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I think that prosperity through the pursuit of opportunity leads to such changes.

The author derides the continent of Africa, yet ignores enormous economic and public health improvement among most countries there in the last 30 years. Attitudes and “honor” culture have changed as well; nowadays commerce and transactions are the norm in cities, rather than violence based.

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The article was originally written 16 years ago and last updated 6 years ago. How much of the improvement in the last 30 years has been over that time? How much of the improvement in the last 30 years has filtered its way into the popular perception of Africa? Or into how Africa looks from a statistical perspective? I am not surprised that the article gives a picture of Africa that is 20-30 years out of date.

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At that time, various countries in Africa were struggling and at a nadir: Sierra Leone, Guinea, Burundi; others flourished: Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia. Many others didn’t change materially: Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa.

It is as meaningful to lump all African countries together as it is to group all countries in Asia. There are more commonalities between North Africa and the Middle East than similarities with southern and central Africa.