ABSTRACT
In its May 13–19, 2000 issue, The Economist (London), called Africa the “ hopeless” continent and further characterized the region’s prospects for development in the new millennium as practically non-existent. In fact, the magazine argued that the new century has brought primarily disaster to the continent. It went on to state that “[a]t least 45% of Africans [now] live in poverty, and [that] African countries need growth rates of 7% or more to cut that figure in half in 15 years.” Despite the fact that this and other Western-based media outlets have traditionally portrayed Africa only in gloomy terms, it is important to note that there is a significant amount of truth in what the magazine has reported.
