Lausanne World Pulse – Urban Articles – An Overview of Middle and West Africa

By Justin Long
January 2007

Middle Africa
Middle Africa is one of the most resource-rich regions on the African continent. The Congo River and its tributaries together drain a greater area than any river system except the Amazon. Oil, gold, uranium, timber, metals, fish and water are found here. It has one of the lowest population densities in the world, and should be one of the wealthiest. Instead, Middle Africa is one of the least-urban, most war-torn, diseased and poverty-stricken regions in the world.

Some ninety-six million people live in nine countries; increasing by three million annually, by 2025 this number will likely rise to 184 million. Two-thirds of the people live rural lives. Fifty million (nearly half the population) are children, and the region has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world.

Few of Middle Africa’s governments are stable. All but the smallest are either mired in or rebuilding from war. Conflict has defined their history for much of the twentieth century. Decades of bloodshed in Angola, the many coups in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, military regimes in Central African Republic and Chad, a devastating civil war in Congo-Brazzaville and the many wars and assassinations in Congo-Zaire have all led to an atmosphere of violence. Even today, armies are flowing into this region—particularly into the Great Lakes region where so many wars have been fought. If Middle Africa is to have a better future, peace must be made.

Devastated by coups, wars, repressive governments and mismanagement, Middle Africa has become the second poorest region in the world after Eastern Africa.

Devastated by coups, wars, repressive governments and mismanagement, it has become the second poorest region in the world after Eastern Africa. Both Angola and Congo-Zaire have enormous resources—and both have succeeded in squandering them. The overwhelming majority of Chad’s millions live in abject poverty. Both Chad and Equatorial Guinea have oil resources to develop; however, many aid programs have been terminated due to the mismanagement and corruption that is further sapping their ability to advance. The two biggest economies are Cameroon (which produces thirty percent of Middle Africa’s total GNP) and Zaire (which despite its state still produces twenty percent of the area’s GNP).

Most in the region have been affected by AIDS. Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Zaire and Gabon all have widespread AIDS epidemics. The disease is decimating the workforce and making orphans of future workers. In most cases, national plans have been organized. However, they have not yet been able to sufficiently respond to the scope of the disease.

Christianity in Middle Africa
Christianity first came to the region in the 1400s. Portuguese missionaries spread the gospel in the sixteenth century. Modern mission movements spread from the east in the nineteenth century, and the African Independent Churches exploded during the twentieth century. Today, Christianity claims a substantial majority of every country except Chad (which, bordering Egypt, Libya and Sudan, is half Muslim and a quarter Christian, with about fifteen percent holding to older ethnic beliefs), which is a substantial base for Muslim mission activity. The Church is making gains, although these gains are slipping in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome & Principe (which are saturated with Christianity but need revival). Less than ten percent of the population is unreached. Many Christians, however, are not actively practicing their faith. Zaire is over ninety percent Christian and yet has descended into the morass of civil war. Still, the enormous number of conversions signals a significant thirst for the water of life.