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I’m an African, I’ve lived all over the continent (until very recently). What you say is correct. By many metrics life has improved, and that is to be celebrate

I’m an African, I’ve lived all over the continent (until very recently). What you say is correct. By many metrics life has improved, and that is to be celebrated. But internally, I’m a bit conflicted because for sure this development has also come at a cost: (1) some of us now have electricity, but we’ve poisoned our city air, (ii) some of us have running water, but we’ve destroyed our watersheds and the severity of droughts is increasing, (iii) we have better roads (thanks China!), but we’re extensifying our farm land into forest because we’ve been caning our soils, (iv) we’ve got 4g and mobile money, but man, our leaders still brutalize us if we step out of line. In conclusion, I don’t dispute what you say, there is a great deal of wonderful progress on the continent, but the narrative should not be either/or, and of course varies by country, but it’s neither dystopian famine, or development utopia.

cultus 8y ago
It seems as if the onset of development is always coupled with horrible environmental problems. Another 20 years in the future, Africa will have more money to mitigate them.
- GreeniFi 8y ago
  The gyst of Grantham’s essay which I posted below (also at the bottom of this comment), throws into question that optimism. With evidence, Grantham demonstrates the possibility that a nexus of climate change, soil degradation and population growth threatens Africa’s development trajectory. My view is that this will happen within 20 years as banks pull credit lines from farmers at risk of weather shock. Indeed this is already happening and farmer’s production goes off a cliff when they can’t get loans for good seed and fertiliser. I don’t write this because I’m a doom and gloom merchant. It’s because we need to get real about investing sufficiently to course correct. Edit: here’s Grantham’s essay: https://www.gmo.com/docs/default-source/research-and-commentary/strategies/asset-allocation/the-race-of-our-lives-revisited.pdf?sfvrsn=2 https://www.gmo.com/docs/default-source/research-and-comment...
grecy 8y ago
I agree with you 100%. I certainly am not pro-development at all costs. Heck, I choose to live in the Yukon precisely because it's not Vancouver or Toronto. I hope "Africa" can see what the West has done, learn from it, and do a better job instead of just blindly going down the same path and screwing things up in the same ways.

cultus 8y ago

It seems as if the onset of development is always coupled with horrible environmental problems. Another 20 years in the future, Africa will have more money to mitigate them.

GreeniFi 8y ago
The gyst of Grantham’s essay which I posted below (also at the bottom of this comment), throws into question that optimism. With evidence, Grantham demonstrates the possibility that a nexus of climate change, soil degradation and population growth threatens Africa’s development trajectory. My view is that this will happen within 20 years as banks pull credit lines from farmers at risk of weather shock. Indeed this is already happening and farmer’s production goes off a cliff when they can’t get loans for good seed and fertiliser. I don’t write this because I’m a doom and gloom merchant. It’s because we need to get real about investing sufficiently to course correct. Edit: here’s Grantham’s essay: https://www.gmo.com/docs/default-source/research-and-commentary/strategies/asset-allocation/the-race-of-our-lives-revisited.pdf?sfvrsn=2 https://www.gmo.com/docs/default-source/research-and-comment...

grecy 8y ago

I agree with you 100%. I certainly am not pro-development at all costs. Heck, I choose to live in the Yukon precisely because it's not Vancouver or Toronto. I hope "Africa" can see what the West has done, learn from it, and do a better job instead of just blindly going down the same path and screwing things up in the same ways.