Poverty in Africa can be eradicated if Africa joins the European Union, do you agree/disagree?

Answer 1

Africa is not Europe, so they cannot join in. They can meet and learn together from each other and I hope they will, so they can find ways to lead their countries and make their own people happy instead of pushing them away from their birth places in search of a better life in Europe.
No need to join in to learn from each other.

Answer 2

I'm not expert on this topic, but here's where my limited knowledge and logical reasoning take me:

Of course, I want more aid and stability in Africa, but . . .

First, you are assuming the the European union would allow non-European countries into its fold. Let's, for the sake of arguement, assume that the EU would consider doing this. Even if it would, Africa cannot join the EU as Africa is a continent, not a country. Therefore, every African country would have to apply seperately in order to join the EU.

This becomes probematic as the EU has set up strict requirements for membership such caps on national debt and inflation rates. Obviously, some African nations are better off than others. If you are as cynical as I am, you can interpret this system of qualificationd as the express intent to keep uber-poor nations out. The EU was founded to solidify Europe as a world power politically, economically, and militarily. It was not set up to serve as a welfare provider for the rest of the world (whether it should have been is an entirely separate question). Honestly, most of the countries that are in the EU no longer meet these qualifications, but they don't have to anymore as they're already in the system. The point is, their economies were relatively strong when they joined and that's why they were let in.

Your question seems to imply that you feel the entire continent of Africa should be let into the EU. While letting that many volitile countries into the EU has the potential of helping Africa, it also has the potential of crippling the EU itself. I doubt that the EU is going the do anything at its own peril even if it has all the goodwill towards Africa in the world. Even if it did, what's the EU's benefit to Africa if the EU collapses in on itself?

Now, if all the EU's requirements were met, I think there is a chance that Africa would benefit from membership. To an extent, you can see this with the Eastern European countries that are currently scrambling to get into the EU in order to benefit from the standardized currency rate alone.

But, here's the thing, by just meeting the qualifications that the EU has set out for membership (i.e. becoming economically viable) African countries would probably benefit to a degree even without actual membership. For example, let's assume they got to a point where they met the qualifications and went through the application process but were ultimately denied. They would certainly not have access to many of the social programs and benefits of EU membership, but they would have (at least temporarily) created a more stable economy for themselves. This might eventually position them to create their own form of the EU. Hey, we did it (are doing it) with NAFTA.

This, of course, is all conjecture. Take it as you will.

Answer 3

More important would be building the infrastructure to provide water... evaporation plants to turn ocean water into potable water. The biggest problem in Africa, other than the corrupt governments stereotype, is foreign businesses coming in and monopolizing the water... There are places where the ground pumps are connected to a machine similar to an ATM machine, made by a French company in the report I've seen but surely there are others, where they have to buy cards to put in the machine to make water come out. If they can build this kind of infrastructure to squeeze profits out of the people, there is enough stability to start providing water they can actually afford. This would be the hand-up they need, along with helping out the AIDS problem through more than abstinence class a la Bush. The EU could do more for Africa by banning European businesses from selling water to Africa than by accepting Africa into the EU.

Answer 4

Puls, how can African countries join an association of other group very distict groups of countries? Can the European coutries join in the Afro.Asian organisation?

Africa could easilt eradicate its poverty by stopping internal wars and stopping the Euros stealing its wealth and stand firm for its rights.
85% of the raw material in UK and more in the rest of Europe come from Africa. Imagine if Africa stopped wars for a while to think of her resources?

Answer 5

European Union will be eradicated if Africa or Turkey join.
It's called EUROPEAN union, that is it is for EUROPEAN countries.
We hope however that all the rich countries help Africa eradicate the poverty there.
People can donate at http://www.wfp.org/donate

Answer 6

disagree , africa is deliberately kept poor so that the more developed countires can stay rich , the make povery history nonsense is all a scam , as long as there are very rich countries there will always be very poor countries .
Alot of the money given in aid to african countries is known as "tied aid " this means for instance if an african country is in desperate need of trucks or vehicles Britain ,America or whoever will send a million £ or $ so they can buy them , so far so good you may think ,but the deal is they have to spend this money in a certain way or with a certain company , lets say GM motors , and amazingly the cost of a truck rockets from $10,000 to $100,000 ,this ploy is usually used to support ailing companies in the west and on the surface makes the government who donated the cash look good for "helping " the poor african nation when in reality they are using them to prop up a company thats going through a bad time and the africans are getting a seriously bad deal

Answer 7

And after this happened who gonna eradicate the poverty in the European Union?

Answer 8

It would take a lot for countries in Africa to be able to qualify for the EU. Civil war, War Lords, and Genocide plague a lot of African nations. They would all have to establish a working democracy, and prove stability before they were even considered. If they could meet the criteria to apply for EU status, I don't think they would really need to. If the country was stable I think Africa on its own could be a great and prosperous nation. Unfortunately, it is really hard for them to take care of what is plaguing their country: poverty, starvation, war, when their are so many wealthy and corrupt taking all the necessities away from the masses.

Answer 9

Wow, wouldn't that be nice, maybe Mexico could join also....
BUT, I disagree...

I can't fathom anyone thinking that joining the EU would result in a benefit that would erradicate poverty..... maybe they are thinking: "handouts".... which do nothing to alleviate poverty.

corrupt governments and an out of control birth rate in Africa are the reason for poverty there, with socialism/communism sharing the responsibility.

Answer 10

Agree to an extent with the statement although disagree with the theory. As if they joined all the jobs would go to africa meaning the eu countries would be worse off.
Although it would only be eradicated to a cetain extent as africa isn't a country it is a continent with a population of a 100 millions as well as all the corruption so not only would the eu be worse off so would africa as money won't cure the problem only food will.

Answer 11

There is absolutely no reason to believe that an extra layer of bureaucracy will solve Africa's problems. The polititicians thrive on malversation in the EU and in Africa. I can only see the EU getting poorer and the elitist African dictators, cronies, sycophants etc getting richer at the EU's expense. What an unbelievably naive question.
Take a look at SA. Wherever money is being expended e.g. health and education it is not finding its way to the areas that need it. You have warehouses full of school textbooks. huge funds (much of it overseas aid) unspent on ARVs for AIDS sufferers. Ask Dr Beetroot why. She's the long discredited Health Minister that thinks you can cure AIDS with a diet of beetroot and garlic. With people like this in charge can you wonder why Africa continues going backwards. Why did SA need to spend $20-30 billion on arms since the end of apartheid. I don't know of many enemies to justify this expenditure.
You will only get rid of poverty in Africa when the politicians and the arms suppliers from (the five permanent members of the UN security council) stop supplying them and concentrate on building the economies for the benefit of all.
Lastly African nations are trying to create an African Union based on common interests mainly economic and beginning with a peer review mechanism for monitoring human rights records etc. Only two problems while money can always be found for arms very few are willing to pay a subscription to fund the body claiming lack of funds. Secondly 'peer review' hasn't worked because denial has always been a major cause of the refusal of problems to go away. African nations criticising one another is like waiting for the US to criticise Israel. Its just a ruse to try to get western nations to offer funding for another round of unproductive talks, huge meal expenses, time wasted in endless translations and travel expenses for bureaucrats. Hmm does this sound like somewhere familiar (EU, UN, IMF and World Bank)