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safetyblitz
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Posted: Sunday October 1st, 2006 21:17 |
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ayanfe2006 wrote: Good news y'all. I spoke to a Nigerian homeboy from another Online forum. I was aiming to post his strategy for African Development. I will be posting from a thread of his in that forum which contains his strategy for African Development.
Two things:
(1) He will like to be credited for whatever is posted, both username and weblink.
(2) It was written for Nigeria but it applies to all other African countries. By the way his language was abit condescending, but we can work around it.
I will be creating a new thread for the African Development for his strategy.
Ayanfe
Post a link here because it may in a slimmed down way be a good idea on how to rebuild our communities here.
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ayanfe2006
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Posted: Sunday October 1st, 2006 23:47 |
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| I could do that. The reason I am using a new thread is so that people can post questions that I can forward to him. I'll be putting the first part now.
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defyfear
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Posted: Thursday October 12th, 2006 03:24 |
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Coming back with some info related to this matter hopefully
Ask anybody here in my area do they think Africa can export food to the rest of the world...without a second thought they would say no...to many images damaged their view however its happening
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/06/magazines/business2/Exporting_food_Africa.biz2/index.htm
Now if foreign influences can transform Africa but they cannot do it without the leaders of African states assisting in this matter.
Here in America little do the American people know is that when college students go overseas with their instructors group etc students can get college credit and gifts that can establish their professional career for such efforts. So if we see groups of young Americans going to Africa it's not
Why you going to such a downtrodden and risky place such as Africa?
It's more like
What are you getting out of donating your development in Africa ultimately?
This article speaks in detail of what I am trying to reach for
http://www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/religion_and_ethics/article/0,1375,VCS_151_4997688,00.html
Again here Africa governments are cooperative to allow this to occur.
But when an African of world stature goes to Africa with different intentions to speak to the people of his country about issues of the changing world, the government is not so cooperative
In this case
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Emeagwali-technology home coming that never was (Part 2)
By Chris Uwaje
Posted to the Web: Wednesday, September 27, 2006
$25 per hour as nurses in the United States. If my father had had the opportunity my sisters did, he certainly would have immigrated to the United States as a young nurse. The “brain drain� explains, in part, why affluent Africans fly to London for their medical treatments.
Furthermore, because a significant percentage of African doctors and nurses practice in U.S. hospitals, we can reasonably conclude that African medical schools are de facto serving the American people, not Africa. A recent World Bank survey shows that African universities are exporting a large percentage of their graduating manpower to the United States. In a given year, the World Bank estimates that 70,000 skilled Africans immigrate to Europe and the United States.
While these 70,000 skilled Africans are fleeing the continent in search of employment and decent wages, 100,000 skilled expatriates who are paid wages higher than the prevailing rate in Europe are hired to replace them. In Nigeria, the petroleum industry hires about 1,000 skilled expatriates, even though we can find similar skills within the African Diaspora. Instead of developing its own manpower resources, Nigeria prefers to contract out its oil exploration despite the staggeringly high price of having to concede 40% of its profits to foreign oil companies.�
Expediting on his home-coming plans, Philip wrote: “By Nigerian standard, this tour will be very expensive but ambitious. Therefore, I expect the major oil companies to financially co-sponsor it. The reason is that Nigerian government officials will not understand the costs of such a tour and will not believe the amount of speaking fee that I have waived to speak in Nigeria for four weeks. Personally, speaking takes a great emotional toll and plus significant loss in income and for this reason, I have declined more than 100 speaking invitations from Nigeria.
To give Nigerian officials an idea of what it costs to speak, I will recommend that they read the March, 22, 1999 issue of FORBES magazine which noted that the speaking fees for a renown technologist is $40,000 (forty thousand US dollars), plus expenses per one-hour speech. The reason for such high speaking fees is that high profile speaking is complex and requires a lot of preparation. The bottom line is that American corporations believe that knowledge and wisdom from the best and brightest speakers translates into business profits. What will Nigeria gain from my visit? First, I will expect to have an intimate dialogue with the Nigerian people on a wide range of issues.
During my thirty-day tour of Nigeria, I will expect to obtain at least 100 million media impressions within Nigeria. For example, in 1996, THE GUARDIAN newspaper wrote five articles about my work in one week for a total of 500,000 impressions. During my visit, THE GUARDING could write 10 articles for 1 million impressions. If 100 Nigerian print and broadcast media give similar coverage, we could get 100 million impressions. My pre-interview with BBC, US National Public Radio and Voice of America will be heard by up to 100 million listeners. Furthermore, CNN World Report and print wire services such as PANA, Reuters and AFP could carry the story to a potential worldwide audience of one billion people. These numbers are just guess-estimates but you get the idea of what is possible, with careful planning and orchestration. The winner from the positive publicity will be Nigeria.
This will be good for the Nigerian image and is much more cost-effective way for Nigeria to do public relations. For example, the Nigerian Government occasionally spends $100,000 (One thousand US dollars) to buy a page of advertisement in the Wall Street Journal which has 1 million circulation. Alternatively, Nigeria could spend $100,000 on this event and get 100 million (and possibly one billion) positive and credible impressions or spend up to $100 million to buy the same number of media impressions as newspaper ads. Another mission that I will like to accomplish will be to promote and publicize the need for the Senate to establish a one percent technology tax on all imported technological products and exported raw materials.
Revenue from the technology tax will be used to help reduce the technology knowledge gap between the western world and Nigeria, This means that ITAN, COAN, Universities and the Ministry of Science and Technology will have more money to carry out their respective mandates. African Scientists are “endangered species�. The Media coverage will inspire African Youths to study science and , as we know, technology is the engine that drives economic growth. I have a lot more to say but will save them for my speech. Regards, Philip Emeagwali. http://emeagwali.com.
----------------------------------------------------
The something is seriously wrong. At least in my eyes. I feel its alot worst than I initially realized.
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defyfear
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Posted: Thursday October 12th, 2006 03:44 |
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Appreciate Vubundada_Kandaba for sharing his interest about metalworking.
From this very matter, I come to realize it can be a reliable tool for the common person such as jobs perhaps where they are most available to the white collar worker like where to invest in what businesses.
Business terms such as "trends" come to mind.
Metalworking represent big business state side, more so now with technology then ever
http://www.reliableplant.com/article.asp?pagetitle=Manufacturing%20technology%20consumption%20up%2022.3%25%20in%20'06&articleid=2925
Plus other jobs connected to it such as office/administrative jobs.
But overall the behind the scenes of it all has a mystery behind it that few who dare to shed light too and I am willing to bet Africa is somewhere in this but not at the front more like being stripped away in the back.
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defyfear
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Posted: Friday October 13th, 2006 03:35 |
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Was checking this article and it mentions Kwame Nkrumah was attempting to establish a 'Science City' or research arm in Ghana. Don't know the details or sources behind it in terms of his Nkrumah's vision in these regards. But still his intentions seem to be known but today it appears to be a different matter.
Science & Technology, stupid!
09/10/2006
Saturday, Qanawu read this Reuters report from London with some interest: Tens of thousands of British children go to failing schools which should be closed because they are so poor, a senior government adviser said.
"There are these 80,000 going to schools that are underperforming, and some very badlyunderperforming,� Taylor told the BBC in an interview.
“They vary so much. Some are so bad they ought to be shut down quickly and some are struggling and need help.� Bad GCSE results suggest about 500 UK schools are seriously underperforming, he added.
The situation is far worse in Ghana. Figures seen by Qanawu show that in this year's BECE in Ghana, the average pass mark for the over 300,000 students in English was under 20 percent in 2006, as compared to a little under 25 percent last year.
The figures are even worse for general science, with several schools not getting a single pass mark.
When in November 25, 1964, Kwame Nkrumah laid the foundation stone of Ghana's Atomic Reactor at Kwabenya, his vision was to create a special scientific institution where members of the Academy of Sciences would live and work.
We are reminded by E A Haizel that this was the Science City, with a 'Palace of Science’ to contain laboratories, research institutes “and be a centre where the Academy would undertake pilot industries based on its discoveries.� It was to even have a National Bureau of Standards to test the quality of manufactured goods.
Last week, two prominent Ghanaians, one a politician and the other a scientist, re-iterated the indisputable fact that our pursuit of growth, development and prosperity must be driven by science and technology.
Edward Ayensu, Chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, told The Statesman last week that “we are joking as a country,� until we begin to take science and technology (S & T) seriously.
To buttress his point, he cited the way Science as a Ministry has faced several evictions in the last few years, which to him reflected how much of a priority it is considered.
He could have further shored up his point had he disclosed (as Qanawu is now) that the CSIR uses 93 percent of its annual budget to pay salaries. Only 3 percent actually goes into research and development (R & D)!
Earlier in February, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD, in referring students and lecturers to the role of KNUST to Ghana’s future perspective, stated, “History teaches us that the greatest resource a society can possess is its people.
Ghana’s future depends on the accelerated growth of the economy, which is best fed by knowledge, particularly in the fields of science and technology.�
Again last Saturday at the UDS, he reiterated to students and lecturers that “Our future competitiveness as a nation, and our quest for advanced status as a nation, are fated for a crash-landing without the major impact of science and technology.�
He continued, “For our part as government, I think we can do much more to develop science and technology in Ghana. It would be cost-effective and significantly better, if we take a pan-African approach to this.
I would like to see an African Union whose leadership prioritise science and technology. An African Union, whose membership breaks down the geographical barriers between the continent’s scientists.�
In saying this, the Minister in charge of NEPAD was aware that there is already in place the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology and its Steering Committee for Science and Technology consolidates the science and technology programmes of the African Union Commission and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.
And, that next January, the heads of member states of the AU will meet to discuss S&T in what will be a unique opportunity to support the continent’s scientific renaissance.
Africa’s scientific community, for example, will have an opportunity to develop its case at a meeting of scientists and policy-makers planned for October in Alexandria, Egypt.
The meeting, which takes place between 27-30 October, will present its recommendations to the African Union summit next year. But, even before that, next week, 15-16 October, there is an inter-ministerial Dialogue on Building an African Network of Centres of Excellence in Water Sciences and Technology.
Also, the importance of providing support for science and technology was emphasised by an African finance ministers meeting in Nigeria in November 2004 to discuss the initial draft of an international development report for Africa. This meeting identified “infrastructure, agriculture, science, technology and related tertiary education� as “top priorities towards realising Africa’s development aspirations.�
Clearly there is an African recognition that S&T is the only way forward, no short-cuts. This point was strongly made last June, when science academies of the G8 group of the world’s most industrialised countries and the Network of African Science Academies in a statement, warned that Africa’s problems will only be overcome if science and technology are made an integral part of the solution. “Without embedding science, technology and innovation in development we fear that ambitions for Africa will fail,� said the statement.
The statement was signed by the science academies of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The need is to not only invest in S&T in Africa, but also to increase the continent’s ability to solve its own problems by strengthening its higher education sector and helping nations train scientists. Thus, in 2005, ministers and senior government officials from a broad range of African countries met in Senegal to discuss what should be done to enhance science and technology capacity on their continent.
They endorsed the Consolidated Science and Technology Plan of Action worth more than $160 million, which sets out an ambitious set of projects to boost African science. It is still in a discussive stage, but there is the need for our media, scientists and all to put pressure on the politicians to make that recognition tell.
The projects listed in the plan, for instance, range from biodiversity research to laser technology. Every single one of them must be an Africa-led initiative, informed by the feeling that this would enhance Africa’s efforts to tackle its own problems and economic needs in an integrated manner.
The projects would operate at either a regional or continental level, complementing the parallel efforts of national governments to boost science and technology.
Over the last couple of years, Africa’s search for development roadmaps has been signposted by S&T and R&D pointers.
Another example, the now defunct 17-member Commission for Africa set up to review the challenges facing Africa, concluded that science and technology have a critical role to play in promoting economic growth and social progress.
It acknowledged, that scientific skills and knowledge bring about “step-changes� in areas ranging from health, water supply, sanitation and energy to the new challenges of urbanisation and climate change. But the report — published in March 2005 — also said that “critically, [scientific skills] unlock the potential of innovation and technology to accelerate economic growth and enter the global economy.�
As a result, said the commission, specific action for strengthening science, engineering and technology capacity, “is an imperative for Africa.� Strengthening universities across the particular, it proposed that rich countries commit themselves to providing a combined sum of $500 million a year over a ten-year period to this end.
The Blair commission also supported the idea that a range of centres of research excellence should be created across Africa, each focusing on developing a strong research base and teaching the technical skills required in particular areas of high technology.
It calculated a commitment of up $3 billion over a ten-year period to this end. Identifying the most promising areas of research for such centres, as well as their location, would be carried out in collaboration with the science and technology commission of the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) and the African Union.
An initiative being put together jointly by Akilapka Sawyerr’s Association of African Universities — the body that brings together representatives of almost 140 universities from across the African continent — with the London-based Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the South African vice-chancellors’ association must be encouraged.
These three bodies have already drafted a proposal for a ten-year investment strategy to address the weaknesses of African universities, many of which have been experiencing dramatic resource shortage in recent years.
But, are the politicians ready to cough out funding? Is the private sector ready to vote with their bank accounts to encourage establishing that crucial town and gown link between the academia and business?
A study has shown that at present, there are more African scientists and engineers working in the United States than there are in Africa.
Yet, we need not see the brain drain from Africa as a one-way street - one country gains “brains� that are “drained� out of another.
The new thinking is that both sides gain from this kind of migration – the creation and transfer of knowledge, the emergence of a skilled and educated workforce, and the fostering of commercial ties – are shared to some extent by countries on both sides of the equation.
Our scientists who were forced by harsh local conditions to travel abroad have grown more in intellect; it is the duty of our leaders back home to work out how those expatriates can be made to contribute to Africa’s S&T growth.
Last edited on Friday October 13th, 2006 03:39 by defyfear
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Posted: Saturday October 14th, 2006 00:02 |
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@defyfear. I have always been interested in Machines, Instruments and Equipments design and Metals (Metallurgy), that is why I studied Mechanical Engineering in College with graduate studies in Petroleum Engineering and further extra graduate studies in Mechanical Engineering.
Thanks for the articles. I never knew that Kwame Nkrumah was trying to develop a City for Science, Engineering & Technology. I was working on a similar concept three (3) years ago and I have not finished it, but I was borrowing heavily from the South African CSIR ( Center for Scientific & Industrial Research) that was established in 1945. I started working on developing some simple concepts and looking back at the past to learn from the mistakes by former and present leaders all over Africa and the World.
I have always said that part of the trouble/problems Africa is facing is of our own creation, particularly our Leaders Fault. Even when I was still a kid I could see many things being done the wrong way. I remember back in Africa when I was still a kid, behind our Football field was the storage facilities for the Ministry of Agriculture. I saw them bring in expensive Agricultural equipment from Switzerland and just placed them outside in wooden crates, instead of installing the equipments and putting it to use. I saw those wooden crates, rust and slowly the Brand New Agricultural Equipments began to rust away exposed to the elements of the sun and rain. That was always reminder of the waste that is being generated and the money that is being thrown away.
Alot of the problems in Africa are easy to fix and correct, it just needs good leaders that can organize the people and a long term vision for the future. I have always been concerned about the environment and our Wildlife in Africa and I did a study on how to correct those problems. For instance there was study that mentioned that, if we unite all the Military/Armies in Africa instead of fighting wars, within Fifteen (15) years we can turn the Sahara desert into fertile land.
If we coordinate the people then we can accomplish a lot and the sky will be our limit. A lot of people don't know but for example, Nigeria is loosing over a Billion Tons of fertile soil every year. The same is happening in Malawi with lake Malawi shrinking. All over Africa is the same problem and the leaders who are suppose to take action are no where to be found. Africa is indeed a blessed Continent, if only we can put to use certain procedures. For instance because of the Nile, the African Country of Sudan can produce enough food using the waters of the Nile to feed the entire African Continent. Currently the biggest Irrigation Scheme in Sudan is being Mechanized. It covers an area larger than the entire island of Jamaica, and it is about 120 miles by 60 miles irrigated using the Nile Waters. Their are dozens of such areas all over the Country. Here is the website for the South African CSIR (Center for Scientific & Industrial Research "http://www.csir.co.za/plsql/ptl0002/PTL0002_PGE001_HOME"
Here is what I highlighted from the articles you posted.
"A recent World Bank survey shows that African universities are exporting a large percentage of their graduating manpower to the United States. In a given year, the World Bank estimates that 70,000 skilled Africans immigrate to Europe and the United States.
While these 70,000 skilled Africans are fleeing the continent in search of employment and decent wages, 100,000 skilled expatriates who are paid wages higher than the prevailing rate in Europe are hired to replace them. In Nigeria, the petroleum industry hires about 1,000 skilled expatriates, even though we can find similar skills within the African Diaspora. Instead of developing its own manpower resources, Nigeria prefers to contract out its oil exploration despite the staggeringly high price of having to concede 40% of its profits to foreign oil companies.�
something is seriously wrong. At least in my eyes. I feel its alot worst than I initially realized.
When in November 25, 1964, Kwame Nkrumah laid the foundation stone of Ghana's Atomic Reactor at Kwabenya, his vision was to create a special scientific institution where members of the Academy of Sciences would live and work.
We are reminded by E A Haizel that this was the Science City, with a 'Palace of Science’ to contain laboratories, research institutes “and be a centre where the Academy would undertake pilot industries based on its discoveries.� It was to even have a National Bureau of Standards to test the quality of manufactured goods.
Edward Ayensu, Chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, told The Statesman last week that “we are joking as a country,� until we begin to take science and technology (S & T) seriously.
I would like to see an African Union whose leadership prioritise science and technology. An African Union, whose membership breaks down the geographical barriers between the continent’s scientists.�
Clearly there is an African recognition that S&T is the only way forward, no short-cuts. This point was strongly made last June, when science academies of the G8 group of the world’s most industrialised countries and the Network of African Science Academies in a statement, warned that Africa’s problems will only be overcome if science and technology are made an integral part of the solution. “Without embedding science, technology and innovation in development we fear that ambitions for Africa will fail,� said the statement.
Clearly there is an African recognition that S&T is the only way forward, no short-cuts. This point was strongly made last June, when science academies of the G8 group of the world’s most industrialised countries and the Network of African Science Academies in a statement, warned that Africa’s problems will only be overcome if science and technology are made an integral part of the solution. “Without embedding science, technology and innovation in development we fear that ambitions for Africa will fail,� said the statement.
The need is to not only invest in S&T in Africa, but also to increase the continent’s ability to solve its own problems by strengthening its higher education sector and helping nations train scientists. Thus, in 2005, ministers and senior government officials from a broad range of African countries met in Senegal to discuss what should be done to enhance science and technology capacity on their continent.
They endorsed the Consolidated Science and Technology Plan of Action worth more than $160 million, which sets out an ambitious set of projects to boost African science. It is still in a discussive stage, but there is the need for our media, scientists and all to put pressure on the politicians to make that recognition tell.
The projects listed in the plan, for instance, range from biodiversity research to laser technology. Every single one of them must be an Africa-led initiative, informed by the feeling that this would enhance Africa’s efforts to tackle its own problems and economic needs in an integrated manner.
The projects would operate at either a regional or continental level, complementing the parallel efforts of national governments to boost science and technology.
Over the last couple of years, Africa’s search for development roadmaps has been signposted by S&T and R&D pointers.
As a result, said the commission, specific action for strengthening science, engineering and technology capacity, “is an imperative for Africa.� Strengthening universities across the particular, it proposed that rich countries commit themselves to providing a combined sum of $500 million a year over a ten-year period to this end.
A study has shown that at present, there are more African scientists and engineers working in the United States than there are in Africa.
Yet, we need not see the brain drain from Africa as a one-way street - one country gains “brains� that are “drained� out of another.
The new thinking is that both sides gain from this kind of migration – the creation and transfer of knowledge, the emergence of a skilled and educated workforce, and the fostering of commercial ties – are shared to some extent by countries on both sides of the equation.
Our scientists who were forced by harsh local conditions to travel abroad have grown more in intellect; it is the duty of our leaders back home to work out how those expatriates can be made to contribute to Africa’s S&T growth".
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Posted: Sunday October 22nd, 2006 22:51 |
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The way Forward towards Economic Prosperity is through Small Scale Industries. By Vubundada.
Swillas Engineering
Swilllas Engineering is a renewable energy company they "...are involved in the engineering design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of solar powered inverters for residential buildings and industrial applications..." Their product system line includes:
Stand Alone Systems
Hybrid Systems
Inverter with Batteries
 
SWILLAS ENGINEERING LIMITED is an indigenous Engineering company, located at 31, Airport Road, by Old Airport, Effurun-Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.
In partnership with our foreign technical partner we are capable of providing solar power supply for Residential buildings. We have over fiveï´¾5ï´¿ years of practical field experience.
We are involved in the engineering design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of solar powered inverters for Residential buildings and industrial applications. With the aid of our foreign technical partner, we are capable of carrying out the following activities and operation in the solar powered inverters/systems.
 Design
 Manufacture
 Installation
 Maintenance.
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Tropical Cables
Founded by Tony Oteng-Gyasi the awardwinning Tropical Cables "...manufactures Aluminium and Copper Overhead line Conductors and a wide range of insulated cables, for both electrical and telecommunication purposes..."Their product range includes:
 
Flexible Cables (Cords)
Telecommunication Cables
Overhead Line Conductors
Low Voltage Power Cables
Non-Sheathed cables for fixed wiring
INTRODUCTION TO OUR COMPANY
Tropical Cable and Conductor Ltd. was established in 1997 to meet the growing demand for cables and conductors in the West African Sub region and beyond.
From a modern factory located in Tema, the industrial heart of Ghana, the company manufactures Aluminium and Copper Overhead Line Conductors and a wide range of Insulated Cables for both electrical and telecommunication purposes.
The Quality management System of Tropical Cable and Conductor Ltd. is ISO 9001: 2000 certified.
Customers include the utilities (Electricity Company of Ghana, Volta River Authority, Ghana Telecom), real estate developers, mines, electrical contractors and a nationwide distributor network. Exports sales are increasingly important.
TCCL’s products conform to customer specifications such as: British (BS), French (NFC), German (DIN), American (ASTM) or other international standard (IEC). We also manufacture to Ghana Standard GS 38.
The facilities include production area of 2,000 m², office space 500 m² and outdoor storage space of 15,000 m². TCCL has an annual production capacity of 3,000 metric tonnes.
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Kampalan BikePhones; Kampala, Uganda
A mobile and wireless phone kiosk in Kamapala draws its power from a car battery (in the red box, photo below). Despite its bicyclesque design they were not particularly mobile - one or more tyres were often flat and they remained tethered in one place for the duration of the day. However this design does support fine tuning the position where the telephony service is offered compared to fixed infrastructure.
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True African
"...The first company in Uganda to offer downloadable music via their website...".and an information services provider True African ,"...designs, implements, and maintains software solutions to meet the need at hand. From ‘simple’ solutions such as managing audience participation in competitions, setting up SMS gateways and IVR systems, to complex challenges such as electronic media monitoring, e-commerce, mobile banking and voice over IP solutions that True African is currently responsible for, the company has proved its competence as a technology company and a local leader in innovation..."
 
Additional Reporting by White African.
It’s funny how connections work. I got an email from a gentleman by the name of Eric Kamau while I was at this weekends RVA Centennial celebration in Kijabe. He’s the head of True African, a web/mobile company out of Uganda. The timing was surprising because Eric is an RVA Alumni as well. So, from the beginning we had two connections: RVA and technology (add in nyama choma if you like as well).
However, True African was built on providing value added services to mobile phone users. They offer a free SMS service on their website that thas attracted over 700k users. True african also offers downloadable ringtones and logos (icons). They have also pioneered mobile based banking through direct partnerships with local banks.
There was a lot more ground covered than just what True African is about, or what I’m doing with Zangu. Mobile banking kept popping it’s head up, as it did when Nicholas and I met last week. It’s really an area that has a huge need. Now, mind you we’re not talking about just general banking online or mobile phone, we’re talking about micro-banking, micro-credit and micro-enterprise support. That’s where the long-tail is.
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Cautery Machine
Sunday Aigbogun an innovater in the medical equipment field developed the Cautery Machine to provide an alternative to costlier and less appropriate devices. Its function is "To improve on the use of scalpel blade for operation in minor theatre with it's attendant side effects."
via 1000 inventions. Cauterization is a medical term describing the burning of the body to remove or close a part of it. The main forms of cauterization used today are electrocautery and chemical cautery. Cautery can also mean the branding of a human, either recreational or forced. Accidental burns can be considered cauterization as well.
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Umbrolly
Founded by Charles Ejogo Umbrolly is a leading multi-media umbrella vending machine company.Their "...full sized Umbrolly unit has a capacity of 300 umbrellas, and is suitable for installation into the busiest sites. It can be floor or wall mounted or freestanding, and can be supplied with or without the 42-inch plasma screen..."
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EduVision: Uganda and Kenya
"...The EduVision E-Learning System (EELS) is an end-to end content management system that can efficiently distribute educational material in real-time to anywhere on the African continent. The project involves transforming curriculum content into a digital form, making it available to a greater number of pupils at a lower cost. Pupils will access the material via a simplified tablet computer, or eSlate, which will be wirelessly connected to their school’s BaseStation, a unit that downloads content from satellite radio. As a result, EELS is not confined to cities and the few rural schools with electricity, it is designed to work in the most remote of regions..."
At EduVision we see a world where every child has access to an education. Where vast quantities of news and art and knowledge and ideas are shared openly for the benefit of all, irrespective of borders, wealth, geography and infrastructure. A world in which anyone with the desire to learn can do so. Where access to technologies and practices that can greatly augment standard of living in needy regions is widespread. Where knowledge specific to certain audiences or locales can be communicated to them, quickly and without hassle. Envision a world where a student at a remote village school on the Kenya-Uganda border has access to a library of some 15 million books.
The EduVision Pilot Project is sowing the first seeds of an attempt to realize this dream.
The information age, though heavy-laden with promises, has brought few benefits to the developing world. While technological breakthroughs are being made in the West, Africa’s rural poulation reaps little from these achievements. EduVision proposes a new way of thinking about education and new media in the context of the third world. Ideally this project will spurn further innovative thinking and solutions, ideas that will allow the developing world to benefit from the "information age" the way the developed one has done.
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Twiga Chemicals
 
An ISO certified company Twiga chemicals has gross annual sales of about $15 (US)million employs over 180 people with regional offices in Dar-Es-Salam and Kampala its product range includes the following:
Twiga Chemical Industries Ltd., with a fifty five year old track record of business integrity, professional values and ethical senses, brings to you the new look website as our way of keeping up with advances in technology and communications. It is for these relevant and contemporary principles that we follow, that many in business refer to Twiga as a reputed gateway for meeting their requirements of various products ranging from chemicals, pharmaceuticals, industrial products, animal health, bakery, etc. Last edited on Monday October 23rd, 2006 14:19 by Vubundada_Kandaba
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Vubundada_Kandaba
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Posted: Monday October 23rd, 2006 10:13 |
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Sunday, August 20, 2006
Ten Rules for Developing Countries:
Kishore Mahbubani author of "Can Asians Think?" offers his ten rules for developing countries:
I. Thou shalt blame only thyself for thy failures in development. Blaming imperialism, colonialism, and neo-imperialism is a convenient excuse to avoid self-examination.
II. Thou shalt acknowledge that corruption is the single most important cause of failures in development. Developed countries are not free from corruption, but with their affluences they can afford to indulge in saving and loan scandals.
III. Thou shalt not subsidize any product, nor punish the farmer in order to favor the city dweller. High prices are the only effective signal to increase production. If there are food riots, thou shalt resign from office.
IV. Thou shalt abandon state control for free markets. Thou shalt have faith in thine own population. An alive and productive population naturally causes development.
V. Thou shalt borrow no more. Thou shalt get foreign investment that pays for itself. Thou shalt build only the infrastructure that is needed and create no white elephants or railways that end in the deserts. Thou shalt accept no aid that is intended only to subsidize ailing industries in developed countries.
VI. Thou shalt not reinvent the wheel. Millions of people have gone through the path of development. Take the well-traveled roads. Be not prisoners of dead ideologies.
VII. Thou shalt scrub the ideas of Karl Marx out of thy mind and replace them with ideas of Adam Smith. The Germans have made their choice. Thou shalt follow suit.
VIII. Thou shalt be humble when developing and not lecture the developed world on their sins. They listened politely in the 1960s and 1970s. they no longer will in the 1990s. [still relevant in 2000s]
IX. Thou shalt abandon all North-South forums, which only encourage hypocritical speeches and token gestures. Thou shalt remember that countries that have received the greatest amount of aid per capita have failed most spectacularly in development. Thou shalt throw out all theories of development.
X. Thou shalt not abandon hope. People are the same the world over. What Europe achieved yesterday, the developing world will achieve tomorrow . It can be done.
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Friday, September 01, 2006
Manufacturing's Rise: The India Story
The New York Times reports:
For decades, India followed a route to economic development strikingly different from that of countries like Japan, South Korea or China. While its Asian rivals placed their bets on manufacturing and exports, India focused on its domestic economy and grew more slowly with an emphasis on services. But all that is starting to change.
India’s annual growth in manufacturing output, at 9 percent and accelerating, is close to catching growth in services, at 10 percent. Exports of manufactured goods to the United States are now rising faster in percentage terms than China’s, although from a much smaller base. More than two-thirds of foreign investment in the last year has gone into manufacturing in India, not services.
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Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Kofi Akosah-Sarpong writes:
Africa has seen all kinds of development paradigms that have never fully factored in her rich values and experiences, unlike places like Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia. Why should Africa be made to go through all these non-African-created development paradigms? Because the Western world thought that Africans are not developed, or more appropriately, not "civilized," and that they could replicate their values and experiences in Africa in their self-imposed "civilizing mission." They did this without factoring in Africa's values and experiences because they wanted to play God by re-creating Africans in their development image...Still, in terms of Africa's development progress, almost all the foreign development paradigms are not bad. The problems have been how to mix Africa's environment with these development paradigms so as to facilitate a better sustainable development, as advocates of the modernization theory say. This inability of African elites to creatively mix their values and experiences with their colonial legacies and the enabling aspects of the global development values, have not only seen Western governments continue largely with the modernization theory but also international development agencies' programs that come in the form of foreign development aid.
Last edited on Monday October 23rd, 2006 14:15 by Vubundada_Kandaba
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Runaway Mayhem; Sonja Wanda, the Next Naomi Campbell & the face on London Double Decker Buses, Spring 2004.
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Tahliba
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Posted: Saturday November 4th, 2006 02:26 |
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Will someone prompt/remind me to come back to this thread...
At some point
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BIG L
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Posted: Monday November 6th, 2006 20:55 |
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@ Vubundada Kandaba
A few posts back You mentioned that you did a degree in Mechanical Engineering? What Uni did you go to and when did you get your BEng degree?
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"Go on look at it!!!... that's capatlism, the new fuck Monster, pretty is'nt it? made on the backs of slaves!! so whatca Gonna do about it?"
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Vubundada_Kandaba
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Posted: Tuesday November 7th, 2006 13:56 | | | |
