Africa... Good Luck Geldof and Bono

Several years ago I got a chance to spend a month in Africa... Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. It was extremely instructive. Here's what I saw: Government corruption, from cops that looked like 16 year old kids with assault rifles shaking you down for a few shillings before letting you pass in your car, to officials providing visas requiring a bribe in addition to the fee. The governments are on the take. (Pretty much everyone knows that now).

Second, the infrastructure is terrible. In Uganda, for example, food is grown in abundance, but, there are no good roads to get it from where it is grown, to areas that are not farming areas. On a side note, you should see the shores of Lake Victoria. Weather like Hawaii, beautiful landscape, and a huge, beautiful lake. There is only one reason that it's not a tourist hotbed... no infrastructure! Unfortunately, the worst people in the world at building infrastructure are socialists and dictators, because, rather than responding to the demands of the marketplace, they have to plan... and then there's the corruption. Capitalism is the key, but no investor in their right mind is going to invest in a place where even the government can't be relied on not to be thieves. If I could rely on the government and the workers not to rob me blind, I'd be gathering investors for hotels and golf courses along part of the shore of Lake Victoria as I write this... it's GORGEOUS.

Another big problem, brought into sharp relief by the devestation in Rwanda, is that there is an incredible amount of prejudice in Africa. Not white on black or black on white... tribal. And it's uglier than any racism I've seen in the US. They absolutely don't trust people of different tribes, and working together is extremely difficult for them.

Here's the hard part to swallow: One of the big problems I witnessed in Africa is that the people have become reliant on "charity." They're literally "children of charity" waiting for someone to come along and help, rather than helping themselves. I don't want to make this into an anti-UN screed, but the UN in particular, but also other charity organizations, have created a very destructive culture. People are starving while waiting for whatever charity money gets past the governments to trickle down to them. More charity = more of that destructive culture.

From what I read at Power Line, Bob Geldof is aware of the problem with governments and is working to have funds provided with strings attached that require government reform.
We (all non-Africans) can't provide the leadership and will that is required to fix the problems, because political leadership and the will of the people must come from within the afflicted country. And, throwing more money in there is actually providing a means to continue the problems. What we can do, I think, is encourage and support leaders who truly do stand for the good of the people, and we can try to design programs where the people who are willing to stand up and work for their own benefit can start building momentum toward a successful capitalist society. The answer isn't charity or re-distribution of wealth from the G-8 to Africa, it's in helping the Africans learn to create their own wealth. A rising tide lifts all boats!