Saturday, May 3, 2014

Secretary of State John Kerry: "Africa is on the rise, and we need to help make sure it continues"

The rise of Africa:

The greatest story under-reported -- or flat-out ignored -- in Western media.

Here at HGP with intense conviction and veracity, we have been reporting the African Story left out of your daily newspaper, weekly magazine, favorite news website or cable news.

This is one of our main recurring themes.

For the most part, the MSM overwhelmingly publishes African stories that fit the pre-determined narrative: poverty, disease and war. Sadly, many of these stories are indeed accurate.

The nagging issue, however, is that these stories only tell, at best, 30% of the story.

Slowly, yet unmistakably, the ''so-called" liberal American mainstream press  -- conservatives love to label anything an inch to the left of Fox News as having a liberal bias -- has taken notice of the transformation of Africa.

Economist magazine wrote The Hopeful Continent in 2011
 
THE shops are stacked six feet high with goods, the streets outside are jammed with customers and salespeople are sweating profusely under the onslaught. But this is not a high street during the Christmas-shopping season in the rich world. It is the Onitsha market in southern Nigeria, every day of the year. Many call it the world's biggest. Up to 3m people go there daily to buy rice and soap, computers and construction equipment. It is a hub for traders from the Gulf of Guinea, a region blighted by corruption, piracy, poverty and disease but also home to millions of highly motivated entrepreneurs and increasingly prosperous consumers.

NY Times reported Africa on the Rise in 2012:

GENERATIONS of Americans have learned to pity Africa. It’s mainly seen as a quagmire of famine and genocide, a destination only for a sybaritic safari or a masochistic aid mission.
      
So here’s another way to think of Africa: an economic dynamo. Is it time to prepare for the African tiger economy? Six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies between 2001 and 2010 were in Africa, according to The Economist. The International Monetary Fund says that between 2011 and 2015, African countries will account for 7 of the top 10 spots.
      
Africa isn’t just a place for safaris or humanitarian aid. It’s also a place to make money. Global companies are expanding in Africa; vast deposits of oil, gas and minerals are being discovered; and Goldman Sachs recently issued a report, “Africa’s Turn,” comparing business opportunities in Africa with those in China in the early 1990s.
 
And today, the Washington Post printed an editorial from SOS John Kerry:
 
John F. Kerry is secretary of state.

The best untold story of the last decade may be the story of Africa. Real income has increased more than 30 percent , reversing two decades of decline. Seven of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies are in Africa, and GDP is expected to rise 6 percent per year in the next decade. HIV infections are down nearly 40 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and malaria deaths among children have declined 50 percent . Child mortality rates are falling, and life expectancy is increasing.
This is a moment of great opportunity for Africans. It is also a moment of decision.
 


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