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Hi Jody,
Unfortunately, just because there are orphans in a country does not mean these orphans are eligible for adoption. They must meet certain criteria of both local and U.S. (or other country) law and there must be an agreement between nations to allow the adoptions. Some countries have residency requirements (for example, Uganda requires adoptive parents live in Uganda for 3 years before the adoption can become final) and some don't even require travel tothe country (like Ethiopia, from where you can escort).
Currently, adoptions from South Africa to the U.S. are closed, so that would answer part of your question as to why people aren't doing it! You can't!
I'd suggest you check the state dept. website in the U.S. (and any other country in which you're interested) to see the adoption requirements. This would probably go a long way toward explaining why people are adopting from certain African nations and not others. While S.A. is currently closed for U.S. adoptions, they can be completed in as little as 5-6 months from Ethiopia to the U.S. so the reason Ethiopia is a popular African nation from which to adopt becomes apparent.
I hoipe this helps a bit and I'm sure you'll hear about adoptions in the past from SA from people who have done it which would be more informative than I can be.
Take Care
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