I still imagine Africa as savannahs and jungles with abundant wild animal population. But when it comes to engineering in Africa, I have no idea what it is like in this continent. It seems Africa has natural resources, but nobody utilize them. The main reason of this is poverty. According to UN, 34 of 50 poorest nations in the world are located in Africa. In my opinion, being so poor, governments of these countries do not think about utilizing their natural resources.
Even if the African countries receive investments from the West, this money is not spent properly by governments. Due to wars in countries like Ethiopia and Kenya, governments buy weapons. Another reason might be dictators who do not care about country’s welfare.
Some engineering solution that work in the West, does not apply in Africa. The reason might be unique climate and landscape of Africa. These two have negative effect on constructions.
Civil wars or any type of violent conflict always end up destroying a countries chance to develop. In Cambodia, the genocidal Pol Pot regime practically destroyed the country leaving it in ruins. The country had start from scratch in 79 after the fall of the regime. It’s only after 30 years of development and peace that things are starting to look better in Cambodia; Tourism is developing, skyscrapers are slowly being built. Nevertheless, the differences are mostly seen in big cities. Go to the country sides and you’ll notice the poverty. In fact, even after three decades of peace, over 4.8 million people live under the poverty line.
ReplyDeleteThe Republic of Congo is in nearly in the same situation. After a few decades of dictatorship, according to the interview I did for ENGL, the Republic of Congo has really no infrastructure. For example, there is no centralized water distribution system.
To conclude, I would have to say that developping Africa is going to take a long time
Africa – one continent, one name makes you to think about poverty, hunger, drought, malnutrition etc. According to me the main problem in Africa is that they lack natural resources required for growth of a nation. Most people don’t have access to clean water and proper food. Because of this their human capital is less as people suffer from various diseases. African countries need to be provided with medication in order to improve the human health, in order to get a healthy labor force. As far as engineering in Africa is considered – it has to be related to helping people solve their day to day problems like building cheap houses with sufficient room for a family to live in or setting up a water pump in a village, so that the residents don’t have to walk miles in order to get it. Therefore, the best help that engineers along with developed countries could provide to African countries is to help them to improve their day to day life. ENGL 106
ReplyDeleteThere are many problems in Africa that are responsible for reasons why engineering solutions in the west do not work in Africa. The violence, poverty, hunger, drought, and other things are the problems. I think that majority of the people in Africa do not care about engineered solutions because they are too busy trying to survive on their own. I think the first problem that needs to be solved is the problem of daily life. People are hungry and don't have medication. (engr103)
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