I have a vested interest in all things African as I will most likely retire there. It is such an amazing continent but miss-managed beyond comprehension. Nigeria, one of largest mineral fuel suppliers on the planet, poorly educated, corrupt to the highest degree….. the list goes on. These behaviors have such far reaching backlash for the general population that you can almost not get your head around all of it. White Africans are almost always perceived as oppressors, blacks are always received as an uneducated group desperate for whatever they can get, and there is so much more. These worldwide perceptions are born directly from the video feeds the world sees, but what the world does not always understand is that these cultures (as seen by foreign lands)are a direct product of crime lords posing as government officials, paid for by Asians, US, Canadian, Dutch…… investors. There will be one holy bang when the general public at large actually truly understand that someone is placing them for sale AGAIN !

I suppose this sounds a bit like a rant, but I always have large reservations about all things big money Africa. I love Africa, I support any movement that is a positive one. But I cannot stand to watch it be carved up and its people treated in such a way (black or white)

Best Of Luck Kenya
I truly wish you well, but it would serve you well to be cautious of visitors bearing gifts

Jillian, I am not in the habit of trashing other people’s comments on forums but I believe you are putting the cart before the horse slightly… Attitudes take decades to change and zero population growth would be the number one change to slow environmental degradation, but short of putting something in the water of all developing nations, there is very little chance that it will be achieved in the next 50 years. The same applies to minimizing energy use. We are gluttons for power! I believe technology provides the best chance of slowing our impacts and minimizing the effects. All the better if coupled with attitude change but I feel the best we can hope for on that front is incremental change!

Secondly, the African council need to start acting like a proper council, the power struggles that will be next to come over who is the governing body of 300 mega watts will cost lives as all money issues do in Africa. Africa is truly the jewel of the world but unfortunately, it is so unregulated, anything goes, there is no want to make a better Africa, only a better bank account for individuals who have managed to lie, kill and pillage. My comments mainly refer to the corrupt governments of Africa and there willingness to accept bribes and kickbacks from wealthy EU, Asian and North American countries. But what they don’t seem to want to accept is that they are selling off there owned future for a new mercedes or bentley. Africa can do so much better and if they ever actually understand that acting in a way that best serves “Africa” then the world need be very cautious how the behave in this foreign land. Africa you own it all, the ball is in your court ! you make the rules ! and the wealth is unimaginable if you do things in a proper way for once.

Do not bring in outside firms to build infrastructure on your continent for there profit. instead form business relationships where by you are in the driver seat and insist that they train and recruit only local manpower with contracts that state that the firms must maintain office headquarters on your land. STOP GIVING IT AWAY ! the guys with AK47’s are there because they have no other future.

Zero population growth would be the most responsible first step, followed by lifestyle changes in all developing countries, but most particularly in the US. THEN, we can look at new technologies.