THE FUTURE OF AFRICA
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NEWS AND ISSUES
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ALLAFRICA.COM NEWS
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DESPAIR, EDUCATIONAL LEVELS AND ALIENATION SHOW DESPITE WEALTH
WHEN A PEOPLE LOSES ITS VISION, THIS IS THE RESULT
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August 2011
(right) Mindless thugs of various races exploit alleged police injustice by repeating the same without reason or consequence in England, 6-10/8/11 |
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WHEN WILL THE AID GRAVY TRAIN END ?
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August 2011
(right) Newspaper letters commentary displays obvious charity fatigue, the despair of disappeared and misspent aid mirroring the need to address the fundamentals of the causes of poverty
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June 2011
(right)
Devastating
famine in the
Horn of Africa
once again
illustrates the
instability,
simplicity and
alienation which
characterises
the region and
makes further
strife
inevitable
SEE BBC REPORT
AND SUMMARY
SEE AFRICA PAGE
SEE DEVELOPMENT
PAGE |
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Concepts in the News
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AFRICA FINDS ITS ROOTS, ASSERTS ITS POTENTIAL TO THE WORLD
See Africa page,
Business page
for how technology and investment are linking and empowering us all
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DEVELOPMENT = CHANGE
See Business page,
Development page
for how countries change in order to link and progress
See Africa page,
Corruption section for how government and
technology address and manage instability
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The Pain Of Development -African
People Fight For Their Values;
The Battle Spreads
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WALL STREET BEHIND MANIPULATION
OF OIL/FOOD PRICES -MSNBC.com
report illustrates trend since
2008 global recession, causing
instability and regime change
throughout the Middle East
(Youtube video link, courtesy of
DavidIcke.com)
 LIBYA
(right)
'200 dead so far'
(msnbc.com)
(March 2011 -number revised to
around 3000)
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(below)
African leaders have a long
history of collusion for profit
(Foreign Policy magazine)
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Syria
Cabinet resigns (BBC)
Algeria
Rallies thwarted by police
(BBC)
Yemen
Protesters rally for reform,
wanting democratic changes,
stability (CNN)
Ivory Coast
Latest fighting (BBC)
Laurent Gbagbo orders bank
branch seizures (BBC)
Tunisia
Ben Ali faces arrest warrant
(BBC) |
MUBARAK
FORCED OUT
Egypt
Mubarak's torture regime
Mubarak's corruption- theft,
properties, torture
(Al-Jazeerah opinion)
ElBaradei returns to Cairo amid
unrest (BBC)
Riots spread through and via the
Internet -Facebook, Twitter
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Reaction to Injustice Spreads
-Awareness Adds Value to People
in Society in MENA Region
Violence shows itself as the
compounded lack of recognition
of empowerment potential,
but at the same time spurs
natives to further ownership of
their own lands.
-Legitimate capitalism
promotes the expression of added
value, maintaining purpose and
stability for its citizens.
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July 2011
UN welcomes the world's newest
country
South Sudan
(right)
US Sudanese ready to return to
help their new country
(BBC)(with video)
Africa's newest country open for
business
(CNN)(with video) |
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America Starting To Lose Its
Way?
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Is America No Longer
no.1? (Slate.com) |
The Mauritius Miracle
-economics, health care,
governmental vision
-can teach even the US
powerhouse how to manage a
country for the direct benefit
of its citizens (Time US) |
What do the headlines below have
in common?
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February 2011
NOKIA MAKES THE BIG CHANGE,
ALLIES WITH MICROSOFT
BBC story (with video)
Nokia press
releases/video/opinions
(right)
Technology gets smaller -mobile
devices all the rage, Android
and Nvidia spearheading the
revolution for phones and
tablets
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October 2010
(right)
World's most expensive house,
Antilia, Mumbai
-billionaire Mukesh Ambani
builds in his own neighbourhood,
uses local styles and labour
(with pictures)
Wikipedia -Ambani grew Reliance
Industries through the control
of raw materials as well as
value-added telecoms
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-society recognises the value
and use of supply chains, feeds
back for empowerment and
efficiency.
See
Business page and
new
Development page for how
society changes with new
production methods and
technology.
See
Computing section on Development
page for how technology
continues to link the world.
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ALIENATION VS. POTENTIAL
SEE AFRICAN MENTALITY SECTION
-traditions alienate, divide and prevent progress
SEE CHINA SECTION ON AFRICA PAGE |
ALIENATION |
POTENTIAL |
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RWANDA STRADDLES THE DIVIDE -A COUNTRY ON THE MOVE |
Then
 (left)
800,000 dead, rampant violence sparked by inter-ethic feuding, and international
corruption by nations which chose to not intervene, all contributed to the
Rwandan atrocity
SEE RWANDA OVERVIEW BELOW |
Now
SEE RWANDA'S CASE EXAMPLE ON DEVELOPMENT PAGE |
August 2010
'Sexual violence used as a weapon'
-DRC
rapes by Rwandan rebel soldiers show underlying
attitudes contradict Africa's progress, potential
UGANDA
17th August 2010
MP accuses soldiers of
torture in ongoing cattle dispute (BBC)
TANZANIA
17th August 2010
Kenyan accused of
trafficking Tanzanian albino (BBC)
MADAGASCAR
April 2010
'The curse of twins'
-Madagascar
violence used shows inbred superstitions; alienation and ignorance (France
24 video)
CHINA
Chinese overbearing, can
dominate/destroy local markets, employ their own rather than Africans -but still
needed (2007)
African workers feel alienated by Chinese
-Consultancy.com
...Africans seen as less educated, disciplined in China
(Suite101.com)
SEE CHINA-AFRICA BLOG -'THE REAL
STORY'
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INDIANS IN ETHIOPIA
February 2011
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/31609
Ethiopia uses Indian expertise to develop its own land -poverty and potential
working together for mutual benefit (MSN)
SEE INDIA SECTION ON BUSINESS PAGE
THE AFRICAN CHALLENGERS
June 2010
Boston Consulting Group points out the 'African Lions', showing vitality and
potential equalling the BRIC nations
(PDF
download on site)
AFRICA ON THE MOVE
June 2010
McKinsey report
(PDF download on site) talks about the new US$1.6 trillion African economy
-global links, FDI, the growing power of the African consumer
CHINA
2nd October 2010
China Now In Brazil
'Land Grab' spreads to Oil and Gas company, US$7bn total worth
KENYA -AGRICULTURE
11th August 2010
"Kenya wants to draw lessons from China which has limited arable land yet is
able to feed her 1.3 billion inhabitants"
Kenyan vice-president on the need to modernise agriculture through skills and
added value with Chinese partners
DRC-CHINA
Also see DRC-China mining contract, 2008
-"a
vast Marshall plan for the reconstruction of our country's basic infrastructure"
AFRICA -THE LAST ECONOMIC FRONTIER (Zimbabwe Independent)
See Africa page for links and analysis
See Kenyan Resurgence below,
Agriculture section on Africa page
China in Africa -Africa page
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Reaction To
Resources Produces Added Value For Trade
China-Taiwan
Trade Deal Is Signed, Agreed (BBC)
- (right) Mutual Recognition of Economic Abilities
- Trade Produces Provable Results -bilateral relationship =
£73bn (annual)
- REACTION TO STRIFE FROM ITS NEIGHBOUR PRODUCED THE INCENTIVE
FOR TAIWAN TO GROW FROM NOTHING
- SEE DEVELOPMENT PAGE FOR ANALYSIS
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CORRUPTION
See
Corruption section, Africa page
/Transparency
section, Development page |
22nd September 2010
CORRUPTION REARS ITS UGLY HEAD
-AGAIN
John Githongo article in
'Foreign Policy' on Afghanistan
and its transparency challenges
-Corrupt Democracy
(interview)
NIGERIA
August 2010
Nigeria Stock Exchange fires
executives -mismanagement
blamed, eroding confidence for
foreign investors
Wall Street Journal
Financial Times (blog)
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LIBERIA
August 2010
NAOMI CAMPBELL TESTIFIES -THE DIAMOND TRAIL CONTINUES
See Liberia Corruption Link,
Development Page
INDIA
23rd September 2010
India Runs Into Trouble Over
Commonwealth Games Fiasco
-cost
overruns, corruption, faulty
construction, 'unliveable'
accommodation (BBC)
BRAZIL
Lack of transparency in
Brazilian business hurts
natives, discourages foreign
investors
SEE BUSINESS PAGE FOR THE RISE OF THE BRIC COUNTRIES
-BRAZIL, RUSSIA, INDIA, CHINA
US CORRUPTION
How
Hurricane Katrina fuelled native
overspending, corruption
locally; everyone from waiters,
fishermen to contractors part of
the $16 billion bill
'The Spillionaires' -the
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,
USA
Corruption, feeding frenzy
(Calgary Herald)
Mentally Ill,
Prisoners Tested With Sexually
Transmitted Diseases in
Guatemala 1946-48
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CHINA
See FDI
section on
Africa
page for
'The
China Phenomenon' |
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TECHNOLOGY
Technology And Its Consequences on
Africa page |
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1
I have been concerned with the state of Africa and its economic
plight ever since the devastating Ethiopian famine of 1984/5,
and the birth of the charity movement Band Aid/Live Aid/Sport
Aid.
Over the last several years it has seemed that one key cause of
this ongoing malaise is the manner of Africa's assertion of its
own history by subsisting, as opposed to the creation of systems
and economies which will foster more independence and status.
This mechanism is commonly referred to as 'Westernisation' -but
geography plays no part in finding the right answer to the
issues of poverty, starvation and conflict.
The 'right answer' works because of Western struggles to find
them, and Africans for a large part of their history have played
no role in this struggle -whether or not they have had contacts
with the outside world.
Africa's future lies in using foreign funds, skills and
relationships to themselves exploit the suffering of the West in
finding these answers -for the purpose of Africa's own destiny
with their own formidable natural resources, thereby bypassing
centuries of investigation and exploration to satisfy this
vision.
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THE
AFRICAN MALAISE
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Development matters -empowering citizens and linking to the world
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Finland (see summary on Business page),
unusually, did not depend on Foreign Direct Investment (see
section on Africa page), but on exploitation of its own formidable natural
resources, coupled with a determination to adapt and develop for export markets.
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-to the most advanced mobile phones
(featured, new Nokia N8) |
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-and easily matches the world's best in terms of
educational levels (see comparative chart
on this site).
ADAPTATION TO ECONOMIC CONDITIONS DEFINES A COUNTRY'S VISION AND STRENGTH.
See Business page for country comparisons
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THEN AND NOW 1
GLOBAL GDP FOR
SELECTED
COUNTRIES, 1960
GDP per capita
is steady in
South Africa due
to the brutally
efficient
methods of the
then apartheid
regime (around
$US 5000).
Education plays
little part in
black
productivity at
this time. |
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THEN AND NOW 2
GLOBAL GDP FOR SELECTED COUNTRIES, 2000
The more productive countries, based on
industrialisation and investment, become 'host'
countries for those territories that can supply
their markets, illustrating an apparent
inequality of wealth that is much more due to
added value from the correct use of imported
resources -the phenomenon of growth needing
wealth to succeed.
(South Africa GDP per capita up around 50%
during this period in real terms)
SEE BUSINESS
PAGE FOR COUNTRY COMPARISONS
FACTORS THAT LINK GDP GROWTH
2008 South Africa race riots against migrant
workers
-the pain of development, moving into the modern
world
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Civil wars in Africa in the post-colonial era have epitomised native greed,
the lack of vision for chosen peoples and ethnicities, and the destruction of
any kind of added value to resources. Once leaders, even in war, start to
realise the futility of conflict, startling changes can be made -in time
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ZIMBABWE
Robert Mugabe has overseen the economic
destruction of his country, previously
'the breadbasket of Africa', through
corruption, hyper-inflation and
sponsored election violence; see blog
Also
takeover of white farms |
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The African Mentality
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Africans' outlook and lifestyles have
historically shown characteristics of simplicity
and alienation; the Western way conversely
invites progression, innovation and
understanding of the world due to-
(a) a desire to produce beyond merely
sustenance;
(b) a drive for efficiency which expresses
itself in terms of mass production;
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(c) a global outlook on the world: the
combination of the instinct to explore, innovate
and understand.
See-
African Mentality overview, Development Page
Main
section, Africa Page |
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AMERICA AND AFRICA -history, destiny and behaviour
Compare with countries list on Business page
The US is the richest and most powerful nation on earth, but also the result of
the ruthless exploitation of opportunities and resources -Americans are
boundlessly confident due to the history of uninhibited enterprise and sense of
achievement via the conquest of land and the 'need' to progress.
CU students, Colorado, USA -independent, empowered, creative
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Progress economically and sociologically is derivative, from the suffering and
labour which settled and built the land, along with a sense of common purpose,
and pride in achievement.
In the West
-work is a priority and the root of long-term planning, ie delayed
gratification -a characteristic exclusive to developed economies.
-morality is key, via contracting and learning -to obey and work towards a
common end is 'good'.
The latter is the root of the instinct that gives incentives to invent and make
goods that are sold around the world.
See Business page for countries comparisons on
growth, including
Asian Business section
for data on the link between education and productive wealth.
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AFRICAN BEHAVIOUR AND POVERTY
SEE AFRICAN MENTALITY SECTION ON AFRICA
PAGE
In Africa
-Africans REACT to others' circumstances instead of being
self-creating; -refinement and progress occur only through strife and/or the
need to emulate a Western lifestyle. Alienation is internal and external with
ethnic battles and tensions; systemisation has never been a priority.
UNDERSTANDING THE AFRICAN MENTALITY IS CRITICAL TO AN ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC
GROWTH IN THE REGION.
Traditional African Characteristics-
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Happy but not empowered -and not seeming to care
about it |
Low expectations, the 'blame game', ignorance and a lack of vision all combine
to not only entrench poverty but also reduce the chances of escaping it.
Ironically, Africans do not suffer enough to OVER-compensate so as to eg create
logistical, financial and mass manufacturing systems to maximise efficiency and
address future needs.
Indulgence and instant (rather than delayed) gratification, lack of progress,
and an appreciation of traditional ways rather than achievement are seen as the
key to a better quality of life. |
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WHY THIS SITE WAS ESTABLISHED
Africa is the last area of the world to be developed...despite huge potential
for its people and resources.
Colonisation ruined many native societies, but
also introduced techniques and awareness of these
-only then did the local
populations wake up to their potential.
THE REACTION TO POVERTY AND STRIFE SHOWS THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF ITS PEOPLE TO
DEVELOP.
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DEVELOPMENT THEN
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The British Empire was
oppressive and colonialist -but also hugely productive and efficient, empowering
the entire planet with its systems and innovations (Business page)
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SANITATION |
EVOLUTION |
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DEVELOPMENT AND AFRICAN CHALLENGES NOW
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Right, from top, l-r with links- the African Business Club, Harvard
University; India-South Africa summit, 2008; acceptance of computers in
African business is becoming commonplace; Chinese president Hu Jintao
speaks at Asian-African summit, 2005; traditional farming methods come
under scrutiny when it clashes with the needed for the focus on
efficiency and trade infrastructure.
BELOW LEFT, African logistics and efficiency are amongst the biggest
challenges facing importers and exporters -see
Logistics section, Africa page
BELOW RIGHT, the new East African Federation (flag shown) plans to unite
the economies of 5 countries in the region with a possible merging to
create a single state
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Reacting to poverty and strife involves having a vision of a stable future. It
takes a huge struggle and determination to address
entrenched hostilities, technical considerations involving logistics and
planning, and a desire to inspire peoples with the same
values that have built the West, and learning why overwhelmingly progress is due
to a shared vision
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Civil wars in Africa in the post-colonial era have epitomised native greed,
the lack of vision for chosen peoples and ethnicities, and the destruction of
any kind of added value to resources. Once leaders, even in war, start to
realise the futility of conflict, startling changes can be made -in time
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SECTIONS AND PAGES ON THIS SITE
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AFRICAN ISSUES
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MONEY AND BUSINESS
SEE AFRICA PAGE,
BUSINESS PAGE
The West is not rich due to plunder or slavery
-wealth is created through the development of
saleable products which get sold to, and
stimulate, external markets; consumers globally
realise the value of items which enrich their
lives, and change their behaviour to afford
these.
In this way Westernisation is seen as an
acceptable evil -we all become part of an
interdependent supply chain.
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Natural
resources in sub-Saharan Africa are far more a proportion of national GDP than
for other regions |
China's
skyrocketing trade with the rest of the world has emphasised mutual
interdependence and the potential that can arise once natural resources' added
value is realised |
Bad logistics
contribute hugely to the difficulty of doing business in SSA |
Endemic
corruption and the failure to address the need to pay bribes just to live in
some regions like (above) Nigeria and the DRC in the 1990s has massively
discouraged foreign investment and meant huge inefficiency in the business
mechanism
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FAMINE/AGRICULTURE
Agricultural dependence means that there is less
incentive to work land and find new methods that
pertain to particular land areas. |
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HEALTH AND DISEASE
Medical conditions are blamed on a combination
of acceptance and local superstition with little or no attention paid to
prevention and tested scientific methods -where medicines and correct behaviour
for future prevention will in turn test local customs and lifestyles.
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(left-right) African health care has historically been traditional and primitive
at best -new methods and technology means far higher life expectancies, but with
the attendant costs and responsibilities |
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TECHNOLOGY
Telecommunications and computing are shrinking this world -ICT both empowers and
exposes African potential and business failures.
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(left-right) Mo
Ibrahim, African
(British-educated)
telecoms
billionaire;
Kigali, Rwanda
features Wi-Fi
as part of its
mission to turn
the nation into
a major digital
hub for the
region |
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DONATION PROJECT
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WHY CHARITY DOES
NOT WORK
Western governments have supplied upwards of $1
trillion in grants and aid to help sub-Saharan
Africa since World War II, with little to show.
This is due to endemic mismanagement and
corruption -a complete lack of vision and
commitment.
Giving (for its own sake) reduces the incentive
to work and encourages the same semblance of
entitlement and dependence which caused various
ongoing conditions in developing regions
-whether African or elsewhere.
This section describes the failure of a project
originally envisaged to empower poor African
runners with donated computers, a demographic
whose qualities eventually showed themselves in
the desire to run regardless of wealth,
virtually at the expense of the growth of the
one usable resource they could supply to the
world -education and skills.
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CHARITY IS A WASTE
Donation failures
(this site)
African
attitudes
(this site)
Dambisa Moyo (right) writes on 'Dead Aid' -see
Oxford Times,
Corruption section
on Africa page and
Transparency section on new Development page
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(right) Irish computer donation charity Camara has recycled over 20,000 used
computers for use in SSA -but the (all but) free cost, Linux interface and
history of charity abuse in this region show that computers were invented as a
reflection of the need to industrialise and progress, NOT as here a more
convenient tool for classrooms and Internet cafes.
PCs are donated not sold, thereby reducing the
incentive for the establishment of that industry in the region. |
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BUSINESS
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BUSINESS PAGE
Certain countries' histories are looked at to
discover the common factors behind progress and
international trade -often based on a
government-promoted vision. |
(l.-r.) certain
nations have
transformed
themselves
through the
right vision,
especially with
a focus on
technology and
foreign direct
investment,
Singapore and
Malaysia being
strong examples
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DEVELOPMENT
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DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS
Certain emerging economies have correctly used
the idea of key concepts -educational standards,
foreign investment (FDI) and technology -to
transform their countries in terms of
infrastructure, outlook and empowerment both as
producers and workers with flexible and
marketable skills. |
(l.-r.) China
which has grown
almost entirely
through foreign
trade (but now
where domestic
workers have
formidable
buying power)
shows the way in
making the most
of other
'developing'
nations'
resources |
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France24
GHANA,
present day
ANGOLA,
present day
THEN
