Third-world Debt

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In 1957, Ghana, a promising and growing African country, had a higher gross national product than the East Asian country of South Korea. Presently, however, South Korea is an industrial powerhouse- one of the 'four dragons' of Southeast Asia, while Ghana's development is on a landslide- its gross national product is lower than it was at independence. This sort of economic development discrepancy between Asia and Africa is unfortunately a common theme, even though the two continents became independent at roughly the same time. Asia continues to gain steam and grow economically, while Africa remains stagnant, continually battling severe poverty and atrocious living conditions. The horrendous economy in Africa is mainly due to impractical and illogical economic policies, government ideologies and corruption, and the legacy of colonialism. Conversely, East Asia, although suffering from similar problems, has managed to develop various strategies that have been enormously successful in improving their economic state.

Debt control and regulation is essential in encouraging economic confidence and growth. With high debt, the government and individuals devote their funds to merely paying interest expenses, compromising growth. This is the case in Africa, where dictatorial governments have been ignorant to debt maintenance, resulting in a rapid