The financial meltdown has its apparent epicenter in the United States, but both because of the ripple effects from the American economy and larger factors of a globalized economy, the crisis is best understood as a worldwide issue. And Africa is not exempt and may be more vulnerable than much of the rest of the world. South African banks are showing little mercy to struggling debtors. Falling oil prices may be good for the rest of us, but when oil prices fall there is a negative impact on oil-producing regions, whether in Texas or in Nigeria, where falling oil prices will almost certainly have a deleterious effect on the country's budget. And in a country like South Africa, which has at least one foot firmly set in the world of global markets, with the Johennesburg Stock Exchange embodying the country's outsized economic role on the continent, the global situation has caused both stocks and the rand to plummet.
But in some ways these are temporal concerns, which is not to diminish the profound consequences of temporal changes for the most vulnerable members of society. However other signs point to African success stories on the economic front. The 2008 Ibrahim Index of African Governance indicates that governance improved in nearly two-thirds of African countries from 2005-2006, the period under consideration. Signs indicate that this is an upward trend and not a one-off improvement. Furthermore, if Tanzania's progress is any sign, the continent might be doing well (though not perfectly, to be sure) with regard to meeting the Millennium Development Goals set out for it in 2000.
No one should wear blinders as to the distance African nations still must travel when it comes to good governance, economic growth, social and political stability, access to services, food, potable water, and the like. But the perspective too many get on Africa comes from a smattering of grim missives depending on the crises du jour. Yet there is real progress being made across the continent that we ought to recognize and encourage.