10South Africa
AFRICANGLOBE – Influence is defined as the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something, or the effect itself. In this particular case we are discussing the effect a whole country has on others in the continent and outside of Africa. The power of countries to shape policy or ensure favourable treatment from other countries, especially through status, contacts, or wealth.
The impact African nations will have on the world stage will determine the rate of development the continent will grow at. Africa must strengthen relationships amongst its own countries and the world at large to have meaningful influence going forward. This article looks at the influence some African countries have in the world.
South Africa
South Africa is the only African country that is a member of the G20 and BRICS (the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa grouping), and the only African country of the EU’s 10 global strategic partners. This is mainly because South Africa is the EU’s largest trading partner in Africa but it certainly gives the country a global clout that Nigeria currently lacks. Nelson Mandela’s profile and the international activism of his successor, Thabo Mbeki, saw the former apartheid pariah state significantly increase its leverage in Africa and globally after 1994, and it simultaneously benefited from several years of healthy economic growth.
9Ethiopia
The name of Ethiopia is written 44 times in the bible. It is not only a matter wealth. It is also a matter of history, independence, military, politics, diplomacy etc… In all perspective you could not find any country which is more influential than ETHIOPIA in Africa. Just remember more than 20 African countries took the flag of Ethiopia after the battle of Adwa. With regards to the economy now Ethiopia is rising from the ash.
Ethiopia used the first railway and telcome in Africa, … Coffee first grew in Kaffa region of Ethiopia. The first humans lived in Ethiopia Today, Ethiopia is East Africa’s Mightiest Military power, 4th biggest and fastest economy, with not drop of oil.
Ethiopia defeated Italian colonials at Adwa, then Africans realized a Black country was capable of saying No! to Europeans. Ethiopia (along with Russia) is the only sovereign nation that hasn’t been ruled by a foreign power, (A privilege even US, UK never enjoyed) Africans knew that it’s possible to be still be Black and yet mighty over history. Ethiopia drew its calendar from the beginning (commemorated the new millennium just 5 yrs ago -) writes with its own alphabet system (ሀለሐመሠረሰቀበተቸ .. if your Unicode sys captures it), it’s own version of Christianity not dictated by European guns, Then Africans learned it’s possible to draw Black-man’s version of lifestyle.
The first Muslim ‘Azan’ – prayers world wide were screamed in Ethiopia after founder Mohammad and followers were persecuted in Arabia and given shelter in Ethiopia. Ethiopia rejected Neo-liberalism (the Washington consensus) and adopted DDv’tal State system, recorded up to the 3rd fastest growing economy world wide only behind China and India in 2008 when global recession harassed big nations. So Africans discovered that their continent can say No! to western preconditions to survival of their own citizens. Ethiopia is building Africa’s biggest dam – GERD – with 5 bln USD funded by itself to show Africa that it can dream big and satisfy it with a means d/t from only foreign aid.
Ethiopian Airways: Ethiopia founded its national airline in 1940s when others were suffering from evils, the first African to captain those crafts – Ato Alemayehu is Ethiopian. The first African who won Olympic gold Abebe Bikila in 1950s bare-footed on the streets of Rome, that Ethiopia defeated twice within 40 years of colonial agression – he said he run bare foot because he “… wanted to show that my country, Ethiopia has always defeated with courage and commitment.”
8Egypt
More Arab than African and with a recorded civilisation going back centuries, Egypt is one of the first nation states in the world. It regained its independence (from Britain) in 1953 – earlier than Algeria, Nigeria or South Africa. Since independence, Egyptian politics (and also much of its economy) have been dominated by the influence of its armed forces. Although it has one of the largest and most diversified economies in the Middle East and Africa, recent years have seen it embroiled in turmoil. 1953 African Futures paper 14 • March 2015 7 In 2011 President Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down as the widespread popular protests of the Arab Spring spread across North Africa.
7Kenya
6Morocco
Morocco is undeniably becoming a strategic platform to address the African continent. An increasing number of global companies choose to step in, first in Morocco, to then gain a faster access to other African markets. Its geographic proximity to Europe, its political stability and its competitive workforce constitute a powerful advantage.
This is especially true for the aeronautics sub-contracting market. However, the country has still a long way to go to be among the top performers in this sector.
While many North African countries have seen violent uprisings over the last two years as part of the Arab Spring and suffered economically as a result, Morocco has avoided the carnage and instead furthered its appeal as one of Africa’s top business destinations. The centerpiece of that appeal is its burgeoning aeronautical industry, which has drawn hundreds of millions of investment dollars since 2010 from American and European aeronautical companies.
5Nigeria
Nigeria, the country with the largest economic and power potential on the continent, faces different challenges from the other countries of the Big Five – although it shares a common history with Ethiopia, Egypt and Algeria, having experienced 33 years of military rule since independence in 1960. The Nigerian economy is dominated by its hydrocarbon sector, which suppresses the development of other economic sectors, manufacturing in particular, by increasing the relative value of its currency, the naira.
Despite the recent diversification of the economy, with new sectors contributing to the country’s GDP, 90% of Nigeria’s export revenue still comes from oil.22 To a large extent, the increase in Africa’s role globally will be driven by the future weight of Nigeria Politics in Nigeria are particularly complex and violent, with many ethnic, religious and social fault lines across society. Deeply entrenched corruption and low levels of government efficiency characterise a country facing huge governance challenges. In 2014 Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Nigeria lowest of the Big Five, at 136 out of 175 countries in the survey, which is significantly below the ranking of the other four.
4Uganda
Ugandan army may not be the most advanced in Africa but it has show that it is the most courageous and it has proved its self better than most force from the rest of Africa from 1993 when participated in stopping the Rwanda genocide,protected the Kenyans in 2008, fought the Rwandan rebel in Congo up to date, when its keeping peace in southern Sudan and largely in Somalia which was abandoned by most Africans great powers like the south Africa and the African Arab countries.
Uganda was among the first sub-Saharan African countries to embrace market reforms in the late 1980s and graduated as a mature reformer in 2006 with sound economic fundamentals and much improved governance. Real GDP growth accelerated from an average of 6.5 per cent year-on-year in the 1990s to over 7 per cent during the 10 years leading up to 2009-10. Not surprisingly, Uganda qualifies as one of the few durable African success stories.
3Rwanda
The unmistakable sense of national pride that Rwandans display is truly impressive and the powerful leadership and commitment to peace and development shown by President Kagame and his government is the engine that moves this country forward. Every citizen of Rwanda can be immensely proud of their country as one of the greatest development success stories in the world today, indisputably against all conceivable odds.
2Zimbabwe
God fearing nation…..with lots of potential..Take away sanctions, zimbabwe is a lion with a stone heart. They told y0u on BBC that their people starve because they don’t know how to farm but tell me who is feeding them today. Take away the American and European sanctions and the nation will rise from the ashes like the phoenix.
1Algeria
Much like Egypt, Algeria is trapped in stasis. And similar to Egypt and Nigeria, the Algerian military has played a major role in domestic politics since independence in 1962 – gained after a brutal war with France that lasted eight years and traumatised both countries. Its ailing and elderly president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, has won four consecutive elections since 1999.
Unlike Egypt, Algeria was narrowly able to avoid much of the impact from the Arab Spring, which started in neighbouring Tunisia at the end of 2010. But the fallout from the NATO intervention in Libya, which finally clinched the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, ignited turmoil in the region, particularly along Algeria’s eastern and southern borders with Libya, Mali and Niger. Tensions between Algeria and Morocco, to the west, complete the picture of a country located in a hostile neighbourhood. Although it contributes little to peacekeeping, Algeria has the highest military expenditure among the Big Five and in Africa as a whole.
