But how is this achieved? What should the government and the people of a poor country do to achieve a higher level of wealth? Four main things must be accomplished within a country for it to be considered “developed.”
Lack of Corruption in Institutions
For a country to become rich, it must have reliable institutions. These include jails, courts, banks and the government, if people are corrupt in these institutions it is almost impossible to truly serve the people who live under them. If the people of a nation are not being treated fairly by those in authority over them, the entire structure (from the citizens to the president) will not achieve any form of prosperity because the people do not believe in it.
Educated and trained workforce
If you compare education standards and capable labor forces in predominantly poor countries, you would find a positive correlation. If generation after generation is raised with inadequate education, the workforce will have severely high levels of unemployment.
A country cannot become wealthy if there is not a solid educational reform or workforce structure in place. Without these, citizens cannot bring home decent wages that are needed to pay taxes, which in turn helps educational development.
According to statistics from InfoPlease, and The Richest news, the poorest countries on the planet as of 2015 also share the lowest scores on education systems, with the lowest being Niger, with an EDI of 0.528. A quick look at the comparison between education and wealth shows that any successful country has built its success from the bottom up.
High Grade Infrastructure and Telecommunications
If you take a look at any developed country today like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or Australia, they all have high-grade infrastructure and well-developed telecommunication databases.
Infrastructure including roads, buildings such as hospitals, and power supplies are necessary for a country and its economy to function effectively. Think about it, without roads, goods cannot be efficiently transported across the country, and without power, buildings like hospitals are not operable.
Military, Security, Law and Order
The military is undoubtedly the least important aspect for a developing nation, since at this stage there is less threat of invasion compared to a developed country. In addition, the United States has the largest and most globally recognized military in the history of our species, and is more than willing to provide military assistance to countries under invasion. Therefore, when at the stage of developing infrastructure and an operable economy, an army should not be a top priority, but should be in the minds of the leaders.
Apart from this, having national security is essential for any country to achieve greater prosperity. Poor countries are much more likely to have internal crime problems than rich countries because there is a lack of public order due to the ease of corruption. If cartel owners can offer cops triple their annual salary to allow them to continue illegal activities, can you really blame law enforcement for forcing?