Deconstructing African Poverty against the Backdrop of a Rich Musical Heritage: A Paradox

Abstract

While most of the world’s economically poorest nations today are in Africa, the continent still possesses an extremely rich musical heritage, hitherto reflected in the tales of the griots, the traditional historians and praise-singers, and in the twenty-first century represented by African music composers and entertainers both at home and overseas. Defining African poverty in the context of resources is always problematic, because Africa has an expansive depth of resources of all kinds. This chapter will focus on one of these: African musicians (artists) as a potential resource that can be utilized to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Musicians have a dual role as both human and artistic resources, and yet they have yet to be fully economically promoted so that their contribution may be substantially reflected in Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).