respect for Africa (or lack thereof)

[CaptainEd]

Walter,

I'll just take your word for that!

[CaptainEd]

The article below from the NY Times is current, 16 Nov. 2005, and very enlightening.

http://www.mezomorf.com/editorials/news-12276.html

Waiting for Their Moment in the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman
By HELENE COOPER
Published: November 16, 2005
You can't get to Bukavu, Congo, from Monrovia, Liberia. Like just about everywhere else in Africa, the two places are separated by dense rain forests, interminable wars and impassable dirt roads that don't go anywhere.

Yet they might as well be the .........


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If the link above does not work, try this:

http://tinyurl.com/7qjx5

[5Y-KQV]

(to cptn Ed)I am not surprised at the expriences you had then but I can assure you the continent has undergone considerable and tangible change since 1951. I am sure that on a current visit, your experiences will be a lot more pleasant.

Walter, it is nice to meet a person with a different opinion yet able to discuss in a fair and polite manner.

Thank you. The feeling is mutual.

Allow me to disagree once again...

You're free to disagree ..... if everyone had the same opinion, the world would be a rather boring place I always respect a different opinion, it makes the eventual meeting of minds a more pleasant affair with a deeper understanding.

When you state the African continent has changed a lot since 1951, you are certainly right. But were the changes favourable? Where the venerable captain reports about 1951 Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) [quote ="Captain Ed"] "This was a garden spot in an otherwise bleak area. Fine taverns and restaurants, clean streets, law and order prevailed." I am afraid his opinion of today's Kinshasa would be less positive. Don't you think so? Can Kinshasa today boast clean streets? Law and order prevailing? And don't come and tell me Zaire is just a bad example. Even if some other countries are less bad off, the decline is in my observation general. Were any people stoned to death in Nigeria under British rule?

When I stated that the continent has changed alot, I spoke on the average and generally. Even the Kinshasa example that you have cited, the city's notbale crumble occured recently after a protracted period of war and looting, most notably during the period Mobutu was toppled. I could even add Cote D'Ivoire to this list. It was long regarded as the Paris of Africa until recently when there was a rather violent push for political change (Note that this was instigated locally and from outside Africa as well). Anyway, the infrastructure in Cote D'Ivoire has remained largely unaffected in comparison to other areas of the continent. Africa is not unique to these issues as there are comparable European (albeit East European) examples where infrastructure has crumbled but there is always a rebuilding process and that is the general direction the continent is taking..

I'll agree with you that progress is being made in a lot of places, but considering Africa as a whole, at the least you'll have to admit that progress is not general and where it exists, it is not steady!

On the overall, there is a lot of progress in countries e.g. Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Zambia, Kenya, Mauritius etc. Even Angola is now on this list! The progress is steady and is in diverse fields of infrastructure building, political stability & maturity, poverty reduction, economic independece and stability, value addition to raw materials, job creation,etc. What I will concede is that progress could be better and maybe even faster in some areas but hey, even Rome was not built in a day. Some of these issues will take a generation or two to show tangible results but we're on the way. Some issues cannot be simply solved overnight. In a nutshell, it is not the entire continent that is unstable in terms of progress and development.

In all of Africa's 50-plus countries, positive developments are happening. There is a small number of countries that have some of the problems that you have rightly mentioned but these cannot be used as the accurate yardstick to judge the performance of the entire continent. (This is the same situation on all continents e.g. I cannot use the Human rights problems of some Eastern European countries and generally classify them as a European problem) In the same vein, I would be totally out of order to equate the current skirmishes in France attributed to race and equate it to mean the Europe has a race problem!

Cheers,

Walter.

[CaptainEd]

Here's an opinion from a respected African newsman on the problem:

http://www.faem.com/letters/newapes.htm

Africa has to get new breed of humans (Opinion)
The Monitor (Kampala)
January 4, 2000
By Ssekitooleko Deo

Kampala - I wish to agree with Charles Onyango-Obbo's article, "Slave Trade
Took Our Best, Left Us Chaff"
I go a step further to
suggest that if Africa is to rediscover itself, it must acquire new,
improved breeds of not only plants and animal species but also humans.

This can be done through cross-breeding with superior human beings from
other continents; inviting our relatives, the Afro-Americans, to come back
and occupy our highest political and economic positions, and recalling the
colonialists to govern us for a specific period. The latter can be done by
privatising the political structure of our governments.

With the advent of genetic engineering, we have seen increased milk
production, eaten chicken of only .............

[5Y-KQV]

The article below from the NY Times is current, 16 Nov. 2005, and very enlightening.

http://www.mezomorf.com/editorials/news-12276.html

Waiting for Their Moment in the Worst Place on Earth to Be a Woman
By HELENE COOPER
Published: November 16, 2005
You can't get to Bukavu, Congo, from Monrovia, Liberia. Like just about everywhere else in Africa, the two places are separated by dense rain forests, interminable wars and impassable dirt roads that don't go anywhere.

Yet they might as well be the .........


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If the link above does not work, try this:

http://tinyurl.com/7qjx5

Thanks for the article Captain.

IIRC, the development of domestic air travel within the Congo was mooted as an alternative to interfering with or encroaching on the delicate ecosystem of the rain forest. I stand to be corrected on this but I am sure I read something on this before. This is a substantial part of the reason this was developed. The level of domestic flying in the Congo may actually surpass a lot of nations worlwide.

Not all of Africa is covered by Rain forest. The climatic conditions are diverse and range from tropical rain forests, savanna grasslands, desert and semi-arid areas etc. There are a substantial number of countries where you can undertake a considerable journey either on asphalted or cemented road networks, rail networks, boat/ferry and even air travel. Road and Rail networks even link countries within Africa e.g. you could drive from JNB to NBO, NBO to HRE etc. Within certain economies in the continent, you could even have substantial portions of highways on dual carriage ways. You have to visit the continent to see for yourself some of the things that were non-existent as at the last time you were around.

The content of the article is mainly based on two countries which in my opinion is not an accurate assessment of the conditions prevailing in the rest of the continent. This is where a substantial part of the general misconceptions about Africa originates.

Cheers,

Walter.

[5Y-KQV]

Here's an opinion from a respected African newsman on the problem:

http://www.faem.com/letters/newapes.htm

Africa has to get new breed of humans (Opinion)
The Monitor (Kampala)
January 4, 2000
By Ssekitooleko Deo

Kampala - I wish to agree with Charles Onyango-Obbo's article, "Slave Trade
Took Our Best, Left Us Chaff"
I go a step further to
suggest that if Africa is to rediscover itself, it must acquire new,
improved breeds of not only plants and animal species but also humans.

This can be done through cross-breeding with superior human beings from
other continents; inviting our relatives, the Afro-Americans, to come back
and occupy our highest political and economic positions, and recalling the
colonialists to govern us for a specific period. The latter can be done by
privatising the political structure of our governments.

With the advent of genetic engineering, we have seen increased milk
production, eaten chicken of only .............

The author is very controversial. I differ with his opinions on the matter and I submit that Africa can needs to discover that it can survive and progress on its won without aid which often comes with numerous strings attached that may be counter-productive in the long run. Africa can effectively trade within itself first and with foreign partners on an equal footing. This is the way forward. We need to seek new markets for our products, add value to our raw materials to avoid the current exploitative regimes in the raw material trade with western countries and instill a sense of pride (reduce our inferiority complex) amongst ourselves that we are equal to any other race/continent on earth. The we can do great things regardless of what perceptions about us exist out there.

Cheers,

Walter.

[5Y-KQV]

CaptainEd and Jan_Olieslagers, I must admit that I am enjoying this discussion. It shows that we all can have a pleasant exchange of opinions on controversial issues in an objective, fair and polite manner. I appreciate this and it is indeed nice to meet you in the pub. We could teach this attitude to alot of people ......

You're next African beer under the african sun will be on me :drink:

Cheers,

Walter

[CaptainEd]

Thanks, Gentlemen.

I think I have said enough on this subject, and I am stepping down off my soapbox.

See you in the Pub.