Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
Posts: 2408 | From: My mother's basement | Registered: Dec 2010
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The real question is were you born stupid or did your meth whore mother drop you on your head?
quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: . When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts.
Oh, really?
quote: "When they [the first European navigators of the end of the Middle Ages] arrived in the Gulf of Guinea and landed at Vaida, the captains were astonished to find the streets well cared for, bordered for several leagues in length by two rows of trees; for many days they passed through a country of magnificent fields, a country inhabited by men clad in brilliant costumes, the stuff of which they had woven themselves! More to the South in the Kingdom of Congo, a swarming crowd dressed in silk and velvet; great states well ordered, and even to the smallest details, powerful sovereigns, rich industries, -- civilized to the marrow of their bones. And the condition of the countries on the eastern coasts -- Mozambique, for example -- was quite the same.
"What was revealed by the navigators of the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries furnishes an absolute proof that Negro Africa, which extended south of the desert zone of the Sahara, was in full efflorescence which the European conquistadors annihilated as far as they progressed. For the new country of America needed slaves, and Africa had them to offer, hundreds, thousands, whole cargoes of slaves. However, the slave trade was never an affair which meant a perfectly easy conscience, and it exacted a justification; hence one made of the Negro a half-animal, an article of merchandise. And in the same way the notion of fetish (Portuguese feticeiro) was invented as a symbol of African religion. As for me, I have seen in no part of Africa the Negroes worshipping a fetish. The idea of the 'barbarous Negro' is a European invention which has consequently prevailed in Europe until the beginning of this century.
"What these old captains recounted, these chiefs of expeditions -- Delbes, Marchais, Pigafetta, and all the others, what they recounted is true. It can be verified. In the old Royal Kunstkammer of Dresden, in the Weydemann colection of Ulm, in many another 'cabinet of curiosities' of Europe, we still find West African collections dating from this epoch. Marvellous plush velvets of an extreme softness, made of the tenderest leaves of a certain kind of banana plant; stuffs soft and supple, brilliant and delicate, like silks, woven with the fiber of a raffia, well prepared; powerful javelins with points encrusted with copper in the most elegant fashion; bows so graceful in form and so beautifully ornamented that they would do honor to any museum of arms whatsoever; calabashes decorated with the greatest taste; sculpture in ivory and wood of which the work shows a very great deal of application and style.
"And all that came from cuntries of the African periphery, delivered over after that to slave merchants, . . .
"But when the pioneers of the last century pierced this zone of 'European civilization' and the wall of protection which had, for the time being raised behind it -- the wall of protection of the Negro still 'intact' -- they found everywhere the same marvels which the captains had found on the coast.
to be continued . . .
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote: "In 1906 when I penetrated into the territory of Kassai-Sankuru, I found still, villages of which the principle streets were bordered on each side, for leagues, with rows of palm trees, and of which the houses, decorated each one in charming fashion, were works of art as well.
"No man who did not carry sumptuous arms of iron or copper, with inlaid blades and handles covered with serpent skin. Everywhere velvets and silken stuffs. Each cup, each pipe, each spoon was an object of art perfectly worthy to be compared to the creations of the Roman European style. But all this was only the particularly tender and iridescent bloom which adorns a ripe and marvellous fruit; the gestures, the manners, the moral code of the entire people, from the little child to the old man, although they remained within absolutely natural limits, were imprinted with dignity and grace, in the families of the princes and the rich as in the vassals and slaves. I know of no northern people who can be compared with these primitives for unity of civilization. And the peaceful beauty was carried away by the floods.
"But many men had this experience: the explorers who left the savage and warrior plateau of the East and South and the North to descend into the plains of the Congo, of Lake Victoria, of the Ubangi: men such as Speke and Grant, Livingstone, Cameron, Stanley, Schweinfurth, Junker, de Brazza -- all of them -- made the same statements: they came from countries dominated by the rigid laws of the African Ares, and from then on they penetrated into the countries where peace reigned, and joy in adornment and in beauty; countries of old civilizations, of ancient styles, of harmonious styles.
quote:"Thus in the Sudan old real African warm-blooded culture existed and could be found in Equatorial Africa, where neither Ethiopian thought, Hamitic blood, or European civilization had drawn the pattern. Everywhere when we examine this ancient culture it bears the same impression. In the great museums -- Trocadero, British Museum, in Belgium, Italy, Holland, and Germany -- everywhere we see the same spirit, the same character, the same nature. All of these separate pieces unite themselves to the same expression and build a picture equally impressive as that of a collection of the art of Asia. The striking beauty of the cloth, the fantastic beauty of the drawing and the sculpture, the glory of the ivory weapons, the collection of fairy tales equal to the Thousand and One nights, the Chinese novels, and the Indian philosophy.
"In comparison with such spiritual accomplishments the impression of the African spirit is easily seen. It is stronger in its folds, simpler in its richness. Every weapon is simple and practical, not only in form but fantasy. Every line of carving is simple and strong. There is nothing that makes a clearer impression of strength, and all that streams out of the fire and the hut, the sweat and the grease- treated hides and the animal dung. Everything is practical, strong, workmanly. This is the character of the African style. When one approaches it with full understanding, one immediately realizes that this impression rules all Africa. It expresses itself in the activity of all Negro people even in their sculpture. It speaks out of their dances and their masks; out of the understanding of their religious life, just as out of the reality of their living, their state building, and their conception of fate. It lives in their fables, their fairy stories, their wise sayings and their myths.
"And once we are forced to this conclusion, then the Egyptian comes into the comparison. For this discovered culture form of Negro Africa has the same peculiarity."
Leo Frobenius Histoire de la Civilisation Africaine translated by Back and Ermoat Paris: Gallimard, 1936 6th edition page 56
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
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Although I'm no Afrocentric I thought I'd reply before some knuckleheaded response ruined things. Nor is the above quoted Froebenius without Euro prejudices but at least he was honest enough to speak observed truth.
We of Africa have that of or own and contributed to that of others. In addition there are black people in SW, SC, and SE Asia who are no relation whatsoever to continental Africans yet descendents of SSAs are found among southwest and southcentral Asia who of course are not responsible for the cultures and civilizations there founded by indigenous Asians.
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
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^^^ Exactly and considering Mud and Adobe Structures was not widely used in Africa. Why is Mud, which was used as far as Mesopotamia, suddenly the catch phrase of White Racists?? LMAO, if anything these clowns should say Africans built out of "WOOD", but of course they can't say that because Wood does not carry the baggage Mud is supposed to..
"We ... traveled by sea to the city of Kulwa [Kilwa in East Africa]...Most of its people are Zunuj, extremely black...The city of Kulwa is amongst the most beautiful of cities and most elegantly built... Their uppermost virtue is religion and righteousness and they are Shafi'i in rite."
Ibn Battuta, A.D. 1331
The royal court is magnificent and very well organized. When the king goes from one city to another with the people of his court, he rides a camel and the horses are led by hand by servants. If fighting becomes necessary, the servants mount the camels and all the soldiers mount on horseback. When someone wishes to speak to the king, he must kneel before him and bow down; but this is only required of those who have never before spoken to the king, or of ambassadors. -Leo Africanus
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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Don't forget about the Yoruba and Benin city states had walled cities. The kingdom of Kongo also had urban centers and a central law system and government.
Posts: 8675 | From: Tukuler al~Takruri as Ardo since OCT2014 | Registered: Feb 2003
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They like to use the word mud because the sort they usually address themselves to are too stupid to know the word adobe and are unfamiliar with mud architecture attaining to 10 stories in height, as in Yemen, and are also too stupid to know a hut is a small dinky construct.
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
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AlTakruri I meant to ask you or possibly Alwaadberry on the thread about Black Asians..etc. when we got into "Bilad Es Sudan" and Al-Jahiz's list of Blacks in Indo-China...
its by Al-Jahiz and is the source of the imfamous Zanj quote...
We know that the Zanj (blacks) are the least intelligent and the least discerning of mankind, and the least capable of understanding the consequences of actions."
If you put that in google you get pages on pages of white racists who quote it as proof that even Arabs hated blacks(When most of their quotes come from Iranian(..Zanj Revolt) Writers and not Arabs).
But from what I read about the Book of Misrs is that its a Satire piece of work meant to entertain and on top of that its fictional, so I guess my question is have you read that infamous quote in full context?? Considering the Book of Misr's is fiction is that quote even valid??
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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quote:Originally posted by ausar: Don't forget about the Yoruba and Benin city states had walled cities. The kingdom of Kongo also had urban centers and a central law system and government.
Exactly as Al-Takruri said it stems from poor education and Ignorance on part of the same people who try to prop themselves up as having high I.Q and advanced civilization..
Its time we stop treating these people as if they are on our level. If they are too lazy to research what their own people said of the Kingdoms they visited like Congo etc, or even of the ever famous and Popular, easy to access Ibn Bhattuta and his description of the African Cities he visited, then they don't need to even debate history.
Im trying to find a quote or description of the Kongo Kingdom and how Europeans were in Awe at its sophisticated system of Governance, I know it exists because I read it on this very site.
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Just call me Jari: Im trying to find a quote or description of the Kongo Kingdom and how Europeans were in Awe at its sophisticated system of Governance, I know it exists because I read it on this very site.
quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: [QB] So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
wrong question,the question is why would you bring this up? and i turn back to you,why you did not do any research before you ask a dumb question.
what books have you read? and what well done research websites that post correct info have you gone too.
Before anybody answer you questions you should do the research first.
If you did, you would not ask a dumb question in the first place since their in alot of good info,books and websites about great african civilizations in so-called sub-Sahara africa.
another point thier alot of books on modern africa too,why don't you take a trip too see africa and your questions would be answered,and good book with alot of pictures would help too.
Posts: 2688 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Let me help you a little bit anyway,since i am in a helping mood at for the time being.After this you should do more of the DETAILED research yourself.
The history of African cities south of the Sahara: from the ...
Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch - 2005 - 421 pages - RW Hull, African Cities and Towns before the European Conquest. 3. DM Anderson and R. Rathbone, cAs., Africa's Urban Past (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000). A similar publication is forthcoming: Toyin Falola and Steven J. Salm, eds., ...
AND
Africa's urban past
David Anderson, Richard Rathbone - 2000 - 310 pages -
I got this from stromfront,most likely your favorite website.
Default Re: BLACK POWER YOU DAMN WHITE PEOPLE Quote: Originally Posted by MachineGewehr View Post If Nigerians are so intelligent why cant they start to forge their own civilization starting from scratch since there is no slavery and the U.S has a groid president. probably they can create a society more advanced than the west.
Please, explain to me how Nigerians are unable to forge their own civilization. Africa is doing much better than the average white nationalist knowns and I enjoy this ignorance.
The experts say the average standard of living in Botswana is equal to Turkey.
African cities are growing faster than any European cities.
From a high of 24 coups in the 1960s, there were 14 in the 1990s and just five in 2000-08.
In 2006, Sub-Saharan Africa registered its third straight year of good GDP growth - about 6% More than 35% of Africans live in sustained-growth economies that have grown at more than 4% a year for ten years. (World Bank's Africa Development Indicators (ADI) 2007)
South Africa's and Nigeria's GDP comprise 54% of total SSA's GDP. (ADI 2007)
A recent census report reveals that black Africans are now the most highly educated members of British society. According to the United States 2000 Census, African-born blacks are considerably better educated than other black immigrants. African immigrants to the United States are more highly educated than white and Asian Americans and are more likely than any other immigrant group to have a college education. Almost 50% of all African immigrants in the United States hold a college diploma.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, four African democracies rank in the top 40 democracies of the world; Mauritius (25), South Africa (29), Botswana (36) and Cape Verde (39)
In the last decade Rwanda and Uganda have made the greatest gains in live expectancy: 12 and 7 years respectively. (ADI 2007) In 2004 the poverty headcount ratio at $1 a day was 41% of population from 47% in 1990. (ADI 2007) Growth of living standards in the last five years is the highest in Africa's history.
BENIN: The Forgotten Empire This thread is a dedication to the legendary Benin Empire in which once controlled and vast Empire in which stretch from present day Cameroon to present day Togo. Please post any information and pictures about this Legendary civilization in this thread. I just came across an article in which stated that a Hollywood movie is in the works focusing on this once magnificent Empire, and it's clash with the Europeans whom were awed by its presence.
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How Africa is Becoming the New Asia February 19, 2010
China and India get all the headlines for their economic prowess, but there's another global growth story that is easily overlooked: Africa. In 2007 and 2008, southern Africa, the Great Lakes region of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and even the drought-stricken Horn of Africa had GDP growth rates on par with Asia's two powerhouses. Last year, in the depths of global recession, the continent clocked almost 2 percent growth, roughly equal to the rates in the Middle East, and outperforming everywhere else but India and China. This year and in 2011, Africa will grow by 4.8 percent—the highest rate of growth outside Asia, and higher than even the oft-buzzed-about economies of Brazil, Russia, Mexico, and Eastern Europe, according to newly revised IMF estimates. In fact, on a per capita basis, Africans are already richer than Indians, and a dozen African states have higher gross national income per capita than China.
More surprising is that much of this growth is driven not by the sale of raw materials, like oil or diamonds, but by a burgeoning domestic market, the largest outside India and China. In the last four years, the surge in private consumption of goods and services has accounted for two thirds of Africa's GDP growth. The rapidly emerging African middle class could number as many as 300 million, out of a total population of 1 billion, according to development expert Vijay Majahan, author of the 2009 book Africa Rising. While few of them have the kind of disposable income found in Asia and the West, these accountants, teachers, maids, taxi drivers, even roadside street vendors, are driving up demand for goods and services like cell phones, bank accounts, upmarket foodstuffs, and real estate. In fact, in Africa's 10 largest economies, the service sector makes up 40 percent of GDP, not too far from India's 53 percent. "The new Africa story is consumption," says Graham Thomas, head of principal investment at Standard Bank Group, which operates in 17 African countries.
Much of the boom in this new consumer class can be attributed to outside forces: evolving trade patterns, particularly from increased demand coming out of China, and technological innovation abroad that spurs local productivity and growth like the multibillion-dollar fiber-optic lines that are being laid out between Africa and the developed world. Other changes are domestic and deliberate. Despite Africa's well-founded reputation for corruption and poor governance, a substantial chunk of the continent has quietly experienced this economic renaissance by dint of its virtually unprecedented political stability. Spurred by eager investors, governments have steadily deregulated industries and developed infrastructure. As a result, countries such as Kenya and Botswana now boast privately owned world-class hospitals, charter schools, and toll roads that are actually safe to drive on. A study by a World Bank program, the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic, found that improvements in Africa's telecom infrastructure have contributed as much as 1 percent to per capita GDP growth, a bigger role than changes in monetary or fiscal policies. Shares of stocks in recently privatized local airlines, freight companies, and telecoms have skyrocketed.
Entrepreneurship has increased at the same time, powered in part by the influx of returning skilled workers. Just as waves of expats returned to China and India in the 1990s to start businesses that in turn attracted more outside talent and capital, there are now signs that an entrepreneurial African diaspora will help transform the continent. While brain drain is still a chronic problem in countries such as Burundi and Malawi—some of the poorest in the world on a per capita basis—Africa's most robust economies, such as those in Ghana, Botswana, and South Africa, are beginning to see an unprecedented brain gain. According to some reports, roughly 10,000 skilled professionals have returned to Nigeria in the last year, and the number of educated Angolans seeking jobs back home has spiked 10-fold, to 1,000, in the last five years. Bart Nnaji gave up a tenured professorship at the University of Pittsburgh to move back to Nigeria in 2005 and run Geometric Power, the first private power company in sub-Saharan Africa. Its $400 million, 188-megawatt power plant will come online this fall as the sole provider of electricity for Aba, a city of 2 million in southeast Nigeria. Afam Onyema, a 30-year-old graduate of Harvard and Stanford Law, turned down six-figure offers in corporate law to build and run a $50 million state-of-the-art private hospital with a charitable component for the poor in southeast Nigeria.
Many experts believe Africa, with its expansive base of newly minted consumers, may very well be on the verge of becoming the next India, thanks to frenetic urbanization and the sort of big push in services and infrastructure that transformed the Asian subcontinent 15 years ago. Just as India once harnessed its booming population of cheap labor, Africa stands to gain by the rapid growth of its big cities. Already the continent boasts the world's highest rate of urbanization, which jump-starts growth through industrialization and economies of scale. Today only a third of Africa's population lives in cities, but that segment accounts for 80 percent of total GDP, according to the U.N. Centre for Human Settlements. In the next 30 years, half the continent's population will be living in cities.
Nowhere is this relationship between the consumer class and urbanization more apparent than in Lagos, Nigeria, a megalopolis of 18 million that has the anything-goes pace of a Chongqing or Mumbai. On Victoria Island, the city's commercial center, real estate is as expensive as in Manhattan. Everywhere you look, there is construction: luxury condos, office buildings, roads, even a brand-new city nearby being dredged from the sea that will hold half a million people. "Everything is in short supply, so everything's a high-growth area," explains Adedotun Sulaiman, a venture capitalist and chairman of Accenture in Nigeria. "In terms of opportunities, it's just mind-blowing." Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest black entrepreneur, has also cashed in on this consumer culture, with a net worth of $2.5 billion, according to Forbes. His empire, which began in 1978 as a trading business that imported, among other things, baby food, cement, and frozen fish, is focused on Nigeria's burgeoning domestic growth, producing cement for shopping and office complexes; renting luxury condos; making noodles, flour, and sugar; and now expanding into services such as 3G mobile networks and transportation. "There's nowhere you can make money like in Nigeria," says the 53-year-old Dangote. "It's the world's best-kept secret."
Not anymore. A recent study by Oxford economist Paul Collier of all 954 publicly traded African companies operating between 2000 and 2007 found that their annual return on capital was on average 65 percent higher than those of similar firms in China, India, Vietnam, or Indonesia because labor costs are skyrocketing in Asia. Their median profit margin, 11 percent, was also higher than in Asia or South America. African mobile operators, for instance, showed the highest profit margins in the industry worldwide. As a result, foreign multinationals like Unilever, Nestlé, and Swissport International report some of their highest growth in Africa. So even as foreign direct investment fell by 20 percent worldwide in 2008, capital in-flows to Africa actually jumped 16 percent, to $61.9 billion, its highest level ever, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Even Chinese companies are thinking of outsourcing basic manufacturing to Africa. The World Bank is now helping China set up an industrial zone in Ethiopia, the first of perhaps several offshore centers akin to the sprawling free-trade zones that opened up China's economy in the 1980s.
Still, Africa remains at the very frontier of emerging markets. Despite its gains, the difficulty and cost of running a business there are the highest in the world, according to data from the International Monetary Fund. Couple that with pervasive corruption—Transparency International calls the problem "rampant" in 36 of 53 African states—and it's no wonder Africa is often regarded as a toxic place to operate. But World Bank president Robert Zoellick says that in the aftermath of the economic crisis, long-term investors have recognized that "developed markets have big risks too." Like China and India, Africa is exploiting that fact, and perhaps more than any other region it is illustrative of a new world order in which the poorest nations will still find ways to steam ahead.
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Has Africa's manufacturing revolution started? While most developing regions were laying the foundations of a manufacturing-driven economy, Africa continued to rely on the export of low-value raw materials. But it now seems that the trend is changing and local value addition is increasing - from cutting and polishing diamonds to exporting finished manufactured products. Sarah Rundell reports.
Eurostar, an Indian-owned diamond trading and cutting company, is one of the latest businesses to open a factory in Botswana; it cuts and polishes diamonds in the capital Gabarone. Botswana accounts for an estimated 27% of global diamond production, but until recently the delicate art of polishing and cutting happened overseas. Although Africa is home to five of the top seven global diamond producers, the bulk of exports remain rough or uncut stones.
But this is changing as a new trend begins to take root. Over the span of a few years, 16 factories, like Eurostar, have set up in Botswana while six have sprung up in Namibia. It is the beginning of a new industry, adding value to gems back home. Botswana now competes with manufacturing centres such as India, which employs one million people in the polishing business, and can now add around 40% to the value of its sparkling export. "They are taking the rough diamond and turning it into a finished product. This way Botswana is able to compete with other polishing centres and it has created a whole new industry," says Mervin Lifshitz at the Botswana Diamond Manufacturers Association.
Botswana's burgeoning diamond-polishing industry is indicative of a wider effort across the continent to add value back home and boost Africa's own manufacturing sector. Economists have said for years that without a strong manufacturing industry - South Africa has the most vibrant - countries will struggle to reduce the cost of manufactured imports, create jobs and accelerate industrialisation.
How healthy is Africa's manufacturing sector?
Companies say power supply is the biggest challenge. The World Bank's December 2009 Kenya Economic Update estimates domestic manufacturing loses almost 10% in potential sales due to power outages and transport bottlenecks. It is making Kenyan goods uncompetitive, warns Betty Maina at the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). "With energy cost constituting over 40% of total manufacturing costs, Kenya's products are increasingly finding it difficult to compete with those from other countries, especially Asia," she says.
It is a similar story in Nigeria, where companies rely on their own generators. This helps ensure power supply but the cost is unbearable for many, causing factories to close or temporarily shut and lay off staff, says Alhaji Bashir Borodo, the president of Nigeria's Manufacturers Association.
"Manufacturing is dying in Nigeria because of the power supply," bemoans Lagosian entrepreneur Seyi Boroffice. "The government still believes it can fix the problem but it has to be driven by the private sector."
It is a call being answered. Nigerian energy firm Oando has invested Ni6bn ($i04.6m) through its subsidiary Gaslink in iookm of distribution pipeline to service over 90 customers in Lagos's industrial centres. It is part of an overall massive investment to provide Nigeria's industrial and commercial centres with a reliable and cheap fuel option, the company says.
In South Africa, where state-owned power utility Eskom produces 90% of its electricity supply from coal-fired power stations and struggles to meet demand, companies say they are exploring other power sources. A near-collapse of the grid in January 2009 shut the country's gold and platinum mines for five days and sent metals prices soaring.
The recession has not helped manufacturers. Inflation and consumer belt-tightening has led to increased competition from cheaper imports. Mohit Manglani, president of the Carpet Manufacturers Association of Nigeria urges the importance of buying local: "It is the only way to encourage manufacturers to continue to produce high quality and affordable carpets in this country. Patronising locally made carpets will save the country foreign exchange as well as create job opportunities. We believe in the Nigerian manufacturing sector and we encourage more consumption of locally made carpets," he says.
Local brands thriving Domestic demand is fuelling new industries. Lagos-headquartered mattress maker Mouka says sales grew by 40% in 2007 and 50% in 2008 on the back of Nigeria's growing middle class and lifestyle changes. The manufacturer has three factories around the country and employs around 600 people producing foam mattresses, pillows and foam material for industrial use. Manglani says carpet manufacturers in Nigeria have invested over N5bn ($33m at today's exchange rate) in the industry in the last two years in state-of-the-art machinery and technology in response to domestic consumer demand.
Manufacturers with strong brands are thriving, argues African equity analyst Christopher Hartland-Peel at investment banking boutique Exotix. Strong sales for Nigeria Stock Exchange-listed (NSE) manufacturers of soaps and beauty products - such as PZ Cussons Nigeria, Unilever as well as GSK Consumer Nigeria (part of GlaxoSmithKline and makers of brands including Aquafresh toothpaste), prove it. "Multinationals play a big part in the domestic manufacturing sector," says Hartland Peel. "They have introduced low-cost manufacturing of valueadded products based on very strong domestic demand."
Industry research group Canadean says Nigeria is one of the top 10 fastest-growing drinks markets in the world. British drinks company Diageo manufactures and sells more Guinness in Nigeria than in any other country apart from Britain.
But it is not just foreign manufacturers that are doing well. McDonald's-style fast food chain, Mr Biggs, part of NSE-listed United Africa Company of Nigeria, has grown from io outlets to 125 in 10 years.
Breweries are amongst the strongest exporters. Kenya's East African Breweries exports its Tusker brand to markets in the UK, US and Japan. Its bottling plant exports 15-20% of production regionally.
Also in East Africa, Nairobi-listed Bamburi Cement, Athi River and East Portland Cement export 15% of their products overseas. Flower producers add value selling readymade bouquets to Europe and to new markets in Australia, Japan, Russia and America, says the Fresh Produce Exporters Association of Kenya.
Regional exporters will get a leg-up from the East African Community Customs Union due on stream in July 2010. Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi will all allow the free movement of goods, services, people and capital within the bloc. This will offer the region's manufacturers enlarged market size, economies of scale and increased intra-regional trade.
However, protectionism is stili a worry. Governments such as Uganda have already given in to internal pressures to protect their industries from imports to save jobs. Kenyan firms say they struggle to sell processed animal products and galvanised iron sheets into Uganda for example. Nevertheless, the union will enable manufacturers to target crucial regional markets, says KAM's Maina. "Last year, Kenya's exports to Africa accounted for Kshi24bn ($1.6bn) compared to $9om earnings from Europe. The value of exports to Uganda alone topped $42m - less than half of the earnings received from exports to Europe."
Expanding manufacturing base
China is also investing in Africa's manufacturing sector, relocating factory work such as toy and shoe making from China to start-up projects in Zambia, Nigeria, Mauritius and Ethiopia in special economic zones.
During the February African Union summit in Ethiopia, the World Bank's president, Robert Zoellick promised to back African manufacturing with expertise and cash. "If you look back at the growth of East Asia, starting with Japan, and then Korea and Taiwan and Southeast Asia and China, they've used the model of basic manufacturing to slowly move up the value-added chain." He said that the World Bank would look for opportunities to co-invest and build infrastructure with China.
Africa's manufacturers say governments need to do more. Tokunbo Talabi, managing director of Lagos-based Superflux International that makes envelopes, wants the government to support businesses through tax breaks and incentives. "I don't think the Nigerian government values Nigerian companies enough. It feels to us like they are happy for a foreign company to come over here and take away our business rather than to support domestic business."
Red tape and hidden costs are a common complaint. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria cites a recent hike in shipping costs by the Nigerian Ports Authority as an example.
For other manufacturers, like Botswana's new diamond polishing and cutting factories, staff training is the biggest challenge. "Investors have to put lots of time and money here," says Lifshitz.
Despite the obstacles caused by inadequate infrastructure, high transport and production costs, red tape and the lack of skills, manufacturing in Africa is still profitable thanks to a huge domestic market and a growing export market. Africa will only really begin to move towards prosperity if and when its manufacturing output matches that of the strong emerging markets. Has the process started in earnest?
Africa's manufacturers need the support of local consumers to build their businesses.
Africa will move towards prosperity when its manufacturing output matches that of the strong emerging markets SIDEBAR
Betty Maina (right) says Kenya's regional exports outstrip those to Europe.
Domestic manufacturing loses almost 10% in potential sales due to power outages and transport bottlenecks SIDEBAR
Africa's manufacturers need the support of local consumers to build their businesses.
Africa will move towards prosperity when its manufacturing output matches that of the strong emerging markets
Industrial Revolution going on in Africa. Some people don't know that their is a begin of an Industrial Revolution going on in Africa. A lot of countries are starting to build their industry. For example in Nigeria they now manufacture their own car parts, part of motors and in 5 years they will build for 100% their own motors. A lot of western products are been copied. The same what happend 20 years ago in China before their Industrial Revolution is now happening in Nigeria.
Quote: Western scientists confirm the beginning of an industrial revolution in Nigeria. For example in the city Nnewi, 300 kilometres at south of the capital Abuja, their are more then thirty industrial companies who are making car components. On average each company has a small hundred employees in service.
Industrial revolution: African tigers
Les Celliers de Meknes is one of the many industrial companies in Morocco. The firma is owned by Brahim Zniber, who produces especially foods: soft drink, cattle fodder, vegetable oil, textile. Also car components ' The industrial revolution in Morocco stands in the start block-systems
The industrial revolution in Morocco is beginning to start' , according to Bouchaara . ' Except local companies also the foreign investments are growing . Renault builds in Tanger one of the largest car factories in the world. Within ten years our economy is at the level of Spain.' The infrastructure has improved enormously. We have recently a fantastic new motorway from Tanger to Marrakesh. ' Morocco is not the only country in Africa where the industry is starting to begin. Except in a number of other countries in North Africa industrial companies are also strong in rise in particularly Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sudan, Mozambique and South Africa. In Nigeria much industrial companies rice slowly from a deep valley. Because of the enormous income from the oil-export other sectors were neglected for decades. The current government tries to change this . Johnny Ekewuba, marketing manager of the Nigerian Ibeto Group. Its company, that especially manufacters car components . ' We grow 5% a year. The products of the Ibeto Group still remain cheap. A set of their brake block-systems costs 300 naira or less than two euro, what ten times are cheaper than in the Netherlands. The beto Group even already started to exports components to the foreign countries. In neighbouring countries Cameroon and Niger Nigerian car absorbers, oil filters and brake block-systems from Nigeria are evrywhere . ' Also we export to India and Great-Britain.'
African economies grew the previous time more strongly than economies in Europe. Except with the industry also companies in the agrarian, financial sector and communication . The coming years the economies are expected further to increase.
Of lot of influential improvements have taken place the previous years in Africa, like the extension of mobile network . In a large number African countries the network were build by the Sudanese businessman Mo Ibrahim, director of Celtel. ' Western investors claimed that it was risky to invest in Africa ' , says Ibrahim : ' I found that fear exaggerated and decided to show that they were wrong.' Good telecommunication is very important for companies. Cable phones in Africa have always had problems ' , thus Ibrahim. ' A connection was expensive, there were technical problems'. Current mobile network is, however, more reliable.' Also Internet has come thanks the mobile network for much more Africans available. Cell Celtel was a huge success., in 2006, he sold his company to an investor in Kuwait, and the the name was changed in Zain. Ibrahim got 3.5 billion dollar,and is now one of the richest Africans in the world. Ibrahim is now seeking to invest in other things ' The foodstuff industry in Africa has huge potential'
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I saved this to remind folks.
[QUOTE=jules3c;51218087]South Africa is not only an industrialized nation, but is also a technological advance nation. And in many fields it is even leading the rest of the Wolrd. A few excample would be solar panel development, the meerkat station station is one of the Wolrds most advanced, military hardware even the American military buys hardware from south Africa like the apc vehicle the best in the wolrd. The krooivalk attack helicopter better than the appache according to Pentagon. These are just a few of their technological advancenment known around the wolrd. In aqua culture they are building the technologicaly most advanced shrimp farm in south Africa right now and China is trying to copy cat it but will be managed from south Africa. In short south Africa is a technological industrial power house. Oh don't forget the electric car develop in south Africa with first Wolrd quality and has recently rejoined the space satellite race and is acquiring nanotechnologycapability..[/QUOTE]
Ethiopia launches electric car despite power shortages
Electric car Many Ethiopians will struggle to afford a Solaris Elettra
Ethiopia has launched an electric car, despite suffering from power shortages. It is only the second African country to do so, after South Africa.
Two versions of the Solaris Elettra will be manufactured in Addis Ababa, costing around $12,000 and $15,000.
The cars will be sold in Ethiopia and exported to Africa and Europe.
But some doubt if Africa, where erratic power supplies, low levels of personal wealth and poor infrastructure are common, is ready for electric cars.
Carlo Pironti, general manager of Freestyle PLC, the company producing the Solaris, told the BBC's Uduak Amimo in Addis Ababa that Ethiopia's electricity shortages were not a major obstacle to operating an electric car.
"Ethiopia in future will have lots of power supply," he said.
"In any case, the car can be recharged by generator and by solar power."
Taxes on cars in Ethiopia can be more than 100% and many Ethiopians with low incomes will struggle to afford an electric car.
To overcome this problem, Mr Pironti says his company will develop a credit system for less affluent customers.
Six Solaris Elettras will be produced every week for the next three months, rising to 30 per week when Freestyle's factory in Addis Ababa is fully operational, he says.
Mr Pironti says he wants to take the Solaris "from a green country to a green world," referring to the company's plans to export the car from Ethiopia to Africa and beyond.
But Wayne Batty, senior writer at South Africa's Topcar magazine, believes only a small percentage of Africa has the necessary infrastructure to support an electric car.
Mr Batty told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that electric cars are fine for short trips of 40 to 50 km (25 to 31 miles), but African countries lack the recharging points for longer journeys.
Ethiopia's electric car comes after Rwanda launched its first bio-diesel bus last week.
It is currently building a huge hydro-electric dam on the Omo river and hopes to become a major exporter of energy when that is completed.
INTERNATIONAL. Sub-Saharan Africa is likely to remain the second-fastest growing region after Asia in the near future, predicts Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, but “we can catch up with Asia, as the prospect of Africa as the last unexplored territory in the world and the potential of growth remain.”
For this to happen, Sanusi says Africa needs to put in place the right policies, address its infrastructure deficit, and provide the right environment and incentives for businesses and capital to come in. “That includes policy consistency, political stability, the fight against corruption, and improved efficiency in business processes. If we did the same thing that the Asians, such as the Indonesians and the Malaysians, did and if we did it right, we should be able to repeat the experience.”
Raadiya Begg, director of INSEAD Africa Initiative, says exciting developments are taking place in Africa. Out of an increasing number of opportunities for investment in a variety of sectors, there is a focus on growth sectors related to development such as healthcare, alternative energy, logistics, finance, agriculture, technology and telecommunications.
“Take wireless telecommunications, for example. Mobile telecommunications has levelled the economic landscape, and led to the rapid growth of mobile banking and internet usage,” says Begg. “Improved access to information has had profound economic impacts such as more highly competitive pricing – farmers, for instance, are now able to access real-time prices of goods to make informed decisions on whether to participate in a trade; increased worker productivity; and business models geared towards the less wealthy segments of the population.”
Another area of development is in venture capital. “The viability of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is essential to the health of any economy and the frontier markets are no exception,” argues Begg. “It is the growing entrepreneurial companies that create a multiplier effect.
It is not possible to create sustainable business with microfinance alone. Due to a virtual absence of capital, an equity base in the capital structure, which is almost non-existent in the developing world, is required. Thus, to achieve real impact on societies, expanding venture capital opportunities is a very practical approach.”
Nigeria - a case in point
Citing developments in his own country, Sanusi says the Nigerian economy is about to move to the next level with power reforms, which will bring about rapid growth in manufacturing and processing, as well as double-digit GDP growth.
In the last six years, the economy has been growing at a rate of seven to eight per cent per annum, mainly on the back of growth in agriculture, wholesale and retail trade, and services.
Chronic power outages have, on the other hand, held back economic growth. “Once we address the power infrastructure problems and put the right policies in place, we can easily get to double-digits,” he told INSEAD Knowledge, on the sidelines of The Economist’s Emerging Markets Summit held here recently.
While Nigeria is the leading oil and gas producer in Africa, oil and gas account for only 11%-12% of GDP. So the great potential for growth really comes from agriculture, manufacturing and services, with a lot of room for diversification, says Sanusi. “In the oil and gas and agriculture sectors, there is a lot of upside in processing. This is the country that is the number one producer of cassava in the world. Besides being used for consumption, cassava is now also used as ethanol biofuel feedstock. So there are opportunities for innovation and virgin territories that have not been explored.”
Begg concurs: “As Africa’s biggest oil producer, Nigeria boasts tremendous oil resources and business dynamism. However, of greater interest, is the growth in non-oil output, which is increasing steadily -- such as telecommunications. Nigeria has the eighth fastest telecommunications market in the world and the fastest one in Africa. Together with Kenya, they account for roughly half of Sub-Saharan Africa’s total mobile telecoms revenue.”
Nigerian banks have been consistently outperforming their counterparts in South Africa and Ghana over the past two years, Begg told INSEAD Knowledge. Other sectors showing considerable growth potential include the agricultural sector, building and construction, as well as the hotel and restaurant sectors. “This is barely touching the surface of growth potential that Nigeria has to offer. It has even made a mark in the film industry -- Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry, is the third largest, not far behind Hollywood (US) and Bollywood (India).”
Implications for Western competitors
Africa presents unique first-mover advantages for western organisations that recognise serving ‘bottom of the pyramid markets’ as more than just corporate social responsibility, says Begg. New markets in regions such as Africa present companies with opportunities to innovate their value chain. Companies are forced to refocus their strategic growth efforts and change the way they think about doing business, moving towards providing solutions to customers’ needs instead of ‘pushing products’.
To achieve sustainable growth, organisations venturing into markets such as Africa need to have a long-term view of doing business in the region and aim for a triple or at least double bottom line. “It is not a region for quick wins,” says Begg. “Patience and nerves of steel will take you a long way too.”
China-Africa trade
South Africa and Nigeria are now China’s largest African trade partners. The Chinese have traditionally been involved in construction, textiles and light manufacturing, however they have now gone into oil and gas in Nigeria and would also like to get into power and extractive industries, says Sanusi. “While the Chinese have been active in Nigeria, they are at this moment nowhere near being the biggest investor or trading partner of the country, but (China) is increasing its presence.” The country’s biggest trading partner is the US, followed by France.
Some have expressed concerns about China’s investments in Africa. However, Sanusi says he has never understood “why anyone should have concerns about anybody investing anywhere. We need to continue to attract investments but the investments need to be in the real economy. Diversification of investment resources is useful for African countries.”
He says he would be concerned if there were an undue concentration and over-reliance on one partner, but feels that anything that allows capital to come in from different parts of the world on terms that are not detrimental to the long-term economic interest of the country should be encouraged.
Tainted world views?
Think of Africa and many think of a region rife with crime, poverty, poor health, and poor infrastructure. Are these conditions keeping investors away? Sanusi doesn’t think so. In fact he believes these difficulties provide opportunities for people to come in and address these issues.
Poverty only gets alleviated with investments and economic growth, he argues. And if you’ve got a country in a post-conflict situation that has had an economy that’s badly managed, and it suddenly finds good governance, places like Zimbabwe, Angola, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, for example, offer tremendous opportunities for investments as things improve.
“I don’t think the reality of Africa is exactly the same as the perception; a lot of that is exaggerated, probably based on incomplete information,” says Sanusi. “I’ve had many people comment on Africa who’ve never been there. They are making comments based on what they heard many years ago and they have no idea of the amount of changes that have taken place. Go to places like Mozambique, Angola, Botswana, Ghana, Senegal. A lot is happening in terms of governance, democracy, the fight against corruption, reforms. Many people are not aware of the changes in Africa.”
So how do you change perceptions? Sanusi says one way is to continue doing the right things and doing them consistently. Another is to look the world in the eye and say this is simply not true.
With so much going for Africa economically, will it be the turn of the African lions after the Asian tigers? “I hope it will be, and the first lion will be Nigeria,” says Sanusi.
Note. The Economist’s Emerging Markets Summit was held in London September 15-16, 2010.
This article is republished courtesy of INSEAD Knowledge (http://knowledge.insead.edu)
Nigeria: Manufacturing - 3.6 Percent Contribution to GDP
20 years ago it was 13.8% ___________________________________________________________
Industry in Sudan Sudan enjoys huge agricultural resources (plant and animal), as well as various types of energy and mining resources and skillful manpower at reasonable cost, which constitutes a base for comprehensive industrial development. The concern about manufacturing industry lies in the fact that this sector is an important sector in transforming these resources into commodities and products of high quality and value, to be used for intermediate and final usage. The application of the programs of economic reform and structural adjustments in the economy have a positive impact on the manufacturing industry sector, through the intensification of its participation in the national economy, the enhancement of its competitive capacity and the widening of its productive base.
The manufacturing industry sector contributed to 8.4% of the GDP in Sudan in 2006, with a growth rate of 7%
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Nigeria-MANUFACTURING Courtesy Embassy of Nigeria, Washington
While agriculture's relative share of GDP was falling, manufacturing's contribution rose from 4.4 percent in FY 1959 to 9.4 percent in 1970, before falling during the oil boom to 7.0 percent in 1973, increasing to 11.4 percent in 1981, and declining to 10.0 percent in 1988. Whereas manufacturing increased rapidly during the 1970s, tariff manipulations encouraged the expansion of assembly activities dependent on imported inputs; these activities contributed little to indigenous value added or to employment, and reduced subsequent industrial growth. The manufacturing sector produced a range of goods that included milled grain, vegetable oil, meat products, dairy products, sugar refined, soft drinks, beer, cigarettes, textiles, footwear, wood, paper products, soap, paint, pharmaceutical goods, ceramics, chemical products, tires, tubes, plastics, cement, glass, bricks, tiles, metal goods, agricultural machinery, household electrical appliances, radios, motor vehicles, and jewelry.
note- nigeria industry has increase and so is other areas of africa.
25 June 2010 How non-oil exports drive real GDP growth Lagos — The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Wednesday revealed that Nigeria's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the first quarter of this year grew by 7.23 percent with the Nominal GDP with non-oil sector
being the major driver of growth. The NBS in its 2010 first quarter report on the Nation's GDP and endorsed by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Vincent Akinyosoye, revealed that the non-oil sector played a dominant role in the real GDP with growth rate of 8.15 as against the previous quarter.
"On an aggregate basis, the economy when measured by the Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), grew by 7.23 percent in the first quarter of 2010 as against 4.50 percent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
"The 2.73 percentage point increase in Real GDP growth observed in the first quarter of 2010 was accounted for by the increase in production in the oil sector of the economy. The nominal GDP for the first quarter of 2010 was estimated at 6,399,716.09 million naira as against the 5,404,850.00 million naira during the corresponding quarter of 2009, thus, indicating an increase of 994,866.09 million naira," the NSS report read in part.
Stating that the oil sector plays a pivotal role in the Nigerian economy as a dominant source of revenue period NBS disclosed that the sector witnessed increased production within the period under review than in the corresponding quarter of 2009.
It cited that about 202,358,601 barrels of crude oil and condensates were estimated for the first quarter of 2010 with an average daily production of 2.25 million barrels per day compared with the 184,661,774 barrels produced within the first quarter of 2009 with a corresponding average daily production of 2.05 million barrels per day.
The NBS explained that the observed increase contribution of oil to the GDP was attributable to the improvement in output, which could be traced to the various interventions by government in the peace process in the oil producing regions.
"The Oil sector contributed about 18.70 percent to real GDP in the first quarter 2009, while the contribution in first quarter of 2010 was however 18.00 percent. The Non-oil sector continued to be a major driver of the economy in the first quarter of 2010 when compared with the corresponding quarter of 2009.
"The sector recorded 8.15 percent growth in real terms in the first quarter of 2010 compared with 7.90 percent achieved a year ago. The Nonoil sector experienced a declining growth in the first quarter of 2010 when compared with the preceding quarter of 2009" the read further observed.
On the subsectors of the non-oil sector of the economy, the NBS noted that during the first quarter of 2010, the manufacturing activities decreased relative to the same period in 2009 as it recorded a decline in growth rate from 7.03 percent in 2009 to 6.43 percent in 2010.
It attributed the development to the low manufacturing activities usually recorded in the first quarter after the festivities in the last quarter of the previous year, poor electric power supply, and inability to access credit from banks arising from the credit crisis in the banking sector.
The Telecommunications sector continued to perform impressively and has remained one of the major drivers of growth in the Nigerian economy. The report pointed that following intensive marketing strategies and value added services by telecommunication companies in Nigeria, the sector recorded a real GDP growth of 32.54 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared with 31.75 percent recorded in the corresponding period of 2009.
Africa's Industrial Technology Acquisition - UN study
Quote: Africa’s rapid growth in industrial technological acquisition gives rise to the hope that “the Continent may be joining other developing regions in building a sound industrial base, a United Nations (UN) study reveals.
The study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) entitled, ‘A technological resurgence? Africa in the global flow of technology’, has concluded that the growth is likely to support production of value-added goods and services as well as high-tech products.
According to Undersecretary-General and ECA’s Executive Secretary, Abdoulie Janneh, the trends associated with technology transfer as assessed in the study provide evidence of the factors driving the impressive economic growth rates recorded in African countries over the last decade.
“The findings reveal an impressive turnaround from the slow growth in Africa’s share of the number of patents, peer-reviewed scientific publications and, technology exports and imports which grew very slowly in the 1980s to 1990s, he says.” “The research provides evidence of a rapid growth rate Africa’s industrial technology acquisition,” he adds.
Janneh points out that inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), one of the main channels of technology transfer, into Africa soared over 800% between 2000 and 2008. “Some of the investment has gone into the production of drugs, steel, automobiles and electronics, among others - areas that require the use of technology owned by others,” he says.
The Study is the first ever comprehensive research that tracks flows of investment and knowledge mainly by developing regions and developed country groupings and specifically looks at technology transfer trends in areas such as royalties and licensing fees, capital goods, business, professional and technical services, research and development (R&D); as well as intellectual property rights.
The report also noted that Africa posted the fastest growth in capital goods imports between 2001 and 2006 than any other region but the lowest between 1990 and 2006. The import of capital goods increased by about 7.8-fold for LAC, 7.5-fold for Asia, 4.7-fold for North America, 3.9-fold for Europe and only 3.7-fold for Africa between 1990 and 2006.
However, most of the growth in Africa in imports of capital goods was between 2001 and 2006 (a 3-fold increase). In Africa, imports of capital goods increased by more than six times for Madagascar, Zambia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Guinea and Uganda over the same period.
Africa recorded a 5.6-fold growth in terms of receipts by the United States for BPT services from unaffiliated firms between 1990 and 2005. It lags behind Europe (about 7.7-fold) and Asia (about 6.5-fold).
However, Africa has the fastest growth in payments by United States firms to unaffiliated firms for BPT services (51-fold), followed by Asia (14.2-fold), LAC (9.5-fold), and Europe (8.7-fold) over the same period.
Africa and Asia enjoy tremendous increase in royalties and licensing fees between 1990 and 2008. While royalties and licensing fees rose six times globally, sub-Saharan Africa’s royalty and licensing fee payments went up 10 times – second only to East Asia and the Pacific (57 times). http://newbusinessethiopia.com/index...onal&Itemid=41
12 March 2009 Zambia: New Mobile Phone Plant to Create 200 Jobs ABOUT 200 jobs will be created at the newly opened US$10 million mobile phone manufacturing plant in Lusaka, President Rupiah Banda has said.
Mr Banda also said the Government was planning to reduce the international gateway fees to bring them down to the regional average as a way of promoting the communication sector.
He said when he officially opened the plant in Lusaka yesterday that M Mobile Telecommunications, which is wholly Zambian, would employ technical staff that include engineers and technicians
Mr Banda said he was happy that the investment came at the time when the global financial crisis had exerted massive pressure on most economies around the world.
He said he was pleased to note that the investment situated along Lumumba Road was aimed at benefiting the people in the country through employment creation, technology transfer and human resource development.
"This is what Zambians should be doing to attract foreign investors. Zambians should themselves lead the way by investing in their country," he said.
The president said keeping Zambia competitive started with making the economy grow and that the economy could only grow when more Zambians invested in business.
He said just as the Government expected the citizens to work hard to drive the economy forward, it was also expected to create a conducive and competitive environment for the private sector to thrive.
Mr Banda said that was why the Government in this year's Budget was working towards reducing the international gateway licensing fees to the regional average.
Mr Banda said the move would be done in an effort to reduce the cost of doing business in the communication sector.
He said the Government was cognisant of the fact that delivering on 'soft aspects' of reducing the cost of communication in Zambia was not enough and it would continue to facilitate the 'hard aspects' such as the actual production of mobile phones.
He said he had no doubt that the booming demand for domestically manufactured mobile phones would be strong given that the phones should be competitive.
Mr Banda said the competitiveness of the locally manufactured mobile phones would not only have a ready domestic market but also regional markets and earn Zambia the much-needed foreign exchange.
Communications and Transport Minister, Dora Siliya said the investment by M Mobile Telecommunication was a sign that Mr Banda was committed to making the private sector grow in Zambia.
Ms Siliya also commended Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister, Felix Mutati for attracting several investments in Zambia during various tours around the globe.
Japanese Ambassador to Zambia, Hideto Mitamura said the investment launched yesterday was as a result of the 'Triangle of Hope' initiative, which promoted economic development.
Mr Mitamura said the company was a showcase for other African countries and urged them to emulate the steps the Zambian Government was taking.
He said the Japanese government partnered with the Zambian Government on the project because of the good cooperation between the two countries.
M Mobile Telecommunication Zambia group Chairman Mohamed Seedat said the company was Zambian registered and met the international standards.
Mr Seedat said the plans to set up the company started in 2006 when the Zambian delegation including him were invited to Malaysia.
He said the plant was set up in Zambia because the market was readily available and that the Government was supportive of the idea.
The plant would be assembling phones ranging from ultra low cost to the state of the art Wi-Fi connectivity phones with television.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200903120404.html ________________________________________________ Ghana [ Manufacturer, Trading Company ] SOLAR MOBILE CHARGER It can charge your mobile phone, MP3, MP4, etc. whenever and wherever. Style design is convenient for you to carry....
posted
New cables tie West Africa closer to Internet For a decade, West Africa's main connection to the Internet has been a single fiber-optic cable in the Atlantic, a tenuous and expensive link for one of the poorest areas of the planet.
But this summer, a second cable snaked along the West African coastline, ending at Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos. It has more than five times the capacity of the old one and is set to bring competition to a market where wholesale Internet access costs nearly 500 times as much as it does in the U.S.
It's the first of a new wave of investment that the U.N.'s International Telecommunications Union says will vastly raise the bandwidth available in West Africa by mid-2012.
"Africa is sort of the last frontier here," said Paul Brodsky, an analyst at the research firm TeleGeography in Washington.
The effects are already being felt in Ghana. Kofi Datsa, general manager of Internet service provider DiscoveryTel Ghana, said it has seen the monthly cost of the access it buys from larger telecommunications carriers drop more than a quarter to $1,625 per megabit per second, from $2,250, in recent months. The carriers, fearing they could lose customers, have started cutting prices ahead of the new cables landing in the country.
Datsa expects his bandwidth costs to drop further in a couple of months, to $350 per megabit per second. By the end of 2011, when two other cables will have gone live, that could go as low as $225, he believes.
But that's still high. In the U.S. and Europe, wholesale Internet connections cost $5 to $10 per megabit per month in major cities, according to research firm TeleGeography.
It's not clear exactly when the cheaper prices will trickle down to the consumer level, but Datsa expects that to happen fairly quickly, as there's plenty of competition, with 25 registered ISPs in the country.
According to the Ghana Internet Service Providers Association, a typical DSL package costs $32 a month, about two-thirds of the average monthly income in the country. It's far slower than DSL service in the U.S., which costs about the same.
The ITU found that 32 million sub-Saharan Africans, or 3 percent, had Internet access in 2008 - the latest figure available. But that number was growing at almost twice the world average rate.
"Internet growth in Africa has been phenomenal and has not shown any signs of being diminished by the worldwide slump in the economy," said Prince Radebe of South Africa's Telkom SA, which has a stake in the older cable. "The investment in international submarine cables will further unlock this growth."
Even with added international communications capacity, Africa still faces another problem: In many places, it doesn't have the fiber cables necessary to carry the signal from the shores inland, said Abiodun Jagun, a lecturer at South Africa's University of Witwatersrand.
And in the countries where there is an expansive network of terrestrial fiber optic cables, such pipes are controlled by telecommunications operators that close them to rivals or charge a hefty premium for Internet traffic.
"There is this mentality, this monopolistic mentality that is hardwired into telecom operators," Jagun said.
Cell phones can help bring Internet access into the hands of consumers, but even wireless networks are dependent on long-haul fiber-optic cables, as the signal travels over the air only for a few miles.
The old cable connecting West Africa to the world, called South Atlantic Telecommunications Cable Number 3/West African Submarine Cable, or SAT-3, is controlled by incumbent telecom operators.
The new $250-million MainOne cable is owned by a consortium of Nigerian banks and financial institutions, South African investors and other African entrepreneurs, none of whom are telecommunications operators. The cable, which has a maximum capacity of 1.92 terabits per second, went live in Ghana and Nigeria last month and has several branching points along the West African coastline ready to connect six other countries.
The other cables in the works are Glo 1, which is owned by Nigerian mobile phone service provider, Globacom Ltd. It will connect Nigeria and its neighbor Ghana with Europe and is expected to go live this year. South Africa-based mobile phone company, MTN Group, is leading another project called West Africa Cable System, which is scheduled to be completed next year. France Telecom is leading another consortium, Africa Coast to Europe, whose cable should be completed mid-2012. And on the eastern Africa coast, it is leading a separate submarine cable project - LION 2.
Apart from extra capacity, the new cables will bring much-needed reliability to communications in Africa. Undersea cables are prone to being damaged by fishermen and earthquakes and take weeks to repair. When SAT-3 broke last summer, it took several countries completely offline for a while, and Nigeria lost 70 percent of its international capacity as it fell back on satellite connections, which are slower and even more expensive than SAT-3.
With multiple cables, French-speaking Senegal may be able to expand its outsourced call centers, and English-speaking Ghana would have a better chance of implementing its plan to get into that business.
Joseph Mucheru, Google Inc.'s regional lead for sub-Saharan Africa, sees great opportunities for West Africa with improved communications, despite the problem of finding enough skilled workers, the lack of security and other challenges.
"I would, however, say all this is outweighed by the opportunities West Africa presents," Mucheru said. "A vibrant, youthful population and thirst for growth and great technology adaptation."
Lone South African sub outwits NATO forces in wargame
In a wargame with NATO, one submarine not only evaded detection but sunk all the ships in the wargame! very impressive.
Atlantic Ocean - A lone South African submarine has left some North Atlantic Treaty Organisation commanders with red faces on Tuesday as it "sank" all the ships of the Nato Maritime Group engaged in exercises with the SA Navy off the Cape Coast.
The S101 - or the SAS Manthatisi - not only evaded detection by a joint NATO and SA Navy search party, comprising several ships combing the search area with radar and sonar; it also sank all the ships in the fleet taking part.
Several times during the exercise that lasted throughout Monday night and Tuesday morning a red square lit up the screens where the surface ships thought the submarine was, but it remained elusive.
This gave Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota something to brag about when he landed on the SAS Amatola to speak to the media on Tuesday.
... Quote: To be able to frustrate detection by NATO nations is no mean achievement; it speaks of the excellence of the equipment we required for this purpose.
And while this left one of the world's strongest military alliances frustrated, it was also a sign that the group had a capable partner in Africa, Lekota said.
A protective gel made using Gilead Sciences Inc's HIV drug tenofovir reduced HIV infections in women by 39 percent over two and a half years - the first time such an approach has protected against the AIDS virus, South African researchers reported.
The results show it may be possible to slow the spread of the disease by giving women a way to protect themselves, Dr. Salim Abdool Karim at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa said in results to be released on Tuesday at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna.
Researchers have been trying for years to formulate a microbicide - a gel, cream, ring or tablet inserted into the vagina before sex to prevent transmission of the human immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. But past efforts have had disappointing results.
"Boy, have we been doing the happy dance," Karim said in a telephone interview.
In addition, the gel reduced the risk a woman would get genital herpes by 51 percent, a surprise finding that adds further benefits.
The trial of 889 women in the coastal city of Durban and a remote rural village in South Africa showed women largely used the gel as directed, Karim said, answering an important question about whether such a product could work in the real world.
Dr. Anthony Fauci of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said he believed it would be possible to design studies that will get even better results.
"I have a pretty firm conviction that we are going to do better than this," Fauci said in a telephone interview. "Microbicides are going to get on the map."
Slowing a pandemic In this test of a microbicide, called Caprisa, researchers used for the first time a prescription HIV drug in the mix, Gilead's tenofovir. Studies in monkeys have strongly suggested it can protect against both vaginal and rectal infection.
In Africa, where most of the world's 33 million HIV cases are, most new cases are in young women infected by older men. Young boys aged 15-19 do not have high rates of HIV, but girls this age already do.
The Caprisa trial was a classic medical clinical study, with half the women using the gel before and after sex, and half being given a placebo. No one knew who got the real drug.
The women kept track of the applicators, which resemble applicators used to insert tampons, and gave them to researchers so they could be sure when the gel was actually used.
All the women were also given condoms and counseling about sexually transmitted diseases and they were tested for HIV once a month.
After 30 months, 98 women became infected with HIV - 38 in the group that got tenofovir in the gel and 60 in the group that got placebos. "We showed a 39 percent lower incidence of HIV in the tenofovir group," Karim said.
When they checked the data, it turned out that tenofovir lowered the risk of infection by 50 percent at 12 months but then the efficacy declined. Women who used the gel more consistently were much less likely to be infected.
"Why is our effectiveness going down over time? Essentially it is a matter of adherence," Karim said. "We are telling these women we have no idea if this works and we are also telling them we don't know it is safe."
Once women understand the gel will protect them, safely and without side-effects, Karim said, he believes they will use it more consistently.
"It needs to be be marketed and packaged," Karim added. "We had it in a boring white package. We need to make this a sexy gel."
The study was funded by the South African government and USAID. Gilead supplied the drug for no charge but was not otherwise involved.
Karim does not know how much each dose would cost but said the applicators and gel cost just pennies. __________________ "I am the grandchild of the warrior men and women that Hintsa and Sekhukhune led, the patriots that Cetshwayo and Mphephu took to battle, the soldiers Moshoeshoe and Ngungunyane taught never to dishonour the cause of freedom." - President Thabo Mbeki
ken ______________________________________________
Brazil Wants South African Drones to Protect Its Oil and Borders
During Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's recent trip to several African countries Brazil and South Africa signed the most wide-ranging cooperation agreements ever between the two nations.
After a meeting with president Jacob Zuma, Lula declared it was his intention to transfer Brazilian technology in farming and digital TV, as well as to move ahead with plans to jointly build military aircraft.
"We want president Zuma to join us in the construction of the KC-139, a new Hercules transportation airplane that is based on a project by the Brazilian Army," said Lula, adding that nine of the new planes would be flying in 2015.
Lula also revealed Brazilian interest in products made in South Africa. "We are interested in unmanned aircraft and vehicles that South Africa produces," he said, explaining that with recent discoveries of petroleum, Brazil was more than ever interested in border protection.
"We have a lot of borders. Land borders, an enormous coastline. And now petroleum 300 kilometers out in the ocean. If we are not careful, somebody else may want to go out there..." said the president.
At the end of what is probably his last visit to the African continent, Lula summed up his eight years in office by saying that he had gone to more countries in Africa than any other Brazilian president, 27 of them, and that trade had risen from US$ 5 billion in 2003 to US$ 26 billion in 2009.
Lula said that before he leaves office he wants to see at least two more conferences of Brazilian and African businessmen. And he also lamented that there were no direct flights between Brazil and South Africa, saying he was going to try to fix that. __________________
ken
I had to post some old stuff and mostly new stuff because there are folks who just deny or conveniently forget,african advancements past and present.I GETS tiring to remind certain folks of this.
That's all for now,and really that all i have to say.
If you don't get,to bad,no more holding hands for the clueless,life goes on and africans will go on like they always have.
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Japan is keen to invest billions of dollars in mineral and infrastructures in Africa, a Japanese trade official said. Vice minister of economy , Trade and Industry Yoshikatsu Nakayama said Japan was scouting for projects in which to invest, either via its state owned oil and mining company JOGMEC or via joint venture between local and Japanese companies. Weather through JOGMEC directly participating or through JOGMEC providing loans to Japanese companies the figure would come to a few hundred million dollars per project Nakayama said during a mining conference. Japan was also looking to develop South Africa`s rare earth metal resources’ but Nakayama said it would take a long time for projects to bear fruit. Nakayama also said Japan was keen to develop Africa’s infrastructure, including rail lines, power plants and other transport links, along with the mines.
Nigeria: Nation to Establish Africa's Largest Science, Tech Park
Abuja — A partnership agreement that would birth the largest science and technology park in Africa in Nigeria's capital of Abuja has been hatched between the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) and the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS).
The agreement, which was formalised at the weekend between the two bodies would lead to the transformation of a large expanse of land along the Abuja International Airport Road into the park.
Director General of NOTAP, Umar Buba Bindir, visited the General Manager of AGIS, Isa Jalo Waziri, at the AGIS headquarters in Abuja where the agreement to established the proposed science and technology park to be known as Africa Premier Innovation Corridor (APIC) was reached.
Commenting on the plan in his address at the occasion, Bindir said that NOTAP, an agency under the aegis of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) was established to implement the acquisition, promotion and development of technology and at the same time correct certain imperfections in the acquisition of foreign technology into the country.
He noted that the activities of NOTAP include facilitating the transfer of technology, registration of technology transfer agreements or contracts entered into by Nigeria entrepreneurs and monitoring of same as well as conducting linkages between and among research institutions, industry, venture capitalists and financial institutions.
According to Bindir, the objectives of establishing APIC are to enhance synergy between relevant science and technology stakeholders located in the area as well as promote the use of research and development for the benefit of the economic development of Nigeria.
Other objectives, he added are to highlight the contribution of business incubators and technology innovation in the economic and social development of Nigeria, and also to increase awareness on the role of science and technology parks in Nigeria.
Bindir listed some of the institutions that would make up the APIC as the National Stadium, the National Space Research and Development Agency, the National Biotechnology Development Agency, the African University of Science and Technology, the Abuja Technology Village Complex, the National Cancer Centre, the Nigerian Communication Satellite Ltd, and the National Defence College, among many others.
He stated that the synergy that would be generated among the above listed organizations, which are all located along the Abuja Airport Road would be sufficient to trigger the much desired science and technology based national development.
The NOTAP helmsman regretted that after fifty years of independence, Nigeria had failed to come up with neither a globally recognised company nor product originating from Nigeria indigenous technology because the national economy had not been technology driven.
Adding that NOTAP's visit to AGIS was therefore meant to engage the organization in a creative deployment of knowledge to help Nigeria grow technologically, he said, NOTAP has in the course of its operations discovered that nearly 100 per cent of technologies used in Nigeria are all imported despite our huge knowledge infrastructure of 104 legally recognised universities, 125 polytechnics and more than 500 science and technology related government agencies.
Responding, the GM of AGIS, Waziri expressed profound gratitude to the NOTAP Director General for conceptualising the establishment of APIC in Abuja and pledged his agency's readiness to partner with NOTAP to make the dream become a reality.
He said AGIS had contributed immensely to ensure that the Abuja master plan was restored, adding that the agency deployed Innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategy developed in- house to curb fraud and enhance land administration in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He noted that AGIS in- house ICT capability which was fully developed by Nigerians was not only unique to the country but was also the best known technology for land administration in Africa.
Adding that AGIS was fully technology driven, he said, with the establishment of AGIS, land administration had been made easy while fraudulent activities had been effectively checked as against the pre-AGIS era.
In a statement by the NOTAPís head, public relations, Adokiye Dagogo-George, Waziri solicited NOTAP's support in the desire of AGIS to patent its breakthroughs in the deployment of ICT for land administration.
Kenya’s technopolis dream gets a boost from European, Asian firms
By Okuttah Mark Posted Tuesday, February 22 2011 at 00:00
At least six firms have expressed interest in competing for contracts to build Kenya’s multi-billion Shilling dream ICT park on a 5,000-acre site south of Nairobi.
Winners of the contracts will become master builders of the $10 billion (Sh800 billion) project, whose construction begins next month at a ground-breaking ceremony to be presided over by President Kibaki.
In the list of contenders are India’s Mahindra, Tata Infrastructure, Leasing and Financial Services, Wipro from America and global technology firm IBM.
Swedish, South Korean and American firms — whose names could not be immediately verified — are also eyeing infrastructure projects at the park.
Construction of the technopolis is hinged on a model that puts third parties at the centre of its execution with the owners — the government — offering the land, legal backing and architectural plans.
Winners of the master builder tender are expected to develop property on location and upon conclusion lease it out (for 99 years) or sell it to interested buyers, the master plan crafted by the Ministry of Information says.
A separate group of bidders will build the city’s infrastructure and levy service charges under the build, operate and transfer (BoT) model.
Lease periods will be hinged on the length of time it takes them to recoup costs without imposing a heavy cost burden on users.
People familiar with the bidders’ plans said a Swedish company is gunning for the tender to construct and manage the technopolis’ sewerage system while the Korean firm wants to build the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) park.
Infrastructure development at the park situated 41 kilometres South of Nairobi begins next month paving the way for invitation of the initial tenders worth $3.8 billion (Sh304 billion).
“The official launch should make it possible for the government to actively market the project to potential investors throughout the world,” said Dr Bitange Ndemo, the Information permanent secretary.
Prime minister Raila Odinga is expected to lead a team of top government and private sector personalities who will leave the country in April for a road show in New York.
Service providers, including a leading hospital, an international school and an investment group have expressed interest in putting up units at the park, Mr Ndemo said.
Next month’s launch of infrastructure development projects will also see the grounds zoned for planned activities such as IT, hospitality, education, health and finance.
The ICT park is expected to create 80,000 new jobs in the first four years as part of the government’s Vision 2030 development blueprint.
So what we can gather from this is that Africa is pushing on and no one can stop Africa from Developing.
Posts: 9651 | From: Reace and Love City. | Registered: Oct 2005
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posted
Thanks king. here are a few more things.there is alot but i will just post these for those who really want to know what' going on.FOR MORE news about africa check out thoses links i provided above.
Now here is a few updated info.
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Subject: The South African engine
Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 9:07 AM
THIS SPEECH WAS MADE IN 2004,THE MORE OUT OFDATE STUFF I WILL LEAVE OUT.SINCE THEN NIGERIA GNP WEALTH IS CATCHING UP FAST TO SOUTH AFRICA and other countries have done better since 2004.
now -
The South African engine
That engine is the South African economy. Not only is it the largest economy in Africa by far, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $456.7 billion in 2003, but over the past decade South Africa has become the single largest source of FDI in Africa, at $1.4 billion per annum.
Much of South Africa’s foreign investment— 63 percent— is directed outside of South Africa’s regional trading bloc, the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), and extends into Francophone and North Africa as well.
The positive effects of this investment are profound. Countries such as Mozambique, for example, which has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, have been helped along by high levels of inward South African investment.
South African companies are helping to diversify African economies and reduce their dependence on primary sector industries. While most FDI from outside Africa focuses on oil and gas, South African firms are branching out, moving beyond mining and brewing to a diverse range of activities including telecommunications, retail, shipping and banking services. , As South African companies spread across the continent, they are not only entering markets, but creating them. They are building infrastructure, transferring skills and technology, and prompting foreign governments to enforce laws and strengthen democratic institutions. There are some concerns that South African investment represents a kind of “neo-colonialism” in Africa. These concerns are partly driven by lingering resentment over the destructive role that South Africa played in the last decades of the apartheid era in destabilizing its African neighbors. The “neo-colonial” argument is given added weight by South Africa’s huge trade surplus with the rest of the continent. Exports from South Africa to the rest of Africa in 2002 were worth R43 billion (roughly $7 billion at today’s exchange rates); imports amounted to only R5 billion (less than $1 billion), most of which involved oil purchases from Nigeria. That imbalance is at least partially offset by the benefit to African consumers of South African goods and services. Cellular telephones, for example, have become a hugely popular alternative to the inadequate state-run telephone networks in many African countries. South African companies are also working hard to integrate themselves into local economies by training local employees and buying raw materials from local producers.[25] And the peacemaking efforts of the South African government have helped to restore goodwill towards the country in other parts of Africa. In addition, companies in other African states have begun to return the favour by investing in South Africa. The media sector in particular has seen new investments by foreign, African investors. South Africa’s weekly Mail & Guardian newspaper is now owned by the Zimbabwean journalist and entrepreneur Trevor Ncube, and last year the Nigerian media group ThisDay launched a new national daily newspaper of the same name in South Africa. On the whole, South African investment is good for African economies. And so, too, is growth in South Africa’s own domestic economy. A recent study carried out by researchers at the International Monetary Fund concluded that “[a] 1 percentage point increase in South Africa’s per capita GDP growth, sustained over five years, is correlated with a 0.4 – 0.7 percentage point increase in growth in the rest of Africa”. Clearly, South Africa is the best and most important engine of economic growth and development across the African continent. South African economic policy: using the engine? The question then becomes how best to use the South African engine to promote economic growth so that South Africa and other African countries can begin to address the needs of ordinary Africans and to achieve the goals of the AU and Nepad. In the late 1990s, the South African government adopted an ambitious economic policy— named Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR)--that aimed to achieve growth rates of six percent per yearor higher. The government pledged to privatize state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and enact labor market reforms that would encourage new investment and job creation. While the government is still nominally committed to these reforms, it has begun to abandon them. It now favours a policy of state-centered development that aims to achieve economic growth and redistribution through policies of black economic empowerment (BEE), affirmative action and what is generally referred to as “transformation”. There is certainly a need for programs in both the public and private sectors to help those people who were disadvantaged by apartheid. The goal of these initiatives should be to create new opportunities by improving education, expanding property ownership, and encouraging new investment, particularly in labor-intensive industries. Instead, the government is committed to an approach that seeks to engineer particular social outcomes according to demographic targets of racial “representivity”. For companies, this takes the form of “empowerment charters” within each industry, in which firms commit to divest and sell a certain percentage of their equity to black shareholders. It also means adhering to strict new regulations on hiring and promotion, such as the Employment Equity Act of 1998.
Ms Ory Okolloh addresses delegates during the Pan-Africa Media Conference at the KICC in Nairobi last week. Photo/FREDRICK ONYANGO
I am a tree hugger at heart, is the response one gets on asking Ory Okolloh about Ushahidi.com’s commercial prospects. She does see commercial potential for the new media sensation that has probably given her more coverage in the mainstream global media in recent months than the combined space given to President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, Safaricom boss Michael Joseph and Inter Milan footballer McDonald Mariga.
Yet, if the global buzz Ushahidi is generating is any guide, we could be looking at a Kenyan Google, Microsoft or Facebook in terms of business potential. Ushahidi is a non-profit venture kept afloat by grants from various foundations, but Ms Okolloh is confident that in a few years, it will be able to sustain itself.
It was built without venture capital, and even the technology developed to run it was deliberately kept open source, ruling out patents and proprietorship. And though she does have two young mouths to feed, she is reluctant to even talk about the prospect of super profits.
Big business is starting to express interest in Ushahidi, but she remains cautious of commercial tie-ups that may cramp her style. That’s the tree hugger in her. Her business card bears no title. It identifies her workplace as Ushahidi — crowdsourcing and crisis information. Against her name is just an e-mail address.
Across the world, however, she is earning recognition as co-founder and principal force behind Ushahidi, an online blogger-generated mapping tool that came into its own with the Haiti and Chile earthquakes and US blizzards. “Africa’s Gift to Silicon Valley: How to Track a Crisis” was the title of a major feature on Ms Okolloh and Ushahidi in a New York Times article published less than a week before the Pan African Media Conference opened in Nairobi. “Ushahidi technology saves lives in Haiti and Chile”, trumpeted the Newsweek interactive site on March 3.
The publicity Ushahidi has generated has also served to put Kenya on the global digital map. And, ironically, if the site is Kenya’s gift to Silicon Valley and the world, it is also a gift from Kenya’s murderous round of post-election violence. Ms Okolloh, who is based in South Africa, had come home to vote and report on the polls when the violence broke out.
Desperate for information and seeking ways to help, she sent out a plaintive cry on her blog: “Any techies out there willing to do a mash up of where the violence and destruction is using Google Maps?” The response was instantaneous. Within days, volunteer programmers had written a software code that allowed anyone to send in information via SMS, blog posts, video, phone calls and photographs.
The information and its exact source was uploaded onto a map, providing a picture of serious hotspots based on the density of data coming from each location. The Kenyan poll violence was a test-run, and come the Haiti quake, Ushahidi became a global sensation. It was the first time such simple technology had been used on this scale and Ushahidi became the default data base for the Red Cross, US army and international relief effort.
Then came Chile, the blizzards that paralysed much of the US, violence in Palestine and India, trouble in Afghanistan … the list keeps growing. “Think about that”, asked The New York Times on the blizzards. “The capital of the sole superpower is deluged with snow, and to whom does its local newspaper turn to help dig it out? Kenya.”
When I first met Ms Okolloh at the annual Highway Africa conference in South Africa a few years ago, she was part of the crowd of young bloggers with a social conscience trying to get a foot in the door. How does it feel now that she sits at the high table? “It feels good,” she says with a laugh, “It’s been a long journey.”
The lesson she learned is that if you stick around long enough and never tire, people will start to pay attention. Ushahidi’s success is great vindication of her faith that technology would explode in Africa as, in the early days, many sneered at bloggers who imagined creating something worthwhile and sustainable.
Internet penetration in Africa was nothing to write home about. Now, thanks partly to the mobile phone revolution, old wisdom has been turned upside down. Market researchers are noting the demographic shift, and it is obvious that anyone wanting to reach the under-25s, half the population, must look to new media.
Moderating a roundtable discussion on new media at the Pan African Media Conference, Ms Okolloh wondered why talk of the concept in Africa too often focuses on the social and economic benefits — paying bills or sending money through M-Pesa; farmers accessing information on weather and fertilisers through SMS.
She thinks the so-called “development” benefit of new media is a by-product; the primary function being fun and ease of communication. But hasn’t Ushahidi itself been a major catalyst for good? Yes, she concurs, but that was dependant on the “fun” technology being available in the first place.
She points to the mobile phone revolution on the continent. If mobile phones were sold as “development” rather than affordable and convenient means of communication, she ventures, they might not have taken off so fast. She also refers to the push towards digital villages in Africa.
This is dedicated to the scientific achievement of Africans to their continent and to the world.
African scientist honored for her work in agriculture Published by GMO Africa | Filed under GMO Africa Blog
An African scientist has been honored for her work in promoting sustainable agriculture in Africa. Prof. Florence Wambugu, who heads the Africa Harvest Biotech Foundation, last week scooped the 2008 YARA prize for the African Green Revolution.
Prof. Wambugu was recognized for promoting the use of tissue culture in banana farming in mainly Kenya. The technology has dramatically improved the standards of living of millions of small-scale farmers in the country and other African countries.
Prof. Wambugu is an exceptional, brilliant and selfless woman. After receiving her education in the U.S. and UK, she declined lucrative jobs there to go back to Africa to help it improve its agriculture. This is uncommon to most Africans who go to Western countries to study. Most, if not all, opt to take up well-paying jobs. The fact that Prof. Wambugu decided to forego such opportunities say a lot about her character and her commitment to see Africa becomes self-sufficient in food production.
Prof. Wambugu has also been at the forefront of the campaign to popularize modern agricultural biotechnology. This has not been a simple task. She has fought with anti-tech organizations, such as the Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, the two anti-biotechnology activist organizations at the forefront of the campaign against genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
To reinforce here support for modern agricultural biotechnology, Prof. Wambugu, soon after receiving the YARA prize, told the SciDev.net web site that the Green Revolution currently being championed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will have to “…embrace cutting-edge biotechnology.”
This call must be taken very seriously. Prof. Wambugu is not just another activist advocating for agricultural biotechnology. She understands the stuff she’s talking about. Farmers and governments in Africa better listen to her! ________________________________________- Next, we have Philip Emeagwali who is renowned as the "Bill Gates of Africa" and also hailed as one of the finding fathers of the supercomputers and the Internet.
Philip Emeagwali (1954- ), a renown mathematician and supercomputer scientist, is considered by some as one of the "Fathers of the Internet.
Emeagwali was born August 23, 1954 in Akure, a remote village in Nigera. He was the oldest of nine children and was considered a child prodigy because he was an excellent math student. His father spent lots of time helping and nurturing Emeagwali with mathematics. He was so good in math that by the time he got to high school, he was performing so well that his classmates nicknamed him "Calculus." However, he had to drop out of school when he was only twelve years old because he family could no longer afford to send him. When he was only 14, a civil war broke out and he was drafted into the Biafran army. That did not deter Emeagwali, and when the war ended, he continued to study at the local public library. There, in the library, he taught himself advanced math, physics, and chemistry by studying on his own, and at the age of 17, completed his high school equivalency test and won a scholarship to study mathematics at Oregon State University. At Oregon State he majored in mathematics where he received his bachelor's degree. He then went on to earn two master's degrees from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., majoring in Ocean/Marine Engineering and Civil/Environmental Engineering. He received his second master's degree from the University of Maryland in Applied Mathematics. However, that was not enough for Emeagwali. He continued his educational and went on to earn his Ph.D. in Scientific Computing from the University of Michigan.
With an interest in environomental engineering and scientific computing, Emeagwali and other scientists were exchanging views on ways to detect oil reservoirs using supercomputers. Having lived on an oil rich continent as a child and understanding how to drill for oil, Emeagwali decided that he would use the problem of locating oil reservoirs using a supercomputer and simulations as his doctoral dissertation in his pursuit for his Ph.D. Emeagwali knew that the answers could not be found using a few expensive supercomputers (8). He knew he would need more, thousands more to be exact, and he set out to find them. After much research, he located a machine at the Los Alamos National Laboratory called the Connection Machine. The machine had not been used because scientists could not figure out how to make it similate nuclear explosions. This fantastic machine was designed to operate 65,536 interconnected microprocessors and in 1987, he was given permission to use the machine and from far away, he began his experiment. What a success! He was able to correctly compute the amount of oil in the simulated reservoir and the Connection Machine was able to perform 3.1 billion calculations per second. What a machine! Yet, what was so amazing is the fact that he had programmed each of the micro-processors to communicate with six other nearby microprocessors at the same time. This had never been done before Emeagwali's discovery. With his record-breaking experiment and discovery, all over the world, there was now a useful and cheaper way to use similar machines to talk to each other.
Philip Emeagwali's discovery earned him what is considered the Nobel Prize of computing, the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers' Gordon Bell Prize in 1989. He has won over 100 prizes and awards for his work. The Power Mac G4 computer, owned by Apple computer, has utilized his microprocessor technology. Dr. Emeagwali went where others feared to tread. "It was the audacity of my thinking," says Emeagwali, that allowed him to persevere and achieve.
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More accomplishments for African scientists! African Scientists Making Great Strides in Food Production By Cathy Majtenyi Kampala 02 April 2004
<b>President Yoweri Museveni </b> President Yoweri Museveni
The president of the Rockefeller Foundation says African scientists have made great strides in research to increase the continent's food quality and quantity. But he and others say these gains won't mean much if other technologies and land policies do not keep pace.
Rockefeller president Gordon Conway says Africa is going through its own green revolution, with a dedicated group of African scientists devising ways to keep plants safe from diseases and insect attacks and increase crop yields.
He says innovations include producing varieties of cassava - a common tuber crop in Africa - that are resistant to mealy bugs that destroy much of the crop. They have also come up with parasites that eat mealy bugs.
Specially bred banana plants in Uganda and other parts of east Africa can produce up to 90 tons of bananas a hectare, while in West Africa and Uganda, hybrid strains of Asian rice are growing well.
Mr. Conway says African scientists are now plunging into the controversial field of genetically modified, or GM, crops, with encouraging results.
"There's a whole new generation of bright, young Africans in plant breeding and in biotechnology that are showing the way," he said. "I went into the biotechnology laboratories which [Ugandan] President [Yoweri] Museveni opened only a year ago. Those young biotechnologists there are right at the cutting edge of GM transformation, in this case working on bananas."
He says scientists in Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa are also conducting leading-edge research. These innovations can potentially help many small-scale African farmers who cannot afford the prohibitive costs of fertilizer. For example, Mr. Conway says, a ton of urea that sells for $90 in Europe goes for $500 in Kenya and $700 in Malawi.
Yet, without fertilizers to keep plant diseases and bugs at bay, the agricultural yields of small-scale farmers can be cut by as much as half, perpetuating the cycle of malnutrition.
Despite the breakthrough innovations, says Mr. Conway, the amount of agricultural education and training taking place in Africa is small compared to what it should be.
"We cannot break out of the cycle of poverty in Africa without well-trained Africans, both in the social sciences and in the natural sciences," said Mr. Conway. "And we haven't been doing enough. World Bank expenditures on agricultural research, extension, and higher education in the decade of the 1990s [was] $5 billion. Only two percent went on training."
Another major problem in most African countries is land tenure. A southern and east Africa representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Victoria Sekitoleko, calls for African governments to come up with clear land ownership policies.
She says most Africans do not own the land they work on, which may give them less incentive to use the breakthrough innovations scientists have come up with.
She wants African governments to reallocate half of the $22 billion they spend on food imports to instead invest in agriculture so that they can produce and eat their own food.
____________________________________________ African Scientists Making Great Strides in Food Production By Cathy Majtenyi Kampala 02 April 2004
<b>President Yoweri Museveni </b> President Yoweri Museveni
The president of the Rockefeller Foundation says African scientists have made great strides in research to increase the continent's food quality and quantity. But he and others say these gains won't mean much if other technologies and land policies do not keep pace.
Rockefeller president Gordon Conway says Africa is going through its own green revolution, with a dedicated group of African scientists devising ways to keep plants safe from diseases and insect attacks and increase crop yields.
He says innovations include producing varieties of cassava - a common tuber crop in Africa - that are resistant to mealy bugs that destroy much of the crop. They have also come up with parasites that eat mealy bugs.
Specially bred banana plants in Uganda and other parts of east Africa can produce up to 90 tons of bananas a hectare, while in West Africa and Uganda, hybrid strains of Asian rice are growing well.
Mr. Conway says African scientists are now plunging into the controversial field of genetically modified, or GM, crops, with encouraging results.
"There's a whole new generation of bright, young Africans in plant breeding and in biotechnology that are showing the way," he said. "I went into the biotechnology laboratories which [Ugandan] President [Yoweri] Museveni opened only a year ago. Those young biotechnologists there are right at the cutting edge of GM transformation, in this case working on bananas."
He says scientists in Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa are also conducting leading-edge research. These innovations can potentially help many small-scale African farmers who cannot afford the prohibitive costs of fertilizer. For example, Mr. Conway says, a ton of urea that sells for $90 in Europe goes for $500 in Kenya and $700 in Malawi.
Yet, without fertilizers to keep plant diseases and bugs at bay, the agricultural yields of small-scale farmers can be cut by as much as half, perpetuating the cycle of malnutrition.
Despite the breakthrough innovations, says Mr. Conway, the amount of agricultural education and training taking place in Africa is small compared to what it should be.
"We cannot break out of the cycle of poverty in Africa without well-trained Africans, both in the social sciences and in the natural sciences," said Mr. Conway. "And we haven't been doing enough. World Bank expenditures on agricultural research, extension, and higher education in the decade of the 1990s [was] $5 billion. Only two percent went on training."
Another major problem in most African countries is land tenure. A southern and east Africa representative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Victoria Sekitoleko, calls for African governments to come up with clear land ownership policies.
She says most Africans do not own the land they work on, which may give them less incentive to use the breakthrough innovations scientists have come up with.
She wants African governments to reallocate half of the $22 billion they spend on food imports to instead invest in agriculture so that they can produce and eat their own food. ___________________________________ Home >> Sci-Edu UPDATED: 08:12, January 30, 2007 African scientists to introduce new drought-resistant maize font size ZoomIn ZoomOut
A group of African scientists has launched a new initiative that will mark a major scaling up of work on drought-tolerant maize for Africa.
The scientists said the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded initiative totaling 5.8 million U.S. dollars will be introduced to farmers in eleven drought-hit countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where millions of people are facing food insecurity.
"With every year of research that we do now and in the future, we can add to a drought-affected fields another 100 kgs of maize," said Marianne Banziger, director of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) told a recent news conference in Nairobi.
Banziger, whose organization teamed up with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to develop the maize seeds, said there was much more potential to be realized to farmers in the region, potential that can raise farm families from below subsistence to annual surplus.
She said CIMMYT and IITA will combine their expertise in working with maize farmers in varying agroecologies across the continent and will draw from the genetic resources (maize seeds) held in their two substantial germplasm banks to make this research program truly pan-African.
"The importance of this working to sub-Saharan Africa and its people cannot be overestimated," said Romano Kiome, Kenya's permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.
"It is heartening that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has recognized it and sees the long-term vision of this project as part of their strategy to help Africa's development," Kiome noted.
"The vision of the new work is to generate maize varieties which are much hardier when drought hits," said Wilfred Mwangi, CIMMYT's project leader.
"Doubling the yield of adapted maize varieties under drought is the ambitious goal for the next 10 years and is possible because of the huge, natural, genetic variation in maize and new scientific methods that permit better use of this variation," he added.
The scientists said increasingly erratic weather, perhaps as a result of global warming, has made the situation of small-scale farmers in sub-Saharan Africa more precarious than ever.
"New varieties of drought-tolerant maize will play a significant part in mitigating the potentially disastrous consequences for the crop that could result from global warming," said Dr. Sarah Hearne, IITA scientist.
More than a quarter of a billion Africans depend on maize as their staple food, often eating a quarter kilogram or more of maize and maize products every day.
Source: Xinhua _________________________________________ SA company unveils world-class locally developed electric car
Appropriately named Joule, the zero emission car is a six-seater MPV (multi-purpose vehicle). Designed by Optimal Energy in association with legendary South African born automotive designer, Keith Helfet, the ultra sleek Joule made its global debut at the Paris Motor Show in October.
Comments Kobus Meiring, CEO of Optimal Energy, “The world’s finite energy sources are being used inefficiently and urban transport plays a major role in energy wastage and climate changing pollution.
Joule is Optimal Energy’s solution to change that. We have capitalised on the opportunity presented by the exponential increase in oil costs and the dramatic improvement in battery price, life and performance. Joule’s value proposition is made more compelling when environmental influences such as increasing pollution and global warming phenomena caused by the rapid increase in urbanisation are also considered."
Furthermore, Joule is fully aligned with Optimal Energy’s vision to establish and lead the electric vehicle industry in South Africa as a springboard to global expansion.”
Joule’s interior and exterior was styled by Keith Helfet who has a long and illustrious history as chief stylist at Jaguar and, who was responsible for such iconic designs as the XJ220, the XK180 and the F-Type.
“Keith was serendipitously introduced to Optimal Energy while purchasing coastal property in South Africa and was immediately captivated by our vision. Optimal Energy was searching for a world class designer, the fact that Keith is South African born and has strong South African roots matched our criteria perfectly,” says Meiring.
Joule’s chassis has been designed to accommodate two large-cell lithium ion battery packs which employ chemistry similar to that used in mobile phones and laptop computers. This chemistry is inherently safe; lithium is found in many medicinal applications and the batteries do not contain any heavy metals.
Using a normal 220 Volt home outlet and Joule’s onboard charger, it will take approximately seven hours to recharge Joule’s battery for a 200km driving range, with two packs providing 400km in total. Joule’s large battery bay is able to accommodate a number of different battery configurations from different suppliers, giving the customer the choice of performance and cost.
“Studies show that 99 percent of urban users drive less than 150km’s a day, Optimal Energy recommends that only one battery pack is necessary to power Joule,” continues Meiring.
Independent analysis of Eskom, the country’s sole electricity provider, has confirmed that the South African grid has enough capacity to supply electrical energy to millions of cars without affecting its customer base or requiring any additional infrastructure.
Eskom has vast amounts of excess energy between 11 PM and 6 AM (GMT +2); this will be the recommended recharging time. Electric cars only require about 20 percent of the energy that conventional cars require; this means that the total emissions are much less, even if Eskom’s coal dominated electricity is used. With the global trend of electricity generation becoming more renewable and cleaner, total emissions caused by electric cars will continue to shrink.
The South African province of Gauteng is currently being evaluated for Joule’s first assembly plant as it has the biggest cities and has expressed interest in placing the first fleet orders. Although supplier lists are not yet final, it is expected that the local content of Joule will be more than 50 percent.
Joule will be sold in all major South African centres; Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban and will be available towards the end of 2010. Joule was developed for the international market and sales and exports will follow shortly after the South African launch. - SouthAfrica.info
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Subject: SA to spend billions on infrastructure
Date: Friday, January 22, 2010, 8:06 AM
General South Africa Travel Information South Africa is the economic powerhouse of Africa with first world infrastructure and a thriving economy. The road and rail network is well developed making travel around South Africa easier and the country is open to investment and development.
Such is the faith in the future of South Africa; it was awarded the rights to host the world's largest sporting event, the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The positive aspects of South Africa are dampened by social problems such as HIV and crime. However, there is still a very positive attitude towards the future.
South Africa Travel - Culture Go2Africa’s South Africa travel guide comprises of the most popular destinations to visit within South Africa. Peruse the menu on the left to explore the cities and attractions. Follow the accommodation and tour links to find and book your dream South Africa travel destination. South Africa is one of the most diverse and beautiful countries to travel in the world. Aptly nicknamed the Rainbow Nation, its spectacular and varied land and its friendly people never fail to captivate those who travel in South Africa.
We at Go2Africa have selected our top South Africa travel destinations to help you choose you ideal travel holiday. Whether you are looking for a wildlife, beach or adventure holiday we have them all for you. If you don’t find what you are looking for or decide to travel to another destination in Africa, just follow one of the links on the left to find that dream vacation. Go2Africa has an extensive, constantly updated website with more than 10000 pages of information, accommodation, tours and much more about all your favourite travel destinations in Southern and Eastern Africa.
along with the best and least crowded beaches in the world. Throw in wildlife parks such as the Kruger Park, beautiful natural scenery, a great infrastructure, and a stable post-apartheid environment and you have a great travel destination waiting to happen.
SA to spend billions on infrastructure Michael Appel
11 February 2009 Government spending of R787-billion on public infrastructure over the next three years will push South Africa's budget deficit to 3.8 percent in 2009, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced on Wednesday. 2009Wednesday
Delivering his 2009/10 Budget speech in Parliament in Cape Town, Manuel said that decreased demand for South African commodities and lower outputs, coupled with decreased domestic growth, meant the government had to borrow more funds in order to finance planned public infrastructure projects.
"Although the budget deficit will rise to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product [GDP] next year, debt service costs will remain moderate over the next three years, at about 2.5 percent of GDP," Manuel said. said
"This is possible because we had the courage to make the right choices over the past decade." possible
Unpopular choices pay off
The government's prudent spending policy in the past meant it could now spend on things such as transport, health and education where other governments were not able to.
In 1996, South Africa's public debt was 48 percent of GDP and rising, and the National Treasury came up with a macroeconomic strategy which confronted the problem boldly and decisively.
"Reducing the budget deficit was neither easy nor popular … but it was the right thing to do, and the outcome is that year by year the burden of debt service costs has declined and resources have been released to spend on education, health care, housing and infrastructure.
"This also means that today we are able to respond to the economic downturn boldly and decisively."
The funds South Africa is borrowing are not being used to fund failed banks, as is taking place in the United States and Europe, but to construct roads and power stations, classrooms and wards, modernise technology and transform public service delivery, Manuel noted.
Road, railways, classrooms, clinics ...
The 2009 Budget makes a further R6.4-billion available for public transport, roads and rail networks; R4.1-billion for school buildings, clinics and other provincial infrastructure projects; and R5.3-billion for municipal infrastructure and bulk water systems.
Housing and the eradication of informal settlements remain at the forefront of the government's infrastructure investment plans, he said, adding these issues significantly affected both employment and poverty reduction. affected .
"In the past three years, the municipal infrastructure grant programme has spent about R32-billion. Over the next three years, infrastructure grants to municipalities total R67-billion, and a further R45-billion will be spent on the Breaking New Ground housing programme. spent .
"Together with investment in roads and public transport, these constitute one of the largest areas of expansion of public sector spending, and are rightly prioritised as part of our response to the current deterioration in employment and economic activity."
State-owned enterprises
Of the budgeted R787-billion for the next three years, R390-billion will be spent by state-owned enterprises, Manuel said. owned
The government will also allocate R25-billion over the next three years to the Rail Commuter Corporation to invest in new trains and introduce new train routes. The budget for rail safety inspectors to reduce accidents and delays is also being increased.
The R25-billion Gautrain project, which recently enjoyed a successful maiden test run with journalists aboard, is nearing completion, with the link between Sandton and the OR Tambo International Airport to be completed by early 2010. be
The Bus Rapid Transit system will receive R12-billion over the next three years.
"We are also budgeting R1.6-billion for South African Airways to support its turnaround strategy, which includes reducing costs and improving efficiency," Manuel said, adding: "I am sure that the House will agree with my hopes that this will not be a recurring allocation." my ."
The state airline has been fraught with financial difficulties in the past, with the government having to come to its aid on numerous occasions.
Source: BuaNews
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Lagos Assembly May Adopt Yoruba as Official Language
By Deji Elumoye, 11.28.2007
Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday said it is considering the use of Yoruba language as its working language on the floor of the Assembly. This is in response to a letter to this effect, written by one Mrs Ohiri Anuche, who described herself as a concerned citizen. In the letter read on the floor of the Assembly, the woman said it was not in the interest of the grassroots for proceedings in the Assembly to be held in English Language, considering the fact that many of them do not understand the language. She cited the examples of Anambra, Ogun and Ekiti states, where local languages are used. Debating the matter, Honourable Sanai Agunbiade, Ikorodu 1, said writer of the letter was simply drawing attention “to a constitutional provision, which says "state Assemblies could transact their businesses in English Language or other languages spoken by the people." In his contribution, Mr Oshun Olanrewaju, Lagos Mainland II, argued that it was necessary to conduct the business in Yoruba Language at least once a week, to carry the people at the grassroots along. “My mother for example, may want to hear her son or follow proceedings of those who represent her, but since she does not understand English, she would be robbed of this privilege,” he said. Mr Oshinowo Adebayo, Kosofe 1, said this will force children to understand their mother tongue, because many of them do not speak or understand Yoruba.
However, the Majority Leader, Kolawole Taiwo, Ajeromi-Ifelodun 1, differ because, according to him, he represents a section of the state where majority do not speak Yoruba.“I represent Ajegunle, which is dotted with people of various ethnic groups, and I am obliged to use the English Language, so that I can communicate with them and vice-versa,” he said.The Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, suggested that the matter be put in proper motion for consideration, but added that anybody who had lived in a place for up to 10 years should be able to speak and understand the language of that place.
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AND Africans are now watching more Nollywood movies than Hollywood
Africans are now watching more Nollywood movies than Hollywood "Africans are now watching more Nollywood movies than Hollywood ," says director and producer Nigeria Zeb Ejiro.
This success has been amplified by continental pay-TV MultiChoice South Africa offers four channels in its bouquet continuous 100% African content, including two films broadcast in Hausa and Yoruba, two of the major languages of Nigeria.
In Central Africa, Nollywood productions are only sold under the label "African films. These films are dubbed in French in Cameroon and Gabon and Lingala spend on television in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
In Kenya English, Nollywood works very well but also faces competition in front of Bollywood because of the large community of Indian origin.
Nigerian films are so popular in Sierra Leone that according to Thomas Jones, an author of radio plays, they are now strangling the little local production. Virtually no one escapes the romance or the violent Nigerian: in the tiny
Gambia, Nollywood has become everywhere, "to Hollywood," said a Nigerian businessman, Barnabas Eset, which rents DVDs since 2000 . We love it also in the townships of South Africa and yet since the end of apartheid, the local film industry is progressing.
The science fiction film "Distric 9" Neill Blomkamp's even been nominated at this year's Oscar in Hollywood.
Posts: 2688 | Registered: Jul 2004
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Fresh beginning for Nigeria's Auto Industry as Innoson Vehicles sets up new car manufacturing plant Once it begins, industrial revolutions rarely stop. There may be a decline in the relative importance of early centres of industrial growth and significant shifts in location. This can also be the story of what is happening in Nnewi, Anambra State, south east of Nigeria; it is gradual, but the industrialisation is steady.
And one of the companies that is hugely involved in the industrialisation of the area and Nigeria in general, is Innoson Group. The company's latest foray is in the area of auto manufacturing through its Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) Company Limited. In no distance future, the company will launch its series of IVM vehicles into the Nigerian auto market. The unique thing about the vehicles is that they are wholly Nigerian made. All the parts and other raw materials are sourced locally except the engine blocks that are sourced from Toyota, China.
If the company finally pushes the vehicles into the market, which it hopes will crash the cost of vehicles in the country, it will make history of not only manufacturing world tested vehicles, but further mark the first time vehicles are manufactured locally in this part of the world. Presently, the company is manufacturing a 43-seater bus, 17-seater bus, an SUV (Jeep), pick-up trucks for various purposes, while the IVM saloon cars will soon be added in the production line.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Innoson Group, Chief Innocent Chukwuma told THISDAY in Nnewi last week that despite the fact that the vehicles are manufactured, the prices are going to be competitive and affordable. He intends to crash the cost of new vehicles in the country as he did few years ago when he crashed the cost of motor bikes when the price of the imported ones were getting astronomical for the common man on the street who needs it. At the end of the day, he said there would be no reason for one to go for second hand vehicles when he can afford new ones from the IVM range.
The journey for the Nigeria made vehicles by Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Limited did not start yesterday. It is the fruit of a long term planning and huge infrastructural investment. Incorporated in February 2007, with head office and plant located in Akwa-Uru Village in Umudim, Nnewi in Anambra State, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company, was established to produce a wide range of automotive products like cars, commercial buses, making use of substantial local input.
According to Chukwuma, when fully operational, the plant which is built in the collaboration of a consortium of Chinese auto-makers, is expected to produce other vehicles like trucks, pickup vans, tricycles and purpose-built vehicles like Police patrol vans, refuse collectors/compactors as well as sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Samples of the vehicles that rolled out of the plant were displayed at the recent Nnewi International Auto Trade Fair and the vehicles were highly commended by the Federal Government officials.
With an employment target of about 500 Nigerians and a sprinkle of Chinese expatriates, Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Company Limited is expected to have an installed capacity for 10,000 vehicles per annum and a turnover of N30.4 billion. As the initial units displayed and test-driven in Nnewi last November are pointers to the foray, the IVM-badged vehicles will compare favourably with imported ones in terms of performance and durability, but will have the advantage of affordability owing largely to high level of local content.
The company's chairman said there is no doubt that Innoson is poised to replicate in the auto industry the revolution it set off in the motorcycle market some years back with the products from its Innoson Nigeria motorcycle plant in the same Nnewi.
Those who have followed the growth of IVM believe that the story of Innoson Group began with foresight, hardwork, perseverance and investment acumen of Chukwuma. They also said that it is about an investor who as a young man ventured into trading in tyres, motorcycle parts and accessories of mainly Honda brand, under the business name of Innoson Nigeria Limited in 1981.
With time, the company flourished remarkably and from being well known as leader in the business of motorcycles and accessories, the company launched into the importation of products from China. By 1990s, Innoson Group had become such a force that its products were dominating the market in all parts of the country and the West Africa sub-region with demand some times outstripping supply.
As a visionary investor and businessman, Chukwuma immediately realised that time was now to domesticate the production of motorcycles with substantial local input. Business watchers said the integration had attendant benefits of enhancing Innoson grip on the market and contributing positively to the development of the economy by way of technological transfer, employment opportunities and competitive pricing of motorcycles.
As the parent company, Innoson Technical and Industrial Company Limited later in 2002 veered into other lines of productions. Located in Emene, Enugu, Enugu State, the company engages in the manufacture of top-grade plastic products for household use, industrial applications and export.
Known formerly as Easter Plastics and owned by the old Anambra State government, the company was at the time of the acquisition by Innoson, derelict with obslete machinery. Chukwuma later reequipped the factory with modern machines and tools and transformed it into the biggest plastics company in Nigeria with products widely acclaimed to be among the best in the market. Presently, the company makes more than 60 plastics products with the list expanding every day.
Satisfied by the quality of the company's products, in 2008, the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), at an elaborate event in its factory in Emene, presented the company with a MANCAP quality certificate after rigorous tests on some of its lines of products including the internationally acclaimed Innoson plastic chairs.
Innoson Group is bound to grow further when the General Tyres and Tubes Limited also located in Emene Industrial Layout, Enugu comes on stream in no distant future. When completed, the tyre factory will have the capacity to meet the nations motorcycle and motor tyres and tube needs. The company is being established in partnership with other Nigerian investors and Chinese technical partners. With this and other companies in the pipeline, Innoson has continued to grow into the country's formidable industrial giant with the presence in various vital productive sectors of the economy and affecting the lives of families across the country in various ways.
While Chukwuma expands his lines of business, he is asking government to grant the companies some incentives like tax reliefs. He said his companies are not getting any such relief from any government quarters.
Innoson Group, according to its chairman, may explore the stock market option. "But certain things has to be on ground before this move is made, he told THISDAY in his office in Emene, Enugu. Other companies like Cutix Plc and Adswitch Plc have adopted this approach. Chukwuma preferres to go public rather than use private placement for three main reasons. He wanted the shares to be marketable. He believes it would be easier to raise more funds in future.
According to a recent report, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the World Bank Group (WBG) and the African Project Development Fund (APDF) are jointly mounting a program aimed at developing the Nnewi Automotive Industrial Cluster to a self-sustaining standard. This is a big boost to the industrialisation of Nnewi. Nnewi at present is the source of more than 80 per cent of motor spare parts trade in Nigeria (both for automotive and motorcycle).
HAVE TO REPEAT THIS ONE since this is more recent too.
For example in Nigeria they now manufacture their own car parts, part of motors and in 5 years they will build for 100% their own motors.
A lot of western products are been copied. The same what happend 20 years ago in China before their Industrial Revolution is now happening in Nigeria.
Western scientists confirm the beginning of an industrial revolution in Nigeria. For example in the city Nnewi, 300 kilometres at south of the capital Abuja, their are more then thirty industrial companies who are making car components. On average each company has a small hundred employees in service.
The industrial revolution in Morocco is beginning to start' , according to Bouchaara . ' Except local companies also the foreign investments are growing . Renault builds in Tanger one of the largest car factories in the world. Within ten years our economy is at the level of Spain.' The infrastructure has improved enormously. We have recently a fantastic new motorway from Tanger to Marrakesh. ' Morocco is not the only country in Africa where the industry is starting to begin. Except in a number of other countries in North Africa industrial companies are also strong in rise in particularly Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, Sudan, Mozambique and South Africa. In Nigeria much industrial companies rice slowly from a deep valley. Because of the enormous income from the oil-export other sectors were neglected for decades. The current government tries to change this . Johnny Ekewuba, marketing manager of the Nigerian Ibeto Group. Its company, that especially manufacters car components . ' We grow 5% a year. The products of the Ibeto Group still remain cheap. A set of their brake block-systems costs 300 naira or less than two euro, what ten times are cheaper than in the Netherlands. The beto Group even already started to exports components to the foreign countries. In neighbouring countries Cameroon and Niger Nigerian car absorbers, oil filters and brake block-systems from Nigeria are evrywhere . ' Also we export to India and Great-Britain.'
Africa's Industrial Technology Acquisition - UN study
Quote: Africa’s rapid growth in industrial technological acquisition gives rise to the hope that “the Continent may be joining other developing regions in building a sound industrial base, a United Nations (UN) study reveals.
The study by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) entitled, ‘A technological resurgence? Africa in the global flow of technology’, has concluded that the growth is likely to support production of value-added goods and services as well as high-tech products.
According to Undersecretary-General and ECA’s Executive Secretary, Abdoulie Janneh, the trends associated with technology transfer as assessed in the study provide evidence of the factors driving the impressive economic growth rates recorded in African countries over the last decade.
“The findings reveal an impressive turnaround from the slow growth in Africa’s share of the number of patents, peer-reviewed scientific publications and, technology exports and imports which grew very slowly in the 1980s to 1990s, he says.” “The research provides evidence of a rapid growth rate Africa’s industrial technology acquisition,” he adds.
Janneh points out that inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI), one of the main channels of technology transfer, into Africa soared over 800% between 2000 and 2008. “Some of the investment has gone into the production of drugs, steel, automobiles and electronics, among others - areas that require the use of technology owned by others,” he says.
The Study is the first ever comprehensive research that tracks flows of investment and knowledge mainly by developing regions and developed country groupings and specifically looks at technology transfer trends in areas such as royalties and licensing fees, capital goods, business, professional and technical services, research and development (R&D); as well as intellectual property rights.
The report also noted that Africa posted the fastest growth in capital goods imports between 2001 and 2006 than any other region but the lowest between 1990 and 2006. The import of capital goods increased by about 7.8-fold for LAC, 7.5-fold for Asia, 4.7-fold for North America, 3.9-fold for Europe and only 3.7-fold for Africa between 1990 and 2006.
However, most of the growth in Africa in imports of capital goods was between 2001 and 2006 (a 3-fold increase). In Africa, imports of capital goods increased by more than six times for Madagascar, Zambia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Guinea and Uganda over the same period.
Africa recorded a 5.6-fold growth in terms of receipts by the United States for BPT services from unaffiliated firms between 1990 and 2005. It lags behind Europe (about 7.7-fold) and Asia (about 6.5-fold).
However, Africa has the fastest growth in payments by United States firms to unaffiliated firms for BPT services (51-fold), followed by Asia (14.2-fold), LAC (9.5-fold), and Europe (8.7-fold) over the same period.
Africa and Asia enjoy tremendous increase in royalties and licensing fees between 1990 and 2008. While royalties and licensing fees rose six times globally, sub-Saharan Africa’s royalty and licensing fee payments went up 10 times – second only to East Asia and the Pacific (57 times). http://newbusinessethiopia.com/index...onal&Itemid=41
quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Rich structural complexes are found in sub-sahara like the Aksumite complex for one.
Reference:
Archaeology at Aksum, Ethiopia, David W. Phillipson (1993-7)
Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (1991)
quote:Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
Why the mudhut perspective?
There are self independent nations functioning just like any other functioning nation. Am i supposed to believe the words of a European in determining African contribution and history rather than the people of Africa themselves?
quote: So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Read textual evidence above.
quote:Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
I am not an Afrocentric and neither are the many blacks circulating this forum.
Posts: 535 | From: From the Darkest of the Abyss | Registered: Apr 2010
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posted
If Europe with the blood of all humanity dripping from its fangs is civilized then what is civilization? The mere posession of weaponry and technology?
Posts: 1038 | From: Franklin Park, NJ | Registered: Aug 2005
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To me, though often holding venom and taking "brain farting" to another level, questions like this - even though tautology and, for this one, at that one being based in fallacious premise - are not as ridiculous or stupid as when that Sshaun002 guy right when we thought dude was done being racist and just a naive question asker asked: "what has Africa got to give other than AIDs?".
I remember a few lightly commented about extremely retarded sincere questions presumably non-retarded people had for them in real life but Explorer politely asked in a big paragraph, basically: why would European nations and others have gone on such Imperialistic paths in Africa and why would they still be there were it that all that was for Africa to give is AIDs?
Posts: 5555 | From: Tha 5th Dimension. | Registered: Apr 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Apocalypse: If Europe with the blood of all humanity dripping from its fangs is civilized then what is civilization? The mere posession of weaponry and technology?
Its nothing but pure Ignorance and refusal to accept the common facts of history. They will try all kinds of ways to seperate Africa from her High Culture, by claiming Arabs or some Renegade Semi Cvilized people brought Civilization to saying people who are Jet Black are some how Caucasians from some "Back Migrations"..etc.
When it comes to West and Central Africa they pretend the Info does'nt exist...Helps them cope with their Bell Curve Philosophy..LOL.
Posts: 8804 | From: The fear of his majesty had entered their hearts, they were powerless | Registered: Nov 2007
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That has to be an egyptsearch record for a troll getting debunked that quick! And you thought Assforrides learned his lesson here!
A question to the author of this thread and all other Euronuts:
Why are you guys so damn stupid??!!
You continue to make these claims and conjectures on black African inferiority and that pharaonic Egypt was not black African, yet you are proven wrong over and over and over again each and every time.
Logic and plain common sense should dictate a normally functioning mind to admit defeat and accept TRUTH. Yet you guys don't. Why is THAT?? LOLPosts: 26236 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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posted
Damn this site is great where else can a kracker get beat down that quick without leaving his house!!!
Posts: 43 | Registered: Aug 2010
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quote:Originally posted by alTakruri: They like to use the word mud because the sort they usually address themselves to are too stupid to know the word adobe and are unfamiliar with mud architecture attaining to 10 stories in height, as in Yemen, and are also too stupid to know a hut is a small dinky construct.
I find the white racist obsession with African "mud huts" to be hilarious considering that these structures below were the most common European households as recently as the Roman period.
This very mentality is the very reason why most Europeans, and especially northwestern Euros would rather speak of the "Classical" civilizations of Rome and Greece than the actual Celtic and Germanic cultures of their own people. How pathetic.
By the way, what makes the Euronuts' obsession with "mud" structures hilarious is that Nordic Euros literally lived in the earth by hollowing out hills.
^ The homes of the Hobbits in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings were based on and modeled after such Norse homes.
Talk about dirt or soil huts.
Posts: 26236 | From: Atlanta, Georgia, USA | Registered: Feb 2005
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cassiterides where are you son?? come back and finish what you started, lets have some feed back..
Posts: 6546 | From: japan | Registered: Feb 2009
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The Great Zimbabwe Ruins (sometimes just called Great Zimbabwe) are sub-Saharan Africa's most important and largest stone ruins. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1986, the large towers and structures were built out of millions of stones balanced perfectly on top of one another without the aid of mortar. Great Zimbabwe gave modern Zimbabwe its name as well as its national emblem -- an eagle carved stylishly out of soapstone which was found at the ruins.
The Rise of Great Zimbabwe:
The Great Zimbabwe society is believed to have become increasingly influential during the 11th Century. The Swahili, the Portuguese and Arabs who were sailing down the Mozambique coast began trading porcelain, cloth and glass with the Great Zimbabwe people in return for gold and ivory. As the Great Zimbabwe people flourished, they built an empire whose huge stone buildings which would eventually spread over 200 square miles (500 km2). It is thought that as many as 18,000 people lived here during its heyday. The Fall of Great Zimbabwe: By the 15th Century, Great Zimbabwe was in decline due to over population, disease and political discord. By the time the Portuguese arrived in search of rumored cities built of gold, Great Zimbabwe had already fallen into ruin.
Recent History of Great Zimbabwe:
During colonial times when white supremacy was in vogue, many believed that Great Zimbabwe couldn't possibly have been built by black Africans. Theories were bandied around, some believed that Great Zimbabwe was built by Phoenicians or Arabs. Others believed white-settlers must have built the structures. It wasn't until 1929 that archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson categorically proved that Great Zimbabwe was built by black-Africans. Nowadays, various tribes in the region claim that Great Zimbabwe was built by their ancestors. Archaeologists generally agree that the Lemba tribe is most likely responsible.
Why Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe:
Despite the facts, colonial administrations as late as the 1970's still denied that black Africans were the creators of this once great city. This is why Great Zimbabwe became an important symbol, especially to those fighting the colonial regime during the 1960's through to independence in 1980. Great Zimbabwe symbolized what black Africans were capable of despite denials by white men in power at the time. Once power was rightfully transferred to the majority, Rhodesia was named Zimbabwe. The name "Zimbabwe" was most likely derived from the Shona language; dzimba dza mabwe means "house of stone".
Great Zimbabwe Ruins Today:
Visiting the Great Zimbabwe ruins was a highlight of my trip to that country, and they should not be missed. The skill with which the stones were laid is impressive given the lack of mortar. The Great Enclosure is quite something, with walls as high as 36 feet extending approximately 820 feet. You need a full day to explore the 3 main areas that are of interest, the Hill Complex (which also offers wonderful views), the Great Enclosure and the museum. The museum holds many of the artifacts found among the ruins including pottery from China.
2008.
Posts: 3446 | From: U.S. by way of JA by way of Africa | Registered: Jan 2010
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posted
As Dr. Winters noted you can't make someone see facts they don't want to acknowledge. So the Tin Man isn't going to change his tune and will try to sweep everything posted away with a single sentence or two dare he return to this thread.
Nonetheless, for piercing examiners, both prongs of his lie have been blunted and Kenndo especially did so regarding modern Africa.
quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: 1 - When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts.
2 - And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
Posts: 8014 | From: the Tekrur in the Western Sahel | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:Originally posted by alTakruri: As Dr. Winters noted you can't make someone see facts they don't want to acknowledge. So the Tin Man isn't going to change his tune and will try to sweep everything posted away with a single sentence or two dare he return to this thread.
Nonetheless, for piercing examiners, both prongs of his lie have been blunted and Kenndo especially did so regarding modern Africa.
quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
The time hs come again to slaughter some dumb white centric asses. As usually, I may add!
This is one of the many sites in West Africa that was contemporary with pre-dynastic, archaic, and Old Kingdom Egypt. Here's an extract from an otherwise unavailable for free article by one of the subject's main scholars covering Tichitt's last phases.
Visiting the Mauritanian region of Al Hawd, we find important prehistoric remains pre-dating the Soninke domination of the region. This is known as the Dhar Tichitt-Walata culture, a unique neolithic culture dating from between BC 2000 and the third century BC. No less than 400 settlements, some of them complete cities, made up this group of towns.
On entering Walata for the first time, we are struck by a magical image of its beautifully adorned red adobe houses. It is a real experience to discover the hard, dry touch of its buildings mixed with the colours and the silence of the surrounding desert.
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quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
Coping with uncertainty: Neolithic life in the Dhar Tichitt-Walata, Mauritania,(ca. 4000–2300 BP)
Augustin F.C. Holla, aMuseum of Anthropology, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States Received 21 April 2008; accepted 8 April 2009. Available online 25 June 2009.
Abstract
The sandstone escarpment of the Dhar Tichitt in South-Central Mauritania was inhabited by Neolithic agropastoral communities for approximately one and half millennium during the Late Holocene, from ca. 4000 to 2300 BP. The absence of prior evidence of human settlement points to the influx of mobile herders moving away from the “drying” Sahara towards more humid lower latitudes. These herders took advantage of the peculiarities of the local geology and environment and succeeded in domesticating bulrush millet – Pennisetum sp. The emerging agropastoral subsistence complex had conflicting and/or complementary requirements depending on circumstances. In the long run, the social adjustment to the new subsistence complex, shifting site location strategies, nested settlement patterns and the rise of more encompassing polities appear to have been used to cope with climatic hazards in this relatively circumscribed area. An intense arid spell in the middle of the first millennium BC triggered the collapse of the whole Neolithic agropastoral system and the abandonment of the areas. These regions, resettled by sparse oasis-dwellers populations and iron-using communities starting from the first half of the first millennium AD, became part of the famous Ghana “empire”, the earliest state in West African history.
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quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
Jenne-jeno, an ancient African city
Susan Keech McIntosh and Roderick J. McIntosh
Roderick and Susan McIntosh excavated at Jenne-jeno and neighboring sites in 1977 and 1981 and returned in 1994 for coring and more survey, with funding from the National Science Foundation of the United States, the American Association of University Women, and the National Geographic Society (1994). This research formed the basis of their Ph.D. dissertations at Cambridge University and the University of California at Santa Barbara, respectively. The McIntoshes have published two monographs and numerous articles on their archaeological research in the Middle Niger. They are professors of anthropology at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and they continue to collaborate with Malian colleagues from the Institut des Sciences Humaines on research along the Middle Niger.
For centuries, the upper Inland Niger Delta of the Middle Niger between modern Mopti and Segou has been a vital crossroads for trade. Historical sources, such as the 1828 account of the French explorer Rene Caillié, as well as local Tarikhs (histories written in Arabic) detail for us the central role that Jenne played in the commercial activities of the Western Sudan during the last 500 years. The seventeenth century author of the Tarikh es-Sudan, al-Sadi, wrote that "it is because of this blessed town that camel caravans come to Timbuktu from all points of the horizon". In the famous "Golden Trade of the Moors", gold from mines far to the south was transported overland to Jenne, then trans-shipped on broad-bottom canoes (pirogues) to Timbuktu, and thence by camel to markets in North Africa and Europe. Leo Africanus reported in 1512 that the extensive boat trade on the Middle Niger involved massive amounts of cereals and dried fish shipped from Jenne to provision arid Timbuktu. Today, the stunning mud architecture of Jenne in distinctive Sudanic style is a legacy of its early trade ties with North Africa. Three kilometers to the southeast, the large mound called Jenne-jeno (ancient Jenne) or Djoboro (Pl. 1) is claimed by oral traditions as the original settlement of Jenne. Barren and carpeted by a thick layer of broken pottery, Jenne-jeno lay mute for decades, its history and significance totally unknown. Scientific excavations in the 1970's and 1980's revealed that the mound is composed of over five meters of debris accumulated during sixteen centuries of occupation that began c. 200 B.C.E. These excavations, in addition to more than doubling the period of known history for this region, provided some surprises regarding the local development of society. The results indicated that earlier assumptions about the emergence of complex social organization in urban settlements and the development of long-distance trade as innovations appearing only after the arrival of the Arabs in North Africa in the seventh and eighth centuries were incorrect. The archaeology of Jenne- jeno and the surrounding area clearly showed an early, indigenous growth of trade and social complexity. The importance of this discovery has resulted in the entry of Jenne- jeno, along with Jenne, on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.
The early settlement at Jenne-jeno.
It appears that permanent settlement first became possible in the upper Inland Niger Delta in about the third century B.C.E. Prior to that time, the flood regime of the Niger was apparently much more active, meaning that the annual floodwaters rose higher and perhaps stayed longer than they do today, such that there was no high land that regularly escaped inundation. Under these wetter circumstances, diseases carried by insects, especially tsetse fly, would have discouraged occupation. Between 200 B.C.E. and 100 C.E., the Sahel experienced significant dry episodes, that were part of the general drying trend seriously underway since 1000 B.C.E. Prior to that time, significant numbers of herders and farmers lived in what is today the southern Sahara desert, where they raised cattle, sheep and goat, grew millet, hunted, and fished in an environment of shallow lakes and grassy plains. As the environment became markedly drier after 1000 B.C.E., these populations moved southward with their stock in search of more reliable water sources. Oral traditions of groups from the Serer and Wolof of Senegal to the Soninke of Mali trace their origins back to regions of southern Mauritania that are now desert. As these stone-tool-using populations slowly moved along southward-draining river systems, they found various more congenial environments. One of these was the great interior floodplain of the Middle Niger, with its rich alluvial soil and a flood regime that was well-suited to the cultivation of rice. The earliest deposits, nearly six meters deep at Jenne- jeno (Pl. 2) have yielded the hulls of domesticated rice, sorghum, millet, and various wild swamp grasses. The population that settled at Jenne-jeno used and worked iron, fashioning the metal into both jewelry and tools. This is interesting , since there are no sources of iron ore in the floodplain. The earliest inhabitants of Jenne-jeno were already trading with areas outside the region. They also imported stone grinders and beads. The presence of two Roman or Hellenistic beads in the early levels suggests that a few very small trade goods were reaching West Africa, probably after changing hands through many intermediaries. We have not detected any evidence of influences from the Mediterranean world on the local societies at this time.
The original settlement appears to have occurred on a small patch of relatively high ground, and was probably restricted to a few circular huts of straw coated with mud daub. We find many pieces of burnt daub with mat impressions on them in the earliest levels. The pottery associated with this early material is from small, finely-made vessels with thin walls. Artifacts and housing material of this kind persist until c. 450 C.E., occurring over progressive larger area of Jenne-jeno. This indicates that the site was growing larger. In fact, by 450 C.E., the settlement had expanded to at least 25 hectares (over 60 acres).
Jenne-jeno's floruit: 450-1100 C.E.
In the deposits dated from the fifth century, there are definite indications that the organization of society is changing. We find organized cemeteries, with interments in large burial urns (Pl. 3) as well as inhumations outside of urns in simple pits, on the edge of the settlement. From an excavation unit on the western edge of Jenne-jeno, we found evidence that the site was enlarged by quarrying clay from the floodplain and mounding it at the edge of the site New trade items appear, such as copper, imported from sources a minimum of several hundred kilometers away, and gold from even more distance mines. A smithy was installed near one of our central excavation units around 800 C.E. to mold copper and bronze into ornaments, and to forge iron. Smithing continued in this locale for the next 600 years, suggesting that craftsmen had become organized in castes and operated in specific locales, much as we see in Jenne today.
The round houses at Jenne-jeno were constructed with tauf, or puddled mud, foundations, from the fifth to the ninth century. During this time, the settlement continued to grow, reaching its maximum area of 33 hectares by 850 C.E. We know that this is so because sherds of the distinctive painted pottery that was produced at Jenne-jeno only between 450-850 C.E. are present in all our excavation units, even those near the edge of the mound. And we find them at the neighboring mound of Hambarketolo, too, suggesting that these two connected sites totaling 41 hectares (100 acres) functioned as part of a single town complex (Pl. 4) . In the ninth century, two noticeable changes occur (Pl. 5) : tauf house foundations are replaced by cylindrical brick architecture, and painted pottery is replaced by pottery with impressed and stamped decoration. The source of these novelties is unknown, although we can say that they did not involve any fundamental shift in the form or general layout of either houses or pottery. So it is unlikely that any major change in the ethnic composition of Jenne-jeno was associated with the changes. Change with continuity was the prevailing pattern. One of the earliest structures built using the new cylindrical brick technology (Pl. 6) was apparently the city wall, which was 3.7 meters wide at its base and ran almost two kilometers around the town. All these indications of increasingly complex social organization are particularly important in helping us understand the indigenous context of the Empire of Ghana, an influential confederation that consolidated power within large areas to the north and west of the Inland Niger Delta sometime after 500 C.E.. To date, Jenne-jeno provides our only insight into the nature of change and complexity in the Sahel prior to the establishment of the trans-Saharan trade. Although some excavations have been conducted at the presumed capital of Ghana, Kumbi Saleh (in southeastern Mauritania), these focused on the stone-built ruins dating to the period of the trans-Saharan trade. As we currently understand the archaeology of the entire Jenne region, where over 60 archaeological sites rise from the floodplain within a 4 kilometer radius of the modern town (Pl. 7) , many of these sites were occupied at the time of Jenne-jeno's floruit between 800-1000 C.E.. We have suggested that this extraordinary settlement clustering resulted from a clumping of population around a rare conjunction of highly desirable features (Pl. 8) : excellent rice-growing soils, levees for pasture in the flood season, deep basin for pasture in the dry season and access to both major river channels and the entire inland system of secondary and tertiary marigots from communication and trade.
Decline: C.E. 1200-1400
In the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the first unambiguous evidence of North African or Islamic influences appears at Jenne-jeno in the form of brass, spindle whorls, and rectilinear houses. This occurs within a century of the traditional date of 1180 C.E. for the conversion of Jenne's king (Koi) Konboro to Islam, according to the Tarikh es-Sudan. After this point, Jenne-jeno begins a 200-year long period of decline and gradual abandonment, before it becomes a ghost town by 1400. We can speculate that Jenne-jeno declined at the expense of Jenne, perhaps related to the ascendancy of the new religion, Islam, over traditional practice. The continued practice of urn burial at Jenne-jeno through the fourteenth century tells us that many of the site's occupants did not convert to Islam. The production of terracotta statuettes in great numbers throughout the period and even into the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries elsewhere in the Inland Niger Delta may mark loci of resistance, within the context of traditional religious practice, to Islam or the leaders who practiced it. Whatever the cause of Jenne-jeno's abandonment, it was part of a larger process whereby most of the settlements occupied around Jenne in 1000 C.E. lay deserted by 1400. What caused such a realignment of the local population? Again, we can only speculate. Some people likely converted to Islam and moved to Jenne, where wealth and commercial opportunities were increasingly concentrated. But there is also the fact that the climate grew increasingly dry from 1200 C.E., causing tremendous political upheavals further north, and prompting virtual abandonment of whole regions (e.g., the Mema, studied by Malian archaeologist Tereba Togola) that could no longer sustain herds and agriculture. Some, if not all, of these factors were probably implicated in the decline of Jenne-jeno.
Jenne-jeno is easy to reach from Jenne, and its surface traces of ancient houses and pottery are evocative of its rich history. Peering into the deep erosion gullies that scar the surface, one literally looks backward in time over 1000 years.
quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
SETTLEMENT ARCHAEOLOGY IN NIGERIA: A SHORT NOTE
Oluwole Ogundele Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria
INTRODUCTION The history of scientific archaeological research in Nigeria, is a relatively recent development. This dates back to the 1940's when a rock-shelter named "Rop" was investigated, in addition to the limited excavations embarked upon by Bernard Fagg, in the Nok Valley area of Central Nigeria. Similarly, rescue excavations were carried out in Igbo-Ukwu located in the eastern part of the country by Thurstan Shaw and his team in the latter part of the 1950's. Since then, several archaeological efforts have been made in few locations such as Ile-Ife, Old-Oyo, Benin and Daima all situated in the western and northern parts of Nigeria respectively.
In all these archaeological excavations, the objectives were mainly to retrieve artifacts and describe them with a view to reconstructing the cultural history of the region in question. Archaeological researches during this period, were basically artifact-oriented, and not unexpectedly, classifications based on stratigraphic evidence, occupied a central position in the scheme of things. This research orientation is with a view to gaining some insights about sequences of events and chronologies. It is important to note that apart from the fact that these archaeological works were scattered (i.e. few and far between), there were no well formulated strategies and/or research designs aimed at clarifying our understanding of the spatial dimension of the culture(s) being studied, both at the intra- and inter-site levels. Indeed, lateral-oriented activities involving mapping and excavations were not considered vital to the operationalization of research works until in the 1980's. Some of the concomitant effects of this development are as follows:
1. Artifacts retrieved from excavations appear to remain isolated, without any significant connections between them and a given geographical configuration, thus making it impossible to recreate the extent to which a people had exploited the resources within their environment. 2. Establishment of the nature and pattern(s) of inter-group relations among the peoples in different parts of the country in prehistoric and proto-historic or historic periods remains a far cry.
PROBLEMS AND PERSPECTIVES Since the archaeologist is concerned with the reconstruction of palaeo-cultures, space or environment is one of the indispensable variables (Ogundele 1989; 1990; 1994). However, in having an over-view of the works of pioneers of archaeology in Nigeria and to some extent the present crop of experts in the field, efforts should be made to take into consideration several problems that faced them or are still facing some of them. Given this situation, my assessonent of their works is done here with great respect and caution. Indeed one major objective of this piece of work, is to attempts to promote a new appreciation of available or potential archaeological data especially settlement finds and features, with a view to broadening our horizon of archaeological scholarship in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole.
Until very recently, all the archaeologists working in Nigeria were mainly Europeans and they did not often stay long enough to embark upon systematic and long-term archaeological surveys. In other words, Nigerian archaeologists are still disappointingly few and largely as a result, some systematic archaeological investigations of the entire country is still a far cry. Closely related to the problem listed above, is the fact that Nigeria is a vast country, too large for a handful of archaeologists to manage. In addition, the geographical character of the region is extremely complex. Thus for example, the major vegetational zones (especially the thick forests and swamps in the south, and the very desert area to the north), constitute in themselves, distinct obstacles to archaeological field-work.
Another major difficulty has to do with the fact that Nigeria is situated in the humid tropics and as with other humid tropical regions, the soils are acidic and erosion is generally very pronounced. These have adversely affected the preservation of archaeological remains especially fragile items like bones and wooden objects of great time-depth. However, there are still some depositional cases such as deltaic conditions, rock-shelters and caves, where archaeological materials are relatively better preserved. Overall however, the archaeologist working in Nigeria is left with just the imperishables such as stone tools and potsherds and little else in the way of human occupation to analyze, reconstruct and interpret.
The lack and in places paucity of data has tended to encourage unrestrained speculation which in fact largely accounts for some insupportable hypotheses being put forward by many early or pioneer archaeologists, concerning the nature of culture change in Nigeria. One of such hypotheses was that the peopling of the forest region (southern Nigeria and indeed, all of the Guinea zone of West Africa) was a much later development than that of the northern open savanna area. Recent archaeological research has shown that people were already living in south-western Nigeria (specifically Iwo-Eleru) as early as 9000 BC and perhaps earlier at Ugwuelle-Uturu (Okigwe) in south-eastern Nigeria (Shaw and Daniels 1984: 7-100).
Lack of adequate funding and dating facilities has also caused a lag in archaeological research in Nigeria and indeed, all of West Africa. Many sites threatened by construction work such as bridges, roads, houses and dams are not normally rescued because there are no sources of funding. The governments of West African countries have not been supportive enough of archaeological work, partly because both the leaders and the peoples do not recognize the role a sound knowledge of the past can play in nation-building.
There is up to now, no well-equipped dating laboratory either to process charcoal samples or potsherds. The only laboratory in West Africa is in Senegal and it is far from being well equipped. Consequently, it is restricted mostly to processing charcoal samples collected from sites in Senegal. Given this problem, samples collected from archaeological excavations have to be sent abroad for processing. This delays the rate at which archaeological information is put into its proper time perspective.
It seems also that a great deal more time and attention are paid to the later phases of human settlement history than the earlier. Consequently, much more is known of iron age and historic settlements in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole. Some considerable amount of work has been done for these phases in Benin City in Nigeria, Niani in Niger Republic and Jenne-Jeno in Mali, among other places in West Africa. One reason for this interest in the later phase seems to rest in the fact that there is a meeting point between historic settlement archaeology and oral traditions in the region generally and the fact that people can identify much more easily with this phase because it is more recent and by this fact closer to our times.
It is pertinent to note that there is no settlement archaeology tradition(s) in Nigeria up to the early 1980's. Even at places like Ife, Old-Oyo, Benin and Zaria where some relatively limited archaeological work has been carried out, efforts were mainly concentrated on walls (Soper 1981: 61-81; Darling 1984: 498-504; Leggett 1969: 27). In Southern Nigeria, proto-historic settlements were generally composed of mud or sun-dried brick houses. Most if not all these house structures and defensive and/or demarcatory walls have either been destroyed or obliterated by erosion. The tradition(s) of constructing houses with stones in the pre colonial past was well reflected in many parts of Northern Nigeria. In fact, many hill-top settlements in this area of Nigeria were composed of stone houses - a direct response among other things, to opportunities offered by the immediate environment (Netting 1968: 18-28; Denyer 1978: 41-47). Despite the nature of the soil chemistry (acidic soil) stone buildings are still better preserved than mud houses.
Relics of ancient settlements are much fewer in the south than in the north, because of the different building materials as well as techniques of construction which are partly determined by diverse historical experiences among other things. Hill-tops and slopes offer abundant boulders which could be dressed for construction, while in the plains, it is much easier to obtain mud for building houses. For example, the dispersed mode of settlement of the present-day Tiv as opposed to the nucleated rural settlements on the hill-tops and slopes in ancient times, coupled with their shifting agricultural system, as well as the factor of refarming and/or resettlement of former sites by some daughter groups which hived off, from the original stock, make most ancient settlements and recently abandoned sites (made up of sun-dried brick houses) difficult to discover at least in a fairly well preserved state (Sokpo and Mbakighir 1990, Personal Communication).
This preservation problem among others further make the task of establishing stratigraphic sequences a little bit difficult. Nigeria is divisible into zones on the basis of techniques of construction as follows: 1. Mud construction techniques which are very common in most parts of southern Nigeria. 2. Stone construction techniques which are very common in most parts of Northern Nigeria; and 3. Combination of mud and stone construction techniques. This development is common in Tivland, where the ancient houses and protective walls on hill-tops were constructed of stones, while present-day houses in the plains are usually constructed of mud. Given our experiences in Nigeria, the third category of construction is very useful for generating models. These are models derivable from oral traditional data and ethnographic resources. Such models, if carefully applied to archaeological situations, can greatly fill the gaps in our knowledge of the past of the Nigerian peoples.
CONCLUSION Scientific studies of settlement archaeology of the different parts of Nigeria are be-devilled by a lot of problems ranging in nature from inadequate facilities to fewness of archaeologists on ground. Developments in recent years have however shown that these problems are now being turned into a source of strength by the indigenous archaeologists. Thus for example abundant oral traditional and ethnographic resources in Nigeria are being profitably harnessed. This is with a few to clarifying our understanding of aspects of the people's settlement heritage.
REFERENCES Darling, P. 1984. Archaeology & History In Southern Nigeria: The ancient Linear Earthworks of Benin and Ishan. B. A. R. Series 215. Denyer, S 1978. African traditional architecture. Heinemann, Ibadan. Leggett, H. J. 1969 Former Hill and Inselberg Settlements In the Zaria District. West African Archaeology News-letter. No.11. Mbakighir, N. 1990. Personal Communication. Netting, R. M. 1968. Hill Farmers of Nigeria: Cultural Ecology of the Kofyar of The Jos Plateau, University of Washington, Press Seattle. Ogundele, S. O. 1989. Settlement Archaeology In Tivland: A Preliminary Report. West African Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 19. Ogundele, S.O. 1990. The Use of Ethno-archaeology In Tiv Culture History. African Notes. Vol. 14. Ogundele, S.O. 1994. Notes On Ungwai Settlement Archaeology. Journal of Science Research. Vol. 1. Shaw, T.& Daniells, S. G. H. 1984. Excavations At Iwo-Eleru, Ondo State, Nigeria. West African Journal of Archaeology. Vol.14. Soper, R. 1981. The Walls of Oyo Ile. West African Journal of Archaeology. Vol. 10/11. Sokpo, A. 1990. Personal Communication.
[Note] This is a report sent with a letter of 18th December 1995 from Dr. Ogundele. This report shows the situation of archaeological activities in Nigeria. Appropriate support to the Nigerian archaeologists would inprove the difficult situation.
Department of Archaeology, Okayama University NIIRO Izumi 20th Feb. 1996
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posted
The funny part is that the common man in Egypt also had mud houses built in similar construction.
Plus when Europeans first ventured through the region they found that in many ways West Africans were more civilized. Timbuktu had several Universities with over 25 thousands students, whereas most of Europe, especially West Europe was illiterate. North Europeans were mainly hunter gatherers.
quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
Built Heritage
Architectural monuments in Africa have long been neglected, not only in the discussions about preservation but also physically. The last few decades however, starting from the sixties and seventies, the architectural treasures of this continent have more and more attracted western architects and researchers. At the Faculty of Architecture at the Delft University of Technology it was especially the Forum movement, with architects such as Aldo van Eyck and Herman Haan, which inspired many students and gave the debate about African Architecture an extra whim.
Nowadays, most of the monumental built environment in Africa has been recognized as such. The importance of the recognition, validation and preservation of cultural heritage knows however many difficulties. Especially in a country like Mali, known for its rich cultural past and present, the diversity of attentions fields (archaeology, anthropology, architecture, music) creates a huge problem in how to make choices, how to create sustainable structures etc. The methods of labelling cultural heritage generate their own dynamics and problems.
The most prestigious label is of course the World Heritage List of UNESCO. The preservation of a World Monument however is not so easy as it seems and one can often wander if this labelling actually provides a sustainable framework for conservation. The impact of this label on the local cultural perspective of the monument often exceeds the original, traditional perception of the building structures as a living part of everyday society.
International conservation rules (for instance Charter of Venice) provide a fairly workable set of operational tools in regard to a conservation project. However, the local building traditions, the traditional way of modifying and using houses and the impact of modern western society often are in conflict with these international standards.
Therefore, restoration and conservation of a modern historic city has to be seen in the framework of the development of the historical structures, the impact of western society and possible future growth. New city developments, electricity, sewerage systems, motorized transports, car parking, plastic pollution; these are just e few of the ingredients of the conflict between modern life and historical city structures. A new approach has to be defined, to reconsider the system of monumental labelling and its instruments to conserve and preserve.
Djenné, a well known UNESCO World Monument, is a city which faces all of these problems. The case of its restoration can be used in the research for new restoration concepts and tools. Satellite cases such as Asmara and Zanzibar can be helpful to redefining international standards.
posted
If you're going to lift somebody else's phraseology and spread it all over the net the least you could do is credit them or failing that try rephrase it in your own words.
quote:Not originally posted by Ish Gebor: This is one of the many sites in West Africa that was contemporary with pre-dynastic, archaic, and Old Kingdom Egypt. Here's an extract from an otherwise unavailable for free article by one of the subject's main scholars covering Tichitt's last phases.
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quote:Originally posted by cassiterides: So a question to the Afrocentrics:
Why has Sub-Sahara Africa never have a civilization?
Go there today and it is still mud huts. When Europeans first ventured through this region all they found were primitive blacks in mud huts. And now hundreds of years later - nothing has changed.
So why is the HOMELAND of black africans never had a civilization?
Perhaps this explains why Afrocentrics are so obsessed with trying to steal white or asian history because they have nothing of their own?
The Neolithic at Ounjougou is represented by three broad and distinct phases of settlement, marked by significant techno-economic and cultural changes.
Between 9,500 and 7,000 BC, the Early Neolithic saw the precocious emergence of pottery, which appeared at the same time as the development of a strategies for selective and intensive foraging for grains in a landscape of vast grassy plains. The Middle Neolithic is particularly known for a technological aspect – the specialized production of bifacial points on quartzitic sandstone, dated between the 6th and 4th millennia BC.
The Late Neolithic is associated with pronounced cultural and economic changes, with the influence around 2,500 BC of populations arriving from the Sahara, followed by the arrival after 1,800 BC of the first millet cultivators in the region (see the article "The Late Neolithic").
Archeology, Pre-Dogon & Dogon
Excavations at Songona 2. Photo A. Mayor
The phase of pre-Dogon settlement began close to the beginning of the Common Era, several centuries after the end of the Late Neolithic. The populations used objects made of iron and, probably in the second half of the 1st mill. AD, began to master its production. As a whole, the technological and stylistic characteristics of pottery at pre-Dogon sites dated between the 2nd and the 13th centuries is clearly differentiated from that of the Late Neolithic. Such differences include the appearance of new décors made by several kinds of rollers and by woven impressions. This new cultural context places the Dogon Country at the intersection of three different ethnolinguistic spheres – Mande, Gur and Soghay -, for which the influences vary according to region and period.
Oral sources place Dogon settlement in an interval between the 13th and 15th centuries. Within this same period, archaeological research has demonstrated a new cultural break, evidence by the important amount of pottery made by pounding the clay on a baobab mat, typical of one of the five modern ceramic traditions (tradition A, associated with farming women). Oral traditions reveal a very complex history of Dogon settlement, due to frequent relocations of villages associated with a history of climatic and political instability: discovery of water spots, drying of rivers, famines, and land conflicts, but also withdrawal after raids by the neighboring Peul, Bambara and Mossi.
Paleometallurgy
Fieldwork at the Fiko reduction site in 2005. Photo C. Robion-Brunner
Beginning in 2002, a paleometallurgy axis was added with the aim of studying the development of siderurgy in the Dogon Country, from its origins to modern day. One of the principal objectives is to determine the moment when the structure and capacity of production of the industry allowed the widespread use of farming tools and weapons made of iron. Such use of iron corresponds to a change in the technological system within society, with significant effects on its structure and on the environment in the broad sense.
To meet this goal, a multidisciplinary approach was developed. The ethnographic approach aimed at collecting oral traditions related to siderurgy. As a result of a memory still quite alive, much information was recovered concerning the last two or three centuries. These surveys informed on historical, social and economic aspects that would be impossible to demonstrate solely by the study of the material record. They also give access to the spiritual and symbolic world in which production and ironworking were integrated. Finally, practical knowledge of modern craftspeople helped to understand and reconstruct the actions of the earlier groups.
At the same time, the archaeological approach aimed to inventory, describe and understand the material evidence of siderurgy: ancient pits from iron mines, furnaces that allowed iron extraction and forges where objects were made. These sites were systematically located across the landscape, visited and documented by descriptions, photographs and topographic designs. Characteristic sites were selected and studied in greater detail with test pits or larger excavations carried out. This work made it possible to discover furnaces and study their functioning, as well as to collect charcoal samples that could be dated by 14C and slag that could be analyzed in the laboratory to clarify technical aspects, the different modes of production and their development. The construction of a detailed topographic map was done in the aim of demonstrating the spatial organization and to estimate the quantity of debris and thus the level of production. Anthracological analysis additionally yielded important data on the vegetal cover and the model of exploitation of wood resources.
quote:Originally posted by alTakruri: If you're going to lift somebody else's phraseology and spread it all over the net the least you could do is credit them or failing that try rephrase it in your own words.
quote:Not originally posted by Ish Gebor: This is one of the many sites in West Africa that was contemporary with pre-dynastic, archaic, and Old Kingdom Egypt. Here's an extract from an otherwise unavailable for free article by one of the subject's main scholars covering Tichitt's last phases.
I was under the impresion that it was part of the original source, in that case I rectify.
Posts: 22234 | From: האם אינכם כילדי הכרית אלי בני ישראל | Registered: Nov 2010
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posted
what do u mean sub sahara didnt had civilisation, i dont know much on this but didnt MALI had some famouse mosque, and GHANA had some kingdom that controlled massive region!...well, i know habasha land had great civilastion which is modern day djibouti,somali,eritrea and ethiopia, cant speak for other african region,but surely GHANA WAS something occording to western books!!
Posts: 24 | Registered: Feb 2011
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you cant judge cicilisation on building,not every one used pyramids, somalia dont have pyramids but we are the most proud ancient nation that never bowed to outsider,...so many poetry in that land and so many brave men...well all i know is white men never rested when they come to ancient somalia or ardul habasha before islam.
Posts: 24 | Registered: Feb 2011
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I mean how could these people accomplish all of that and lose hundreds of millions of people over 4, 5, 6 centuries to the rest of the world by the "slaaaaaaaave traaaaaaaaade".
This doesn't make sense. Losing that many people would certainly negatively affect a population's ability to achieve. The mentality that one would have to posess in order to casually disregard the losses of his/her own people would certainly be a detriment to any kind of achievement.
Just think in terms today with various cities, states, and nations trying to curtail brain drain.
Either you guys are lying and making up these achievements of the so called subsaharans or west Europeans are lying about subsaharans being 1. the world's exclusive supply of slaves and 2. the millions, upon millions, upon millions that were supposedly enslaved.
Which one of you are perpetuating the lies?
Posts: 3085 | Registered: Jan 2008
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