Africa is a rather complex continent and this stems from many factors. How can one relate to the fact that a continent is so blessed, yet so terribly poor? I write this piece with a very heavy heart considering the fact that innocent Africans are being killed and maimed by fellow Africans for reasons one cannot justify. How can it be explained in today’s world that people are being burned alive because of one suspicion or the other? It is indeed hurtful and I call on the South African authorities to nip this in the bud because no one has the monopoly of violence.
That said, it all comes back to one fact – majority of Africans are poor and it is high time leaders from various African countries sat down to address the issue of poverty. The African continent, with a massive population of over one billion people has more than 500 million of this number living below the global poverty line of $1.25 a day. The first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 1) talks about eradicating extreme poverty by 2030. However, available data does not show that Africa is winning the war against poverty.
The burning question that should be on the mind of any concerned Nigerian is how do we change the poverty narrative for Nigeria? In my case, I simply ask myself, what are some of the practical ways that we can apply technology towards getting more people out of poverty? This is because the high levels of poverty simply mean we are seating on multiple kegs of gun powder and we must collectively do the needful or be ready to face the consequences.
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