Essential The Africa the Media Doesn't Tell You About

Samori Toure

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The biggest thing is creating a situation where people create jobs for locals. You could easily have a situation where those with money use their wealth to bully the weak dollars of these places and not create jobs for the locals.

You have people like Robert Johnson with business in Liberia that employs locals. AA business people simply arent thinking anout Africa as a place to make money and create jobs because the opportunity is there, and in this day and age i dont think we can use the “i dont know whats going on” excuse anymore. Wealthy AAs should be thinking about how they plan to compete globally for the next 100 years because America sure aint it.

I am not wealthy, but I saw a ton of raw potential in that region. The key is pooling resources so that there is enough capital to invest in projects there.
 

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I am not wealthy, but I saw a ton of raw potential in that region. The key is pooling resources so that there is enough capital to invest in projects there.

The thing is without infrastructure its damn near impossible to get stuff done. The infrastructure in many of these nations are hundreds of years behind. Unless you have a way to get capital for infrastructure projects you cant really do much that will improve the situations of these nations.
 

Samori Toure

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The thing is without infrastructure its damn near impossible to get stuff done. The infrastructure in many of these nations are hundreds of years behind. Unless you have a way to get capital for infrastructure projects you cant really do much that will improve the situations of these nations.

That is the potential I saw. The Chinese are there doing just that. I was thinking that could find a mechanism to pool their resources then they too could get involved in capital infrastructure projects.
 

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That is the potential I saw. The Chinese are there doing just that. I was thinking that could find a mechanism to pool their resources then they too could get involved in capital infrastructure projects.

The Chinese have the backing of a government though lol.
 

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True that, but the governments of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone should have the backs of African Americans that invest their money in infrastructure projects.

AAs arent investing though lol. Until a group comes to the table showing what they have to offer these nations you cant expect these nations to do anything when they are trying to fix their own nations. If an AA investor has a track record of success these nations will of course do business with them but who from America is doing this?

These nations need to focus on how they will create a middle class for their nations
 

Samori Toure

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AAs arent investing though lol. Until a group comes to the table showing what they have to offer these nations you cant expect these nations to do anything when they are trying to fix their own nations. If an AA investor has a track record of success these nations will of course do business with them but who from America is doing this?

These nations need to focus on how they will create a middle class for their nations

You are looking at this all wrong. African American churches invest in stuff all the time. Those are the small groups that can make a big difference, because that is literally pooled resources. I am an accountant and I have handled the investment portfolios of some small African American churches. You would be surprised at how much money they raise, but they almost always put their money into White people investments because they don't know any better. Those are the pooled funds I was mentioning.
 

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You are looking at this all wrong. African American churches invest in stuff all the time. Those are the small groups that can make a big difference, because that is literally pooled resources. I am an accountant and I have handled the investment portfolios of some small African American churches. You would be surprised at how much money they raise, but they almost always put their money into White people investments because they don't know any better. Those are the pooled funds I was mentioning.

you cant compare an Church to nation building. Have you been to any of the nations you mentioned? I really don't think you understand the shape they are in lol. The worse hoods in America would be considered luxury living in many areas of these nations.
 

Samori Toure

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you cant compare an Church to nation building. Have you been to any of the nations you mentioned? I really don't think you understand the shape they are in lol. The worse hoods in America would be considered luxury living in many areas of these nations.

Churches. Not one church. And I do know, because I am working on a small project with a contractor in Sierra Leone. You start small to build trust then once there is trust that their funds will be paid back you go bigger.
 

Samori Toure

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Lololol best of luck

What is lololol about? I met quite a few people when I was down there. I was invited to a conference by a chartered accountant that I met over there and my eyes were opened to some projects that could be done.

The projects do not have to be huge. One project that I learned about was a young guy that was seeking funding to build houses in Freetown. He already builds houses on a small scale, so a little funding could help him do a few more homes. I also learned of a small project to build a road in a Temne village while I was there. Those are the types of small projects that can go a long way. Btw, my first job as an accountant when I was a young guy was at an architectural and engineering firm. So I have some familiarity with job costing on projects, but what we are talking about here is funding.
 

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What is lololol about? I met quite a few people when I was down there. I was invited to a conference by a chartered accountant that I met over there and my eyes were opened to some projects that could be done.

The projects do not have to be huge. One project that I learned about was a young guy that was seeking funding to build houses in Freetown. He already builds houses on a small scale, so a little funding could help him do a few more homes. I also learned of a small project to build a road in a Temne village while I was there. Those are the types of small projects that can go a long way. Btw, my first job as an accountant when I was a young guy was at an architectural and engineering firm. So I have some familiarity with job costing on projects, but what we are talking about here is funding.
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Whos are the houses for? the locals? and you grouped 3 nations together implying they were one in the same. Liberia alone is behind Sierre Leone and Guinea and both of those are light years behind say a Ivory Coast.
 

Samori Toure

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Whos are the houses for? the locals? and you grouped 3 nations together implying they were one in the same. Liberia alone is behind Sierre Leone and Guinea and both of those are light years behind say a Ivory Coast.

The houses were for local people. The young guy himself is building one of the homes for his wife and children. I was driven around Freetown and I saw a lot of different stuff happening. Like I stated I met quite a few professional people in Sierra Leone (some of whom were in politics) and I was surprised to learn that they would love to partner up with African Americans on some projects.

Fwiw, I was unaware that Sierra Leone has such a close connection to Guinea; and that many Sierra Leonan citizenss went to Guinea during their civil war and that many Guineans have settled in Sierra Leone. I also learned that Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia were initiating or restarting some kind regional trade pact so there is a lot of hope that things will stablize. Btw, I would have always assumed that neighboring countries were always the biggest trading partners of each other, but from what I was told trade between those three nations has been sporadic because of conflicts and illness and whatnot.
 

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Africa’s first online database on education research


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17/07/18
By: Eldon Opiyo


A database on education research conducted by Africa-based researchers has been launched to raise the visibility and impact of such research.

The database, which has about 2,000 education research including theses and working papers on 49 African countries, resulted from the collaboration between the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the UK-based University of Cambridge and the Education Sub-Saharan Africa , a charity with a mission to transform educational outcomes on the continent.

The database is searchable by country, research methods and keywords such as access to education, early childhood education, higher education, school feeding and literacy.

“There are some existing inventories and databases for specific contexts but no central location to access [education] publications by African-based researchers, which has contributed to a lack of visibility and use of this research,” says Rafael Mitchell, a researcher at the REAL Centre. “We hope that the database will facilitate greater use of research written by those in African universities and research institutions to ensure it is drawn upon and cited, and to be used to influence policy and practice.

“This should also help to ensure that research by African-based researchers is taken into account in global debates. There is a lot of important work done by researchers in the region that is currently overlooked and undervalued.”

Wisdom Harrison K. Hordzi, the Ghana coordinator of the Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa, agrees and tells SciDev.Net, “The database will help researchers and others to know what education research has already been conducted on Sub-Saharan Africa and identify gaps for more research.”

Hordzi adds that the database could make people appreciate the contribution of African education researchers.

“People think that education researchers in Africa are not doing anything. The database will help others know that at least we are doing something,” explains Hordzi, a senior lecturer at the Ghana-based University of Education, Winneba.

According to Mitchell, it will help researchers and others to identify where future research is likely to be most urgent.

“Our preliminary analysis indicates that a large amount of research is on higher education, around 30 per cent of the publications. Yet, in Sub-Saharan Africa, less than one per cent of the poorest reach higher education,” she says.

Only around three per cent is on early childhood education, which suggests that limited evidence is available that can inform policymakers on how to address disadvantage in education from the early years, Mitchell explains.

Types of research methods and their proportions used by African education researchers as of July 2018

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Source: African Education Research Database

The database was launched last month (15 June) at an event hosted by the French Development Agency in France.

The creation of the database started in May 2017. The first phase was completed by May 2018, with the launch of the database the following month but the process is ongoing as more research can and will be integrated, according to Mitchell.

It is being funded by ESSA - Education Sub Saharan Africa. To finance the two research positions at the REAL Centre, University of Cambridge, ESSA has raised funds from individual donors. The Jacobs Foundation, Zurich also joined this endeavour as a partner, providing funding for the second year of mapping project.

Mitchell tells SciDev.Net that the database — the first of its kind in Africa — could provide greater opportunities for research funding in areas of priority to Africa researchers and research funders.

Beatrice Muganda, director, higher education programme at the Kenya-based Partnership for African Social and Governance Research, says there is a dearth of literature on Africa written by Africans on issues affecting them.

“Scholars, researchers and students are persistently searching for relevant case studies and empirical evidence that speaks adequately to the local context,” Muganda tells SciDev.Net. “Any effort made to address this gap is laudable.”

Muganda says that although the database could help researchers, repositories are hardly the right platforms for helping policymakers to access research.

She calls on researchers to make education research findings accessible to policymakers through active outreach initiatives.

This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.

Africa’s first online database on education research
 
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