Rivwertemz said:
I believe one thing is evident; "globalization" over time--Persian, Asian and Arab influences involved with the African trade routes such as; textiles, jewellery, tusks, safari animals e.g. in the East/South East of Africa, North Africa and central Africa, that are more evident in findings with what global industrial attributes were exposed to with Sub-saharan Africa in the earlier centuries etc. Good point. Mansa Musa shook global markets with the gold bullion of Mali.
Improving transport to make way for easier trade routes and commuting
to and from the cities and rural areas; therefore the need to invest in more
Railway projects, trains and roads the sooner we can get on board with
these project the faster the growth and development, whilst reducing the
socio-economic risks, simply said than done. I would agree a lot more can be done as regards reliable infrastructure.
The thing is that there there seems to be so little accountability for
making sure things get done. What do you think of the Chinese factor in
jump-starting some of this? As far back as the 1970s the Chinese were
building the Tan-Zam railroad. In decline now, it was at one time a
great example of alternative partnerships. Maybe similar, more economical
projects can be rejuvenated- likje smaller, streamlined speciality freight carriers
while ditching the bloated state bureaucracies and monopolies.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TAZARA_RailwayCan we sit back and re-write a blueprint for a future African city, whilst acknowledging today's form of a functioning system, if we could embrace future ideas that would not only increase and maintain the development of African regions, but also advance it in ways Europe or America won't be able to recycle sooner or later. it's easier to build from nothing than to replace a system. Maybe, but I think that level of innovation is beyond the current capabilities
of many African regimes. It will take the private sector to spearhead the
change- gubments can support- but I don't think they can do such innovations
on a large scale.
The idea is, can we create model cities and towns and rural landscapes from the ground up to a wonder of material stability and sustainablity? (If we had the economic & political power to).. Can Africa pave the way as an exemplary future development for all nations if we can take the right measures ? I don't think it can be done on a large scale, though building
small model communities or towns is always possible somewhere. The urban
problems are just too large at present. You take the slums of Cairo
with hundreds of thousands packed into them. Solar power, windmills
recycling etc will not make much impact on square mile after square
mile of slum. Even America and Europe have not solved such problems.
What has happened in the First World is the abandonment of large segments of the
urban core and dispersal. That might be one solution but such requires
very good infrastructure. There is revitalization via gentrification or
movement of the more affluent to reclaim urban cores, but such also
has drawbacks, as poor people are pushed out of old neighborhoods
to make way for affluent, upscale types and developments. There is
no easy answer.
It could be argued though that utopian fixes are not needed. If a slum
dweller has access to better sanitation, safer streets, a chance to own the land
his shack is on, and freedom from grasping bureaucratic or predatory thugs
then that is good solid progress in itself worth pursuing.
One idea you hear floated is of using technology as a way to bypass some of
the negatives, which would include corrupt, inefficient regimes. Hence cell
phones in many TWorld areas have been a boon for the masses, end-running bloated
gubment telecom monopolies. But such fixes are limited. Gubments must become
more efficient and the private sector must be allowed to flourish. The myriad of
so-called "non-governmental" bureaucratic alternatives sometimes do not help. Seems
there is an army of people working on Africans problems- but much of the money
is not reaching the man on the street directly. I have heard of a host of
non-profits or NGOs siphoning off badly needed cash- cash that could go
directly into things like better roads, or seed for farmers, too often ending up in
the pockets assorted managers, bureaucrats and cronies.