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I have never been to Lagos but I do live in Cape Town South Africa, and there are lessons to be learnt here as well. Infrastructure in South Africa has declined

I have never been to Lagos but I do live in Cape Town South Africa, and there are lessons to be learnt here as well. Infrastructure in South Africa has declined dramatically in the last 20 years since the first inclusive elections in 1994. If you look at all state run institutions, like health, education, police, water, sanitation, conservation and everything else people take for granted in well run countries, you find a dramatic decline. What this translates to in people on the ground is a widening gap between rich and poor, civil unrest, growth in private healthcare and security, unreliable and expensive power supply and high crime rate, often violent. Sub Saharan Africa is a difficult place to invest in with corruption and the threat of expropriation of property a possibility. Will it ever change? I am not sure, it doesn't seem likely

grecy 8y ago
I have driven though 25+ countries in West Africa from Morocco to Cape Town and now on my up to Cairo in the last ~2 years [1]. While I understand what you're saying, I have some things to add: 1. Cape Town and Lagos (Nigeria in General) have virtually nothing in common. Cape Town is essentially Zürich compared to Nigerian cities. 2. state run institutions, like health, education, police, water, sanitation, conservation and everything else people take for granted in well run countries, you find a dramatic decline. ... a widening gap between rich and poor, civil unrest, growth in private healthcare and security, unreliable and expensive power supply and high crime rate, often violent. You have just described the exact challenges faced by the United States. 3. There are millions of stories about how bleak "Africa" is and how many challenges it faces. I have been constantly shocked by how developed many places are, and how fast they are not only catching up to, but in some cases surpassing "Developed" places. For example: have you been to Brazzaville? very nice and modern city, fantastic roads all over the Rep. Congo now - Pointe Noire too. Lomé in Togo is another great example. 4. In my experience Africans are positive and optimistic about the future. That means they're working hard to make stuff better, as apposed to those who sit around in the developed world and complain about how everything is getting worse. I wonder where we'll be in ~20 more years. [1] http://instagram.com/theroadchoseme/ http://instagram.com/theroadchoseme/
- peter_retief 8y ago
  I love Africa and its people, dont think I want to dismiss the continent as a lost cause but if you want to compare the US with Africa look at one index that of unemployment, South Africa is looking at an effective employment of 50% while the US has effectively 0% unemployment. I dont doubt the US has problems but its way better governed than African states
  - philipps 8y ago
    Two points: It is not useful to generalize “African states” because different African countries have different systems and qualities of governance. The current US system of governance has some characteristics that citizens of other countries would find unacceptable, eg the disconnect between popular and electoral college vote, the large amount of power of the presidency, the politicization of the judiciary. South Africa’s constitution and constitutional court on the other hand are widely considered an example of good governance.
hardlianotion 8y ago
I think it is worth noting that population growth has been incredibly fast in these countries, and institutions simply could never keep up with this growth. I think that in many places, governments are slowly getting to grips with this issue, educating and providing the basics to their populations. But the problems being faced are hard and take time to resolve. As an aside, I find exploring gapminder is a great way to help think about what is going on.
- peter_retief 8y ago
  I am going to have a look at gapminder, thanks for the suggestion

grecy 8y ago

I have driven though 25+ countries in West Africa from Morocco to Cape Town and now on my up to Cairo in the last ~2 years [1]. While I understand what you're saying, I have some things to add: 1. Cape Town and Lagos (Nigeria in General) have virtually nothing in common. Cape Town is essentially Zürich compared to Nigerian cities. 2. state run institutions, like health, education, police, water, sanitation, conservation and everything else people take for granted in well run countries, you find a dramatic decline. ... a widening gap between rich and poor, civil unrest, growth in private healthcare and security, unreliable and expensive power supply and high crime rate, often violent. You have just described the exact challenges faced by the United States. 3. There are millions of stories about how bleak "Africa" is and how many challenges it faces. I have been constantly shocked by how developed many places are, and how fast they are not only catching up to, but in some cases surpassing "Developed" places. For example: have you been to Brazzaville? very nice and modern city, fantastic roads all over the Rep. Congo now - Pointe Noire too. Lomé in Togo is another great example. 4. In my experience Africans are positive and optimistic about the future. That means they're working hard to make stuff better, as apposed to those who sit around in the developed world and complain about how everything is getting worse. I wonder where we'll be in ~20 more years. [1] http://instagram.com/theroadchoseme/ http://instagram.com/theroadchoseme/

peter_retief 8y ago
I love Africa and its people, dont think I want to dismiss the continent as a lost cause but if you want to compare the US with Africa look at one index that of unemployment, South Africa is looking at an effective employment of 50% while the US has effectively 0% unemployment. I dont doubt the US has problems but its way better governed than African states
- philipps 8y ago
  Two points: It is not useful to generalize “African states” because different African countries have different systems and qualities of governance. The current US system of governance has some characteristics that citizens of other countries would find unacceptable, eg the disconnect between popular and electoral college vote, the large amount of power of the presidency, the politicization of the judiciary. South Africa’s constitution and constitutional court on the other hand are widely considered an example of good governance.

hardlianotion 8y ago

I think it is worth noting that population growth has been incredibly fast in these countries, and institutions simply could never keep up with this growth. I think that in many places, governments are slowly getting to grips with this issue, educating and providing the basics to their populations. But the problems being faced are hard and take time to resolve. As an aside, I find exploring gapminder is a great way to help think about what is going on.

peter_retief 8y ago
I am going to have a look at gapminder, thanks for the suggestion