Video: When Will Africa Benefit from Its Vast Mineral Wealth?

[Nemesis]

yeah but resources arent wealth, and resources are really the bottom of the barrel in terms of wealth

the real measure of wealth is the the level of education of the average nigerian which would tell you how able nigerians are to take resources and create finished goods, what is the point of having oil if you a cant make gasoline?

because of the lack of education the resources do not mean anything to the average person, the average person is poor

i would suggest you change how you measure wealth, human capital is 10000 times more important than natural resources and human capital is a much better measurement of wealth, using that measurement nigeria's resources are about zero to be honest, and it will remain zero until literacy is 90% and higher education is widely available to a normal person

Nigeria makes its own gasoline, I hope you know that.......

If i were to measure wealth by debt owed America would be the poorest country in the world....its all about perspective

secondly as long as you have natural resources that generate wealth you can build up your infrastructure be it education, health or whatever , education is easily accessible....the literacy rates published are bullshyt....BUT they still should be a lot better ,

 

[Nemesis]

Why does corruption and bad government exist in the first place?

Second, even if you have a good government, progress can't really happen unless the people are on the same page as their leaders. The leaders aren't miracle workers.
Indeed, the people must be committed to the same ideals as their leaders and be willing to realize those ideals. Otherwise, the leaders might become frustrated and devolve into corruption, despair, and ineptitude

so were people on the same page as Bush?, I know they werent on the same page as Blair and he still went to war....... your argument is simplistic If the US govt were doing things you didnt agree with are you going to go Syria on them? why do you think there were so many wars in Africa? because the people were not on the same page as the government.... and look what it caused

 

[Micky Mikey]

and ultimately whose fault is that?

like I said China owns most of Americas debt its seen as investment, they invest in Africa and the same Americans that are begging for Chinese investment are trying to warn Africans of their intentions............

to answer your question its the governments fault, but to put it down to an inferiority complex is just stupid..... Africas biggest problem is corruption and bad governance hands down

If you tell me Africa should be doing better I agree, where I disagree is the reasons some people stated and also an over exaggeration of some of the problems

its the corrupt government's fault that they haven't renounced corruption and redistributed wealth to the populace? You said it yourself that Nigeria has been ruled by the same government since the 60's. Again whose fault is that?

 

[Nemesis]

its the corrupt government's fault that they haven't renounced corruption and redistributed wealth to the populace? You said it yourself that Nigeria has been ruled by the same government since the 60's. Again whose fault is that?

not the same government, they have elections but just like America they have a political class and most are people are interconnected ......Its the same in the western world so dont act like its any different...Obama is one of the few people who has reached the top in the states who I believe was a genuine outsider

 

[theworldismine13]

Nigeria makes its own gasoline, I hope you know that.......

If i were to measure wealth by debt owed America would be the poorest country in the world....its all about perspective

secondly as long as you have natural resources that generate wealth you can build up your infrastructure be it education, health or whatever , education is easily accessible....the literacy rates published are bullshyt....BUT they still should be a lot better ,

nigeria imports most of its gasoline

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/17/nigeria-gasoline-idUSL6N0I53CS20131017

Traders in Europe had moved to dump a surplus of gasoline into West Africa in return for barrels of crude oil. Despite being Africa's largest oil producer, pumping 2.11 million barrels per day, Nigeria is reliant on imports of products like gasoline and kerosene due to an ageing refining system.

yeah you can measure wealth and poverty anyway you want, im just saying i would suggest measuring it by the level of education of the general populace

education is not accessible in nigeria, especially higher education, you are delusional if you think that and the literacy rates are not bullshyt they are typical for most african countries which is about 50%

 

[sakano]

so were people on the same page as Bush?, I know they werent on the same page as Blair and he still went to war....... your argument is simplistic If the US govt were doing things you didnt agree with are you going to go Syria on them? why do you think there were so many wars in Africa? because the people were not on the same page as the government.... and look what it caused

Even if you have a good professor, if the students aren't committed to their studies, then it's for naught.
Even if you have a good boss, if the employees refuse to step up, then it's for naught.
Even if you have good parents, if a kid still decides to goof off in life, then it's for naught.

Of course, having good governance/role models/authority figures certainly helps. But at the end of the day, both parties must be committed to the same values for it to work.

 

[Nemesis]

nigeria imports most of its gasoline

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/17/nigeria-gasoline-idUSL6N0I53CS20131017


yeah you can measure wealth and poverty anyway you want, im just saying i would suggest measuring it by the level of education of the general populace

education is not accessible in nigeria, especially higher education, you are delusional if you think that and the literacy rates are not bullshyt they are typical for most african countries which is about 50%

lol.... Nigeria doesnt import most of its gasoline...... the reason why gasoline was being imported was that the it was cheaper for the oil barons to import rather than refine locally because they were receiving a big subsidy from the government .......people were making millions of dollars a week from the scam

To say education is not accessible in Nigeria is false and stupid...... there are schools everywhere but unlike in the west attending school is not compulsory so for a myriad of reasons people do not get educated....

higher education in nigeria is as accessible as it is in america every state has at least two universities so I dont know where you got that nonsense from.......the biggest barrier to higher education is financial as there are no student loans

 

[Micky Mikey]

not the same government, they have elections but just like America they have a political class and most are people are interconnected ......Its the same in the western world so dont act like its any different...Obama is one of the few people who has reached the top in the states who I believe was a genuine outsider

The same circle has been ruling Nigeria for 50 years. Poverty is high. Illiteracy is high. Corruption is high. And they've still managed to hold power all these years? Again, whose fault is that?
The living conditions in America are drastically different than those in Nigeria. I'm not saying American politics is any different but for many American that standard of living outweighs the level of corruption that takes place in the capitol. Most Nigerians don't have that luxury. Because most Nigerians are living in poverty. In any western nation with unemployment and poverty levels that high, you'd have mass protest. Yet this seems to be commonplace for much of Africa and yet their "spring" has yet to come. What other reason for this then a lack of concern and an overall apathy on part of the African populace. One would have to conclude that African people have an inferiority complex. I'm not saying that's what it all boils down to but it is a factor for why we see no effort on part of the African people to change their condition.

 

[Nemesis]

Like I said before there is a lot of bullshyt propaganda...

China buys up American debt

The same circle has been ruling Nigeria for 50 years. Poverty is high. Illiteracy is high. Corruption is high. And they've still managed to hold power all these years? Again, whose fault is that?
The living conditions in America are drastically different than those in Nigeria. I'm not saying American politics is any different but for many American that standard of living outweighs the level of corruption that takes place in the capitol. Most Nigerians don't have that luxury. Because most Nigerians are living in poverty. In any western nation with unemployment and poverty levels that high, you'd have mass protest. Yet this seems to be commonplace for much of Africa and yet their "spring" has yet to come. What other reason for this then a lack of concern and an overall apathy on part of the African populace. One would have to conclude that African people have an inferiority complex. I'm not saying that's what it all boils down to but it is a factor for why we see no effort on part of the African people to change their condition.

you say apathy?...do you know how many wars there have been in Africa because people dont agree with their governments?

do you actually know any history of the continent? do you think people went to war just because they felt like it?......

smh....dude the "springs" happened years ago and we learnt from it

is Libya a better place
is Egypt
is Syria


Please dont bring that apathy nonsense to the discussion, we have had our fair share of wars

 

[Captain Crunch]

@Don Drogo @NYC Rebel
Nigeria possess most of it's resources, also has there been a significant increase of wealth(businesses; real estate) acquired by Nigerians in the past 10 years?

 

[Nemesis]

for so called independent thinking people I see many people in here spouting the typical western government line...

The original post about China raping Africa is typical...

when they put money in the US or in the UK its "investment" when its in Africa all of a sudden its something else, a double standard which no one yet in this thread has addressed ...

plus China have never sponsored any coups or pushed for regime change which America is definitely guilty of.... much better to do business with the chinese than the American govt , and thats not being personal its just based on history

I learnt long ago to see things for myself before I come to judgements based on other people biased analysis....

My business is located in Africa , I travel between there and the UK every month.....

If I were to say things were great I would be lying and deluded.... If I were to say they were as bad as the media were making it out to be I would be equally as wrong

The growth rate in Nigeria is phenomenal , I cant speak of other countries because I dont know, the economy is booming and the one thing the government is getting right is going down the road of privatization

 

[sakano]

so were people on the same page as Bush?, I know they werent on the same page as Blair and he still went to war....... your argument is simplistic If the US govt were doing things you didnt agree with are you going to go Syria on them? why do you think there were so many wars in Africa? because the people were not on the same page as the government.... and look what it caused

Even if you have a good professor, if the students aren't committed to their studies, then it's for naught.
Even if you have a good boss, if the employees refuse to step up, then it's for naught.
Even if you have good parents, if a kid still decides to goof off in life, then it's for naught.

Of course, having good governance/role models/authority figures certainly helps. But at the end of the day, both parties must be committed to the same values for it to work.

 

[Nemesis]

Even if you have a good professor, if the students aren't committed to their studies, then it's for naught.
Even if you have a good boss, if the employees refuse to step up, then it's for naught.
Even if you have good parents, if a kid still decides to goof off in life, then it's for naught.

Of course, having good governance/role models/authority figures certainly helps. But at the end of the day, both parties must be committed to the same values for it to work.

of course and everything you say makes sense, my disagreement is with the notion that people stood idly by when the reality is too many wars were fought because people werent happy with bad governance....

the good thing is finally things are changing in terms of economic prospects (thats not to say they couldnt be better of course)....

The people I feel really sorry for are the Arab spring nations...... they are literally gonna learn the hard way

 

[Matt504]

does Nigeria or any other African countries for that matter, owe any money to the World Bank?

 

[ltheghost]

When all the countries in Africa become unified and get a nuclear weapon.