Debt, Healthcare, and Breaking the Cycle
National debt from the independence era continues crushing African development today. Countries like Angola, despite being oil-rich, owe around $43 billion from civil wars and post-independence struggles. This debt severely limits government spending on essential services that families desperately need.
Healthcare inequalities reveal the human cost of these financial constraints. No African country provides universal healthcare like the UK's NHS. Urban families might access basic medical care, but rural communities face life-threatening situations from preventable diseases. In Eswatini, 1 in 4 adults live with HIV, whilst across Africa, diseases like cholera and diarrhoea kill people who could be easily saved with proper treatment.
The family impact is devastating - when adults become too ill to work, households lose their main income whilst medical costs soar. HIV/AIDS has orphaned 11.6 million African children, creating additional financial strain on extended families and communities who step in to help.
Reality Check: These interconnected problems mean that solving Africa's development crisis requires tackling education, debt, and healthcare simultaneously - not just one at a time.