I recently had a chit chat with a friend, of the . Below is an excerpt of the interview/chit-chat with Benin. He shed some light on the development and outlook of the an Africa themed which was launched by the . Please see the interview below and I hope you enjoy it. Could you give us a little introduction to the African Path Village. Some reader may not yet be familiar with the community? Sure Omodudu, we are an online community for people who are interested in making connections with the . We are a place where members can find interesting discussions on culture, business, politics, relationships and the like- and again it all goes back to (re)connecting the members to the African continent. What is your role in this community? A few months ago we at African Path decided that the African Path brand would not be complete without a robust . So we set out on the path to building one and my role in the community began as a co-founder of the community with . But today my role has morphed into being more of a joint facilitator in the ongoing development of this vibrant young community. As a member of this community myself, I must say that I am impressed with the growth that this community as experienced. What will you attribute this growth to? In addition, Does African path village have a niche? Good questions. Well, one of the things that has helped is invites. During the month of February "Village" members collectively invited more than 800 friends, colleagues, and family members only a small number of those that were invited became members during the month of February. But just during the first week of March 1000 invites went out and a fairly larger percentage of the recipients actually became members. We feel that this can be attributed to the ever increasing amount of activity within the community. It is impossible to talk about an African themed community without falling back on discussion about issues in Africa. Are there any current themes/issues that the community seem to forming around? Yes, there are some re-current themes that can be found on the African Path Village. One of them comes from having such a diverse and well heeled group of members. This would be the topic of building, starting, or improving upon various lines of business. There is usually always at least two or three Village members possessing detailed knowledge within specific industries and these conversations often drive group discussions. Then there are discussions related to social issues-especially as they relate to the concept of an African identity. Lately we have also noticed more members who are delving into relationship issues too. It is quite impressive to see Africans taking on the reins and also making moves to get others involved. So let us say I am small business owner, or investor or just an individual interested Africa and business in Africa. What is at African path village for me? *You have a community of fellow Africans to bounce ideas off of. *spreading your businesses message to members who might be in the market for your services *And also increasing your company's overall profile The bottom line is that a business person on the African Path Village increases their opportunity to make new sales. I like to hear the word sales. Okay moving on, where do you see African Path Village in the Near Future? We certainly would agree with you that it is indeed exciting.We see the Village sprouting with "Village Elders" who will act as ambassadors for the brand both on and off line Are there any upcoming features? I have a few feature request of my own, I would like to see a Business In Africa Wiki and a Q and A section about doing business in African countries where the power of the community can be put to use? I must admit I am a sucker for crowdsourcing research. In terms of milestone, our next one is the 1000 member mark and after that will be the 10,000 member mark. There are several members of the community that we are currently brainstorming with as to how to best communicate the message and which are the best tools and so forth. Although, we are still in the early stages of investigating whats out there-I can say that the Wiki is a topic which has come up... Have you run into any challenge(s) in your attempt to develop a successful Africa themed online communities? I would say that two of the toughest challenges seem to be in keeping the attention of the members 24/7 with engaging content and in convincing members of the larger Facebook like networks that there is value in a smaller and more niche oriented network like the African Path Village. I think that where we have been successful in making this point is that on the larger sites members interested in genuine topics affecting Africa must filter through a great deal of distractions before they can actually find the real issues. Whereas with us they don't need to walk very far before finding relevant discussions. I am sure there some readers out there that would have questions for you and your colleagues at the Village. How can the public contact you? Benin: Sure, they may contact me either via benin@africanpath.com or through profile at http://village.africanpath.com/profile/BeninMwangi Do you have any additional information for anyone out there contemplating joining the group? Yes, one more point that I would like to add is that we really would like to encourage more of Africa's bloggers to become acquainted with the site. There are a number of great stories that are springing up in the form of photos and discussions and I am sure that their readers would benefit from this.
I am testing out a Firefox plug-in that promises to help discover links, articles and other resources automatically. It works with blogger, and a few other blogging platforms. So far I am very impressed. To test this tool out I have used an old blog post which has been sitting in my draft folder for a second. Unfortunately, I have not been able to develop this entry, so for now we have to make do with list and a few from the Marginal revolution blog. I also threw in one or or two of mine. Please feel free to include the good themed you have read. I intend to develop a concise list from all the entries I find on the web. I hope you like the list. I have used only links suggested by . This tool has a very strong potential of being abused. P.T. Bauer's West African Trade, 's The African Predicament, Martin Lynn on the trade, and 's . Robert Bates' "Market and States in Tropical Africa", 's "The Coup", Untapped: 's Oil, by , Martin Meredith's The Fate of Africa, The Wizard of the Crow by Nagugi wa Thiongo is an allegory for post-colonial Africa, The Shackled Continent by Robert Guest, Also 's African novels: The Ice Cream War, Brazzaville Nights, "The State of Africa" by Martin Meredith, Ryszard Kapuscinsk's . Jeffrey Herbst's Bill Easterly's Pierre Englebert's Nicolas van de Walle's . Long Walk to Freedom, King Leopold’s Ghost, Hochschild, A Man of the People: A Novel of Political Unrest in a New Nation, Achebe. And a pretty list from the
I learned from the that Ivorian women have taken it upon themselves, to be both cosmetic surgeons and pharmacists, just so that they can do the . I am sure the Ivorien men are not complaining, but I wonder what African women think about the objectification of women. As women living in Nigeria, or Ivory Coast do you feel the increased pressure. Does increased globalisation work for or against the African woman?
One man on the streets of Abidjan agreed: "Us boys, we appreciate these things because when women use the treatment it attracts us, but for women it's not good."
What do you think? Until recently even when a lady had her mind set on taking HGH or other body enhancing medicines she simply did not possess the economic wherewith all to acquire these commodities. Thanks to a flattening world, prices and transaction costs have fallen so much that we can now do as the westerners do. Please tell me I am making this all up. In the past, I have warded off questions about my lack of enthusiasm about celebrities by simply saying, "I grew up in Africa, I have enough to fill the emptiness". However this report has chipped ever so slightly at that belief system. I just realized that the personality fort which I have built up for just being African will be eroded in the near future. Is the core African belief system a lost cause? Should we just dance to the tunes played by the global economy? Is it worth fighting for that old time sanity at all? Maybe we should throw our hands in the air and simply create our own J-Lo to fawn over? I'd leave you with a quote from the BBC article; do the bobaraba because I already have a big bum - Dancer. Also see:
Lee interviewed John , the author of where he talks about... what else, oil in Africa. Hat tip to My post about these book is still sitting somewhere in my draft folder. I hope this will suffice.
That’s a fair point, you’re right I do kind of go on about that. The industry gets excited because we’re talking about offshore deep water and ultra-deep water oil. You’re talking about thousands of feet below sea level; oil thats a good hundred miles offshore sometimes. The reason they like that, if you’re familiar with Nigeria, when you drill offshore you don’t have to deal with angry villagers and militants and so forth disrupting what you’re doing. So, the industry likes that. However, as I try to argue, this is a little bit of a deceptive story. What does happen even in the offshore situation is you get all kinds of economic and political problems on a macro scale. You have the Dutch Disease, which economists like to talk about, where the country’s currency appreciates and it becomes impossible to diversify the economy. You also have the rentier trap, which is basically where the country becomes a sort of landlord, gets lazy and sits there collecting oil money. If you have a poor struggling African country with very little capacity and very immature institutions, and you throw very large amounts of dollars into that country overnight…it’s going to create problems. It’s not going to make things better. It’s actually not rocket science. If you have a poor struggling African country with very little capacity and very immature institutions, and you throw very large amounts of dollars into that country overnight…it’s going to create problems. It’s not going to make things better. That’s the ‘curse of oil‘ that people talk about.
An over at . BigThink has some pretty interesting video, though the layout seem rather dated. Too bad I am having problems embedding the video, and I am too sleepy to figure this out,
Just days after being that milk and meat from cloned livestock were safe for human consumption, Europeans were that cloning causes suffering to the animals. Groups representing consumer interests argue that the science backing the F.D.A.’s decision is shaky and that consumer surveys show that most people are opposed to cloning animals, let alone eating them. Setting aside the associated with cloned animals, it remains clear that the long term outcomes of consuming cloned animal remain unknown and will probably remain so for a long time to come. As these various interest groups jostle to have the final word on cloning, on behalf of the rest of us, I would like to ask what, if anything, this may mean for consumers in Africa. Cloned Suya At the moment it is rather unlikely that cloned farm animals and milk will replace the regular beef and milk. For now this technology appears to be only logical for those seeking to produce designer animals. However, with most technologies there is still the possibility that cloned beef and milk will make it into mainstream consumption. If this ever happens, and if the technology becomes easy to replicate thereby driving, "average cost" of these farm produce below the price of the regular beef and cow. This products will eventually flow to Africa. I worry that these products may gain widespread acceptance in Africa even if this never happen in Western countries. The lax importation guideline, the hardly enforced labelling laws will ensure that this will happen. Eventually if low prices coincide with even a partial pass mark for the beef and milk, the map of consumption of cloned farm animals will lay flush with that of developing economies. Bio-engineered crops vs. Death by starvation In 2002 when the governments of Zambia and Zimbabwe the importation of genetically modified grains, even as these countries faced an imminent famine, there was an outcry from the West. The US claimed the bans were politically motivated, while the African governments claimed they were being arm-twisted and black mailed into accepting food that had the potential of being harmful to citizens. I am no scientist so I can not make definite statements about this claims. Speaking with a geneticist this evening equally left me with more unanswered questions than prior to the discussion. However, it is obvious that when it comes to bio engineered crops, African Governments have little or know leverage when making the decisions of whether to accept these crops or not. There isn't much of a choice to be made between GM or Cloned crops VS. death by starvation.
Competing With Knock-Off In the late 90's giant chicken and turkey mostly imported from Belgium surfaced in Nigeria. Prior to this time all poultry was mostly locally produced. A few government officials expressed their dissatisfaction with this trend, but other than just sprinkles of news related events there wasn't much done by the authorities to discourage the trend. Nigerians had their fill as these imported poultry was rather cheap. The government could not check the trend, because there was always the alternative of importing goods through the sea port in Cotonou. When it comes to knock off goods, and food, Nigeria is both porous and very receptive, and the government does not have the capabilities to enforce any proclamation against any 'fishy' food item. In Nigeria you just can not compete with knock-offs.
Conclusion Whether Africans will consume cloned farm produce or not, is a decision that will be made for them. Africans would not have much say on this issue. This is the beauty or maybe ugly side of a market system that relies heavily on producers, because the choice to consumed has been stymied by poverty.
The posed a few interesting questions at his blog. Anyone with a trace of Africa in their blood will find it irresistible to attempt answering them. Here I would like to add my two kobo to the discussion. Will Africans speak for themselves? Here I will mostly speak for Nigerians, my knowledge of other African countries does not qualify me to speak on their behalf in this subject? I have asked this question many times before. Initially i thought it was because of the poor penetration of the internet, but I now tend to believe it runs deeper. Here is the most prominent answer I have received, when Nigerians get online, they are looking for an escape they are not looking to complicate or add to the days rigours. There is a disincentive which is not immediately obvious to Africans in diaspora to keep away from 'serious stuff' and tend towards entertainment and news of the lighter shade. Thanks to for crystallizing this idea. Why give a laptop to kids dying of hunger and thirst? As Hash pointed out, there are many who aren't dying of hunger and thirst. I would have used an OLPC as a child growing up in Nigeria, and I am sure it would have been quite useful too. I would have learned about online collaboration and work flow. These laptops could also help bridge the differences between great school for the select few and mediocre school where teacher are hmm mediocre. A lesson downloaded online is pretty the same and save for the individual skill of every teacher the lessons learned will be pretty much similar. The OLPC and a juiced up version of the OLPC has a place in secondary schools too. My personal experience; in 1991 my dad brought home an IBM laptop those boxy types. I can say categorically that that gadget changed my life. There I learned basic word processing(word perfect), lotus(spread sheet) and almighty paradox. Once you had those down the almighty Office 2007 isn't that hard to grasp. That was a 1990 laptop with...(dunno the specs). For me OLPC rocks until we get a cheaper and more powerful replacement. There is an interesting question in the section about computers vs. laptops.
Sometimes it'd be way cooler, if well schooled economist could answer, " I do not know, and the state of science as it is right now, does not equip us to prove or disprove this thesis, thereby confining such research to pure guess work. The 50-50 domain."
Nathan Nunn finds that "without the slave trades, 72% of Africa’s income gap with the rest of the world would not exist today":
My teacher used to say if one looked hard enough one would find a correlation between any two phenomena. The mathematics is secondary, it does not increase the odds of your theory being right or wrong. I wish economist could be more upfront about theories rather than debate between the siting of an R2 in a graph. Nobody gets grants, prizes and peer recognition for saying, 'I do not know'. I wish this was not the case though, because sometimes the search for an explanation at all cost often lead to papers like this. More interestingly, due to the fact that African economists barely have a voice, reallyimmature explanations for Africa's poverty often gain mainstream acceptance, in academia.
According to my calculations, if the slave trades had not occurred, then 72% of the average income gap between Africa and the rest of the world would not exist today, and 99% of the income gap between Africa and the rest of the underdeveloped world would not exist. In terms of economic development, Africa would not look any different from the other developing countries in the world.
Much has been said about the gains and pains of foreign aid given to African countries by 'supportive' Western economies. The easy money, the resulting structural problems. The exchanges between the even brought some razzmatazz to the AID vs Trade debate, reducing the plight of the Africans to mere platonism in blogs and mainstream media. What can the West do for Africa? Here is something for starters. Help Africans fight corruption. Deterrence to thievery... Take the case of the , where the Americans and the Germans involved in the deal are either on their way or already in the slammer. I find it encouraging that this countries will even come this far. This will also signal to the multi-nationals that the rule of law does not stop at the Murtala (correction by Chxta) Muhammed Airport. Whether this signals will be enough to make a dent in the resolve of determined expats who are ready to do business in Africa at all cost, still remains open for debate. After all there are at least two parties involved in bribery, it would not hurt to have a two pronged approach to fighting corruption in Africa. The West can help African countries by being open and refuse to provide shelters for its citizens who have done Africa wrong. No Safe haven for Stolen Loot... This part will send chills through the spine of every Swiss man. Foreign banks are meant to protect their clients, and there is no point in asking them not to. They would not stop the cover up, because this will inadvertently weaken their systems. However here is what they can do for us. If the West truly care about Africa, declare Africa an endangered species/zone for the next 20 years. So that the funds transferred by African governments and governments officials will be treated different from the whole. This will enable the bankers to keep their reputations as iron-clad, tight- fisted, sealed-lip, bottom-line-driven folks, and yet allow the flow of funds from Africa remain relatively transparent. Africa remains an outlier in the global economy, and I think we are now mature enough to accept it. Looting will become less lucrative if the odds of enjoying the money, is greatly reduced. These will go a long way in fighting the anti-corruption war and more so, it will pave the way towards recovery since now we know, this war is not only about this corrupt Africans but also about some of us who continue to encourage them. Do not forget Sunday is the World Anti-Corruption Day...
JUBA, Sudan — To many people here, one of Africa’s biggest boomtowns is already starting to look like a bust. So says the this conclusion aligns with my idea of economic growth. Too many times we have seen this play out in African economies. There is an unexpected boom, and a few sector of the economy take off and suddenly kaboom! There is a burst as a result of other sectors that have not kept up with the economic growth in the leading sectors of the economy. One may argue the individuals engaging in conspicuous spending in Chinese motor bikes are to blame. That is the conclusion which the Oyinbo' economist will draw. I am not particularly interested in the mechanics of how this happens, because this easily degenerates into debates about minutiae. (One thing I hated about school was spending energy debating about 10 decimal places while kids were dying of hunger on a daily basis...Okay that is story for another day.) Forgetting that a little raises in income in Juba is equivalent to winning the lottery in any Western economy. What is a brother to do? It isn't really like choosing between yellow corn and white maize is exactly difficult or time consuming. I have a soft spot for Sudan, but I have an even softer spot for Nigeria. Going by lore told to us by our parents. Isn't this parallel to what happened in Nigeria during the oil boom of the late 70's? Oh! How my dad's eyes lit up when he declared that Leventis (picture Target or Walmart) ran out of goods, because their supply could not keep up with consumer demand. Why is an amorphous economic growth and a boom in Nigeria particularly scary? 1. What if Nigeria gets it right, so what are we going to do with the new found wealth? What if the FSS2020 achieves its goals? 2. Is the growth in the capital markets and financial services in general necessarily a good thing if the other sectors are lagging so far behind? Isn't that a burst in the making? Enjoy the NYTimes article;
The abundant opportunity for manual labor (skilled jobs are fewer) has put wads of cash into countless young men’s pockets. But much of it is going toward beer and motorcycles. Juba’s streets, which were deserted just three years ago,are now crammed with 12-year- olds whizzing around on shiny new motorcycles that their skinny legs can barely hold up. Many of these children end in the so-called Senke ward, at the city’s main hospital, a ward named after the $700 Senke motorcycle (made in China, smuggled in through Congo) that so many unlicensed boys in tank tops and wraparound shades — no helmets, of course — have smashed into trees, cars and each other.
This underscores my mood about positive coming out of Africa. Can bad Africa become good Africa? At the risk of being the party pooper, I'd suggest the we watch the with and guard the loot more carefully. as that growth may not be enough.
The lesson? Economic growth – even very high one – is not enough for successful development unless it’s derived from an economy that is inclusive and productive as a whole. In contrast, most of Africa’s top growth performers derive their impressive GDP growth figures from a reliance on high-priced natural resource exports, the benefits of which bypass the majority of the population.
Having said that, it appears that Africa is the place to be right now. For the first time Omodudu is considering moving to Nigeria. Updates coming soon.
Francois Woo's $200 million-per-year business is a microcosm of globalization in action. It buys raw cotton from Asia and Africa, ships it to Mauritius, spins it into yarn and makes it into clothes designed in-house. Those are shipped to retailers in Europe, Asia and the U.S. "We have to import all our raw materials, and we are very far from our customers," Woo says. "So the challenge is clear. We have to be the most efficient factory in the world."....Today Cassolongo's company, Cassca Technologies, is one of the only online testing centers in Angola for international IT certification, and as the economy booms--a predicted 35% this year--demand for Cassca courses is soaring. But unlike Woo's, Cassolongo's difficulties are entirely domestic. "We face a lot of corruption," he says, using the Portuguese slang gasosa, which literally means fizzy drink. "Documents don't come out until you pay. You have to have connections everywhere."
Oh yeah, 'locavore' is now a valid English word, thanks to the. Now that is besides the facts, let me get to my gist. An for a post-consumerist economy: Locally produced goods and services focused on what surrounding communities need and can sustain. That is, sustainable growth while remaining environmentally responsible. The school ( I wonder if you can call them that) claim our present consumption patterns may be convenient but not smart Is this viable? Are the driving forces (responsible greed), strong enough to drive a model like this? This is sort of like the idea of freely investing in without much prodding by the government. Ideas like these have become rather (audio). NGO's and pilot programs urging Africans to adopt models that ride on other sentiments besides selfish interests. Is there any merit to this? Can we afford this? Can we possibly skip the middle ages of economic development and simply join in at the trendy haute level? Others like , think it is just hot air and the status quo will remain for a long time.
...people who think the key to human survival is to cut ourselves off from the world economy and buy and sell only in local markets. This approach has been tried before -- in Europe, after the fall of the Roman Empire. We call this period the Dark Ages. ...Which is not to argue against buying local produce. I do it whenever I can -- it's tastier. It's also more expensive, but thanks to the wealth produced by ever-expanding technology and world trade, I can afford it. After two or three more decades of growth through trade, so (I hope) will millions more, in this country and throughout the world.
**Mentally scrolling*** A discussion at the (comment section), and a video at , raise questions about Africa's informal economies. Is the above economic model relevant to informal markets in Africa. An economic model based on a local model rather than one with a global focus. Where the focus will be on wealth creation rather than an infusion of outside monies. Is this alternative worth considering. Many African economist are locked into Keynes, Smith and Ethier, thinking outside the box in developmental economics is a difficult task, because one is left with no framework to work with (dude you have to come up with the algerbra). A few questions then arise; Is the drive for FDI the only alternative to economic growth? If there are other alternatives, who will come up with a new theory of growth? I am not very familiar with developmental economic as a matter of fact I resented it in school. Isn't silly that this post follows one singing the praise of outsourcing.
Here I share my bookmarks over the past week with you. I hope you like. AfricanLoft tells us that we are may be sitting on the solution to our power problems in Africa. The World Changing team think I am cool, hey! I think they are cool too, I am so conceited. New electronic trading pits opens at Nigerian Stock Exchange. Yaradua is hinging the countries growth on the capital markets. The as pointed out by the Africorp group. They also gave us . Grab your tissues Ngozi regrets her early exit from OBJ's government. I no for sure that the story, as printed, is incomplete. More gist on that later. , and we wonder why PHCN would not work. I am tempted to throw in an African adage here, but I'd pass. What is a Nigerian roundup without the news of a corrupt official tucked in there somewhere. , I met this guy at the Muritala Airport in 1995 and he was gracious, and very warm. What can I say, dr. Jeckle... And no I would not leave you hanging like that, here is some good news about a Nigerian politician. .
Vidia Mooneegan, managing director of Ceridian Mauritius, the emerging growth opportunities in Africa for business process outsourcing (BPO). What are some of the benefits of Africa as an outsourcing destination?
Africa has a population of 933 million (2007 estimate), and 50% are under 20 years. It has a large pool of underemployed at highly competitive rates. With Asia rapidly increasing in costs, Africa will be a strong alternative over the next few years, and work may be cascaded to Africa.
A textbook example of what blogging about/on Africa should be/feel like. Diverse opinion, resources, useful links, learning and suggestions. Take a look at the currently going on at the AfricanLoft. Before I read the entry and comments, I was sort of lukewarm about the presence of an American Force in Western Africa. After reading the entries, I still remain indifferent. I have spent some time close to an American mini-base in Eastern Africa, and things were pretty cool, and the economy was rather vibrant.
Watching the unfold on TV, has made me ask some question about the state of 'followership' in Nigeria. President Musharraf declared a , in a bid to avoid a general elections in Pakistan, this resulted in the country's lawyers taking to the streets in protest of the Head of states declaration. I am aware that Pakistan's situation is more convoluted than the statement above, I was still struck by the action of the Pakistan middle class. Lawyers, successful ones at that, were willing and motivated to take to the streets notwithstanding the military junta currently in power. Zoom in on Nigeria. Do you see the banker boys taking to the streets if the Federal government breached the rights of Nigerian citizens? Really do you? Do you really see the loving, E-class coveting folks marching down the streets of Abuja and Lagos. I like to think of democracy as a contact sport. If we have any aspirations to achieve good governance in Nigeria we had better bring our A-game. Democracy and good governance can not be decoupled from property rights and fundamental human freedom, as long as we are willing to make do with the oppression of area boys on the streets and thugs in government, not much will be achieved in the area of good governance. I have concluded that asking for good leaders in Nigeria is like asking for the impossible. We need active followers who will be willing to put the leaders right as they err, and depart from the constitution. Only after this is done we will then be entitled to dream about a better Nigeria. Before then let each man search his soul until he finds that he is the cause of Nigeria's problems.
This entry is a part of . I missed the first three days, so this is sort of a unified entry to capture what ought to have been written on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. I am writing about my favorite subject, Africa. Here is the Africa I have in my head, the Africa I carry along with me everyday. It is a slight departure from the instructions. Ehav wanted us to put down things that already happened, but I have chosen to write a letter to about future events the way I see it. Thanks. Dear Mum, we are all fine now, it is all good now. The war in Dafur ended and the reconstruction is going on has planned. French NGO's only come to assist the Chadians with Nation building, there is no need to save any 'orphan kid' , because they now have a place of their own. Since the AIDS vaccine was discovered things have turned around for the better. Those in the south now know and feel the meaning of a complete family. Cote- D'Ivoire is alright they made it through the woods. Business is back and cocoa is selling like hot cake. The expatriates came back and the Mapouka night clubs are back open. It is amazing how much transformation can happen within such a short period. As for the Nigerians, it hard to believe, but they now put their money to good use. Their institutions are flourishing and it hard to believe that they once suffered from a dearth of infrastructure. Mama things done changed. It really has. The Sudanese, a funny bunch, there is no divisiveness amongst the Arabs and the Blacks anymore, as a matter of fact I attended a mixed wedding on a boat at the banks of the Nile the other day. Oh yes the Americans are still there dancing to country music at the international club, but now the Sudanese are allowed in, sans bomb detectors at the entrance. Isn't that wonderful ma. Addis is still cold at night, and what a set of fun people. Yes, they are still about their 13 months of sunshine. The Jamaicans still roam freely in Addis. To top it all up, the Moroccan and the Tunisians now call those from Eastern and Western Africa brothers, no more deportation. Once a citizen of Africa, we now roam freely. Mama things done changed, it really has. Peace.
Going through all the TED talk videos can be pretty time consuming, I often find a few to be more relevant than others. The video above is one of those. Please be patient, it picks up midway through the talk. If I were a teacher at a Nigerian college my first two classes will be spent on talks like these. That is PHCN permitting.
Thousands of African migrants defy the boats, planes standing guard off the coast of Africa. A barricade put up by the European Union Border Control Agency which patrol the shores of Senegal and Mauritania so as to deter potential immigrant from seeking the golden fleece. Every time an entreport is guarded, the migrants come with a more treacherous and longer route to get into the port towns of Ceuta and Milla. The once 3 meter fence now 6 meters have failed to deter the migrants. Upon completing this dangerous journey many migrants who often find themselves homeless, sleeping in the streets of Europe express relief. Because for them it does not matter what fate lay ahead of them. The only thing that that they have made it off the coast of the dark continent.
The new arrivals are obvious. Exhaustion written on their faces, many of them are still not up for speaking even after days in the holding center. Several sit motionless, faces propped up by their hands, on a worn-out sofa. Quiet sighs come from the wounded. They stare into empty space. In reality, though, the problem is not the height of the fence, but the failure to address the root causes of immigration.
via . This is Africa's story a people in desperate need of a solution. An enterprising people held down by socio-economic conditions on the continent who would not take this situation anymore. In 2006, over 6000 bodies of African migrants were picked up trying to make it across the Mediterranean to the Canaries Island. This figure is up by 600% from 2005. Even after the reinforcement of the razor sharp fence, set up to keep the would be assyllum seekers. " an Ivorien says "I want to work in Europe and send money back home," What makes a man leave his home, a land overflowing with natural resources, perfect weather and the distinctively cheerful rhythm of the African continent, and then move to the frigid clime where hopes of survival rest on the number of knock-off sunglasses he is able to hawk on the streets of Europe. What makes a man make these choices? Poverty in Africa do not make the headline of the evening news anymore. However the realities of poverty is stark and hope is grim in some parts of Africa. The immigrants feels the need to leave whatever memories they have of their dear homeland and move to another continent where there is a . I picked up blogging late 2005 when I saw pictures of African migrants left in the Sahara desert to die. For many they speak to, there's a palpable sadness -- even regret -- over the decision to come to Europe. The reality rarely lives up to the dream, and the sacrifices they made are rarely offset by their new life.
The new arrivals are obvious. Exhaustion written on their faces, many of them are still not up for speaking even after days in the holding center. Several sit motionless, faces propped up by their hands, on a worn-out sofa. Quiet sighs come from the wounded. They stare into empty space. In reality, though, the problem is not the height of the fence, but the failure to address the root causes of immigration.
via . Having an Afro-centered outlook does not exclude talking about the ills that our countries face. To me speaking out for change is the most patriotic act you can do today. Making change occur is the most patriotic thing you can do for Africa in the long run. An of this problem from the Oxford University.
Images via BBC. : A NY Times entry on this issue. Speak up, discuss immigration issues. You may be surprised at the number of Europeans and/or Americans who aren't aware of the atrocities committed by their home countries. Blog about this issues if you are a blogger. Send me an email if you aren't a blogger and would like to discuss this issues. In the short run we as Africans reduce the depth of the crisis, while we put our houses in order. Update...
In the report, "Unwelcome Responsibilities: Spain's Failure to Protect the Rights of Unaccompanied Migrant Children in the Canary Islands", Human Rights Watch says the children - mostly boys from Senegal and Morocco - are detained indefinitely in the migrant centers. Children held at four centers told Human Rights Watch they had seen staff violently abusing other children on several occasions. They also said staff ignored violence between detainees.
Update... This happened recently; At least 47 African migrants died of hunger and thirst after their boats drifted into Mauritanian waters.
Thousands of African migrants defy the boats, planes standing guard off the coast of Africa. A barricade put up by the European Union Border Control Agency which patrol the shores of Senegal and Mauritania so as to deter potential immigrant from seeking the golden fleece. 
