democratic rule won't be turned back, though analysts say that voting alone does not equal democracy and is not a panacea for what ails the continent.

In 1991, when multiparty elections first began sweeping Africa, what was then called Zaire looked like much of the continent: It was laden with vast troves of valuable natural resources controlled by rich leaders in charge of desperately poor people.

The themes of exploitation, deprivation and violence played out across Africa before elections. South Africa's townships burned under apartheid. Military regimes ruled Nigeria. Ethiopia starved and fighters wearing looted ball gowns preyed on civilians in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

With shifting global priorities, Western leaders and donors began valuing good governance over simple internal stability. The collapse of the Soviet Union destroyed a source of funding for African leaders who had, sometimes cynically, embraced communism. Now, the continent-wide African Union has declared it will bar from its ranks leaders who took power unconstitutionally.

Most of sub-Saharan Africa's people have voted — and not just in government-sponsored referenda where ruling leaders gain 99 percent of the vote.

"During Mobutu, we could only vote 'Yes.' Now we can vote for who we want. There are no soldiers here telling us how to vote," said Michel Katako, a 52-year old railroad worker who voted Sunday in Congo's trash-choked capital, Kinshasa.

Final results are not expected for weeks.

A former rebel leader who was among the 33 presidential candidates has alleged massive fraud but pledged that his protest would remain peaceful as preliminary results trickle in. Foreign observers have so far praised the process as open and largely peaceful.

Zambia's Kenneth Kaunda appeared to set the pace for voting reform in Africa in 1991, when the decades-long ruler lost multiparty elections he arranged, then handed over the keys to the presidency to the victor.

But freer political space has not ended problems for Africa.

Apartheid in South Africa crumbled after Nelson Mandela's electoral victory in 1994, but crime, AIDS and poverty remain. Some 10,000 Nigerians have died in ethnic and religious strife since that country's 2000 vote ended heavy-handed military rule.

Despite advances under elected President Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria is still considered among the world's most corrupt nations.

Swaziland has one of the world's last remaining absolute monarchies, and some elected leaders, like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, have consolidated power inside their executive offices in ways reminiscent of military dictatorships.

Even in countries headed by leaders who prevailed at the ballot boxes, journalists and human rights workers are jailed, political opponents stymied and government funds looted.

"Elections don't equal democracy," says David S. Pottie, an assistant director of the Carter Center, which was founded by former President Carter and often monitors overseas elections.

Voting can provide ways to make and implement decisions that affect large numbers of people, but "what's more important in unleashing democracy and development is to create structures, mindsets and practices that involve the people," says Pottie, who focuses on democracy projects.

That's the hope in Congo. But the country is still roiled by back-to-back wars that ended in 2002 with President Joseph Kabila's negotiated settlement that set up the transitional administration that arranged Sunday's vote.

There are concerns that some of the presidential candidates won't accept the outcome and that armed struggle could flare anew. But voters hope that democracy means elected leaders will be responsive to voters' needs, making economic development and peace a priority.

"This will be the first time we have democracy. After the vote, our lives will improve. Why? We will finally have a free country," said Katako, the Kinshasa voter. "If we have an elected president, he'll work for the people and help end the suffering."

Most Nigerians and indeed black Africans are raised in a cocoon of innocence in which they see themselves being no better or no less, but just the same as everyone else. However, for those who step out into the wider world, nothing can quite prepare them for the cold shock as they come face to face with the perceptions of others concerning them.
As has been accurately stated on this thread, Africans are depicted as being wretched and dirt poor, while the merciful and gracious West constantly extends its hands of mercy. Anything good on the continent, and I mean anything at all, past and present, is depicted as being the result of European influence. Even in their programmes, Africans are depicted as being extra rugged. This mindset has not only permeated Western thinking but other non black communities. I know peeps who have had disparaging remarks made to them by Asians, Orientals and Eastern Europeans about the ugliness of dark skin, African hair, and about peeps living in trees. Yes, even in this day and age.
I remember how shocked I was when I heard about spectators tossing bananas onto the football pitch to upset black players.
Well, that's how they see us. But I don't care, I don't hate anyone for we are all humans, but God help whoever tells me such.
Pixely Isaka ka Seme, a South African lawyer said, "I am an African and I hold my pride in my race over against a hostile public opinion " and that, I believe, should be the motto of every black African.

iice:

Like a terrible place, some see it as a beautiful place inhabited by primitives (yes people still think we run around in loin cloths and chase Lions) I set them straight on that one.

lion cloths? gurl they think we run around naked well yeah all u got to do is set them straight

shoot. me too. i let them know.

yup mee too don't even tryna waste time set them straight

One of my friends asked me if it was true that we africans sleep on tress like the monkeys do and i got very angry cuz they dont respect mother africa.Africa is very rich,we have a lot of resources like gold,cocoa etc,

the world sees Africa as a continent full of mineral resources with monkeys of all colors and intelligence and shapes running above and within them.0

Since we have an idea of how the "world" sees us which to me is extremely irrelevant, do we have an idea of how we see ourselves?

This is the question like someone already raised in this thread.
Majority of Africans prefers to be called English, French and other European names. I ask how many Europeans bears African names ?

When we assume to speak languages developed by the original users of this languages and often knowingly or unknowingly pretend to know this languages more than the original owners of this languages not to mention among African countries that speak similar foreign languages, what should we expect from the "world" on how they see us.

When in our schools we teach our children foreign histories and other cultures without knowing what our history is.

We wait for investment from the "world" to come and tell us what to do and how to improve our lives, what should we expect from thesame "world" that copied, stole and destroyed our heritage and used it  for their own benefits and advancement.

Our presidents, well i call them criminals, fathers, mothers have been blind for a long time now but we the present generation must find a way to change things now.

Brothers and sisters our generation yet unborn will never forgive us if we continue to live in this false premise of existence.

Our forefathers were living in abundance in their land of origin before the "world" came to them. I know that it is only those who are searching for better life and civilization that will travel thousands of miles across the sea.
The "world" found it because our forefathers received the "world", which turned out to be their greatest undoing, copied, stole and destroyed the foundation of what they are having today.

We should expect all kinds of negativities from the "world" but we must know who we are in order to change things.
I advice every African any where they may be to read "THE DESTRUCTION OF BLACK CIVILIZATION" by Chancellor Williams because the "world" can not  tell us who we are as regards our black history.

Basket case!! And why not, when the number 2 man travels to his multi-million dollar mansion in Maryland for his vacation, then returns to Nigeria to continue his manipulation of the masses.

Basket case!! is how they view us, and until we take our destinies into our hands, refuse to be victims of the endless manipulation by the likes of Atiku and IBB and forge a new identity for ourselves.

Basket case!! Because we are seen as powerless in the face of grand theft and abuse by our leaders and powers that be.

I for one do not believe ours is basket case, but we have a lot to do to achieve anywhere near our true potentials as a continent.

@ Tochi
Gboozahh. Well said. dalu

Well said tochi & others.

The fact that Transparency has found Nigeria to be the most corrupt country in the world doesn't help Africa's image one bit.
The fact that the most anyone ever sees of Africa on tv or in films is the poorest of the poor, dirty, starving, violent doesn't help.
The fact that Nigeria would rather praise and admire the rich and opulent (ovation mag) than concentrate on core issues such as corruption, homelessness, poverty doesn't help.
The fact that Nigerians continue to give the rest of us a bad name overseas doesn't help.
The fact that those in power are screwing their own country of money that could be better spent in countless ways, but prefer instead to send their wives on extravagant shopping trips abroad, buy flashy cars etc doesn't help.

Controversial as this may sound, Africa could possibly benefit from having a neutral outsider put it in order.

In some ways Africa only has itself to blame. It is so bad that many Africans in Africa trust a foreigner over their fellow citizen.

I could go on. I'm a Nigerian and proud of it. I always give my Nigerian name and say that I am Nigerian when asked my Nationality, although I have British citizenship and was actually born here and brought up here for a large part of my life so far.