After having lived 7 years in Zambia, I still don't understand the country: It has had peace and stability for many years, plenty of mineral resources, available water, fertile soil, beautiful nature, just waiting for more tourists to arrive. Rich, but still so much poverty. Why?
Africa’s mineral map (without oil and gas)
A few things stand out fast.
• DRC dominates. The cobalt, #Copper , and critical #minerals core of the continent
• Southern Africa punches above its weight. South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe anchor export value
• West Africa is fragmented. Big potential, uneven monetization
• Most countries remain sub $5bn exporters, despite vast geology
This is an infrastructure, capital, and processing bottleneck.
#Africa doesn’t lack minerals.
It lacks pricing power and downstream control.
The average lifespan for people with Down syndrome has increased from 12 years in 1912 to 25 years in the 1980s, and now reaches around 60 years in developed countries today.
The new Namibian President Dr. Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah regime has announced that U.S. citizens entering Namibia will require a visa.
Any U.S. citizen caught without a fully approved visa will be declared an “illegal alien” and treated the same way Donald Trump treats African immigrants in the U.S.
There are over 500 U.S. citizens mining diamonds, gold, uranium, copper, and other minerals in Namibia without visas. They have been ordered to leave today (April 1st) or face forced removal starting tomorrow.
Namibia, one of the world’s top diamond producers, is now taking full control of its diamond mines.
Are "good news" from Africa "false news"? It is hard to get reliable news from Africa (with a few exceptions). Western media tend to concentrate on political failures, disasters, riots and unrest. And African scholars are surprisingly anonymous
Africa is the planet's lung. With its mineral resources and nature its value will only increase. Biggest threats are greed, corruption and leaders who fail to deliver and get addicted to power. But a new breed of leaders seem to be emerging in some countries?
Historic wind freshens🇧🇼. Botswana's newly elected President, human rights lawyer Duma Boko, has broken the 60-year dominance of the BDP party. As you know, African Independence Parties of any country consider themselves entitled to rule forever, becoming out of touch and corrupt
There are many people, both inside and outside the continent, who benefit from Africa as it is today. So why should they go for change and support the reformer s.
But looking at what is happening in Kenya these days, perhaps this statement will be less valid?
Whatever you say about Africa the opposite might be true. Sometimes ethnicity is a good thing, most often not. Religion might foster development, sometimes it suppresses people. The complexity of African societies is difficult to understand for foreigners.