Before I get into it, please once again erase these images from your mind.👇
Why do I insist on this? These issues are important and being solved. However, whether you are African or not, it is important to take Africa at its face value. In other words focus on the best Africa has to offer so that once we have optimised all our potential and resources, these problems I write about will consequently get solved.
Alright, deleted! So you’re a newborn baby, a tourist, an investor seeking to learn about Africa or you’re African but have been hiding in a cave. No worries, I got you. This 2-part overview will give you just what you need to know in just five minutes.
IV. Infrastructure
Contrary to movie scenes shot in Africa, the continent is actually experiencing rapid infrastructural development and urbanisation. Investment in infrastructure infact accounts for over half of the recent improvement in economic growth in Africa, and it’s just getting started.
Roads: This is the main type of transport, even for cross-border trade. Unfortunately, 53% are not paved thereby making access to social services quite strenuous if you are in a rural area. Only half of Africans can boast access to an all-weather road.
Road safety? It’s not any better here. Africa accounts for about one fifth of road fatalities worldwide. Traffic? This is good news if you’re from London. You’ll very often have smooth drives to work and back home. Exceptions of course lie in a few large cities like Kampala, especially on Friday when everyone is migrating upcountry for “the summer” as is quite the norm in Africa.
Public transport is a matter of life and death, with drivers who know every single corner of the city. Perfect for when you are late for work. Guaranteed to cover a thirty-minute journey on the side of the road and get you there before you can say cheese.
Rail and air: International travel is readily available but unaffordable for the majority of natives. Interdistrict travel is off the cards, a good old bus ride will do (though it is available, it doesn’t make for a true African experience.) The biggest problem facing African aviation is air safety, with Africa surpassing the global airline accident rate in 2012 20 times. The railroad system is largely outdated with just one high speed train in Morocco. Therefore this is not ideal for travel unless of course a slow scenic ride works for you in which case, give it a go for a true African experience.
Water: The share of the population with access to clean water is about 60% in Africa’s poorest countries. Millions therefore suffer from water-borne and other sanitary diseases. However clean water is being availed through mass construction of boreholes and wells. In towns and cities, treated piped water is not an issue but poor garbage and sewage disposal is polluting the water!
Energy and ICT: Being the second largest phone market, over 80% of Africans have mobile phones (I didn’t say smart phones👀) and therefore communication is great. However, broadband coverage is at 20% with data prices off the charts. Luckily, this game below comes quite in handy.
Two thirds of the population still burns biomass for fuel and only 43% of households are electrified. On the bright side, the candle and paraffin lamp business is booming. Again, on the flip side, the environmental impact is quite bad and needs urgent intervention.
Verdict: I half-heartedly give 50.001% on the basis of comparison to other continents but the rate of growth is quite impressive!
V. Education
This sector is challenged in various ways. The lack of a conducive environment for learners should be a major cause for concern as children continually study under leaking roofs, poorly lit make-shift structures and more worryingly, under trees! Now don’t argue that fresh air helps the content sink in because you’d sooner auction your pinky toe than study under a tree for fifteen years!
Other barriers that stand in between Africans and a good education include;
- Heavy direct costs like fees
- Opportunity cost of attending school(making money from gigs)
- Long distances to school
- Poor health and nutrition
- Low budgetary allocation
- Loose laws on education being compulsory
- Many simply undermine it’s importance
For the good schools that exist, the African content is largely outdated. This is not to say it’s not important but the act of focusing on only the already discovered is somewhat irrelevant to the current trend of development and perhaps even holds back students from reaching their true potential (insert conspiracy theories).
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character- that is the goal of true education.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
The aim is mainly to absorb rather than to question and think outside the box in order to make improvements or novelties. This explains why your papers here, unless you stand out, in many cases don’t carry much weight abroad.
Furthermore, after graduation, less than half of graduands get employment within the next year. However, like I said, hustling is an instinct in the motherland.😎 Going forward, the education system will have to be tweaked a little bit to fit in with the new world. Additionally, the industry and commerce sector will have to be boosted to provide opportunities to graduates after college/university, otherwise one is better off hustling than struggling for a paper.
Verdict: 39.87%. This reflects less the percentage of children attending school but more the quality and convenience of education.
VI. Culture, scenery, music
Verdict: 90%. The 10% caters for the bad cultures like fgm and mysoginy.
FINAL VERDICT: A percentage can’t be put on everything Africa. However with an overview of each sector in mind, one is better set to navigate life in Africa.
But I cannot disappoint my dear reader. So if you close one eye, you’re bound to have a good time, let’s not forget the beautiful culture, music, breathtaking scenery, hospitality and the parties!!
Discalimer: I chose not to include the LGBTQ rights in the previous article with the view of writing a separate article about it.
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