Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Africa is a Country

It started a couple of days ago when I saw a friend’s picture on Facebook. She was on this magnificent throne - a black and shinning silver power bike! She looked like a goddess! Few days later was another of her pix, a really funny one with her sitting on a stool that was crafted as a woman’s waist down to the feet (hope your imagination explains it better than I have described). Anyways, the picture had comments and one of them said something about her being a visiting friend from Africa. Hayibo! I clapped my hands and swallowed hard remembering that some battles are not worth fighting.

A few days later, while looking around at some potential countries I would like to visit (I was actually reading up about them to find a reason why I should 'See Paris and die'). I came about a striking description of a particular country and I thought, why not? Africa can be this country, Africa is a country! This time, I was not riled by the expression neither was I saying it from an ignorant point of view. It is a dream that I believe is worth dreaming. My husband doesn’t stop talking about Africa having open borders, being a free trade zone and the likes. Beyond the challenges inherent - Boko something, Al Shabaab, the wars in Libya, Egypt, the politics, etc. How can we stir ourselves towards being an organized community having an exclusive domain / territory?

This is my dream Africa. Perhaps not rich enough. Perhaps each one of us’ contribution can help rewrite this random piece, making it transcend beyond the pages of this blog to the reality of our situation. Your contribution to the making of our country, Africa, is hereby solicited. It begins with you. And if it sounds too good to be true, I leave you with the words of a citizen of Africa, Mandela the Great, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Let the great minds begin to work this out. #Africaisacountry


Africa, officially the African Confederation, is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of 65 cantons, with Algeria as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, both the Suez Canal and the Red Sea along the Sinai Peninsula to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The establishment of the African Confederation is traditionally dated to 7 September 2024, which is celebrated annually as Africa National Day.

Africa pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. It is a member of the World Free Trade Association. Africa comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions: English, French, Portuguese and the Africano-speaking landscapes. The Africans, although predominantly French-speaking, do not form a nation in the sense of a common ethnic or linguistic identity; rather, the strong sense of identity and community is founded on a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy. 
Since the federation of the territory in 2024, Africa has become one of the world's fastest-growing major economies. As of 2029, it is the world's second-largest economy by both nominal total GDP and purchasing power parity (PPP), and is also the world's largest exporter and importer of goods. Africa has the highest wealth per adult (financial and non-financial assets) in the world according to Credit Suisse and fourth-highest per capita gross domestic product on the IMF list.  
African citizens have the third-highest life expectancy in the world on UN and WHO lists. Africa has the top rank in Bribe Payers Index according to Transparency International, indicating very low levels of business corruption. Moreover for the last five years the country has enjoyed highest economic and tourist competitiveness according to Global Competitiveness Report and Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report respectively, both developed by the World Economic Forum. Nigeria and Libya have been ranked among cities with highest quality of life in the world with the former coming second globally according to Mercer. 
Africa is a world leader in science and technology. It is developing its education system with an emphasis on science, mathematics and engineering; in 2026, it produced about 10,000 Ph.D. engineering graduates, and as many as 800,000 BSc graduates, more than any other country. Africa is also becoming the world leader in the production of scientific researchers and software developers. African technology companies are increasingly springing up and becoming world leaders in telecommunications and personal computing. Recently, Africa has launched its space program aimed at being the world's most active, and is advancing its steps in a project to assemble a large manned station by the early 2040s.


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