Steam Trains From Great Britain and Beyond

Breaking the cycle of poverty in Africa, where infrastructure investment

infrastructure investment and democracy as a form of government in Africa is the only solution to the underdevelopment of Africa and impoverishment. The continent is lagging behind all continents in the world in terms of economic and social development. All countries that make up the African continent have economic problems namely unemployment, higher deficits, poor economic and social infrastructure including roads, ports, education, airports, telecommunications, health and sanitation.

Centuries of slavery and colonialism on the continent of private resources human capacity and economic. When men and women can have been killed while working in the plantations of the Americas (in all 30-40000000 euros), natural resources plundered by which European countries including Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy. After slavery was abolished the plundering of natural resources continued. The irony is that virtually all the income from these resources has been used to finance economic and infrastructure development of European countries with little or nothing used to develop different countries where these resources originate. A clear example is the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where King Leopold II of Belgium in African slavery, the forced to work without pay, have killed about 10 million and looted the country of its resources and virtually nothing has been used to invest in the country except that the Belgian army weapons used to kill Africans. When the DRC was transferred from Leopold II to the State Belgian looting and killing continued until the DRC gained independence in the 1960s. In fact, the DRC (the Congo Free State) was the main supplier of rubber raw material essential for the tire industry and all the money from the sale of rubber went Belgium. King Leopold II was able to transform Belgium as one of the poorest countries in Europe in one of the richest courtesy enslavement and looting of Africans and their resources.

Belgium was not alone in what they did on the continent. Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Italy have plundered Africa's gold, diamonds, ivory, timber, cobalt, and all the minerals you can think of. The Africans who resisted the illegal activities have been killed by the millions as happened in the South-West Africa (now Namibia), the Germans in 1904-1907 on the first committing genocide of the 20th century by killing the Herero and Namaqua people. While Europe has become richer in Africa were impoverished, and the trend continued until the 1950s when African countries began to gain their "independence'beginning with Libya in 1951, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia in 1956 and all Ghana in 1957.

investment with little or no on the continent the various governments post-colonial legacy of the country with virtually no infrastructure: roads, railways, ports, telecommunications, education, health and sanitation and airports. The only areas which have seen some infrastructure investments in some courses during the colonial era were those where raw materials have been heavily mined. The independence did not come on silver Plata. Algeria, Zimbabwe, Angola, Kenya, Namibia and to some extent in South Africa all gained independence from their colonial masters through the struggles and arms in most cases, the little infrastructure that existed were destroyed in the conflict.

As if slavery, colonialism and plunder of Africa's resources are not enough of the continent has become a battle ground during the Cold War the two superpowers and their allies were fighting the influence and control on the continent mostly for its resources. As a result many African governments that were deemed pro-Russia or America were reversed with the army. One example was the overthrow of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana on February 24, 1966.Another example is the reversal and the assassination of Patrice Lumumba of the Congo on January 17th 1961.Other leaders such as Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for two advocacy for independence or improving the conditions of Africans. CIA and Western intelligence community have been blamed for engineering and reverse assassinations of elected leaders of Africa. For example, Larry Devlin, the CIA station chief in Congo during the days of Patrice Lumumba spoke to the Washington Post in December In 2008, saying he refused an order to assassinate Patrice Lumumba, but his refusal did not prevent the CIA to overthrow the government of Belgium and assassinate. The attempted assassination of Gamal Nasser of Egypt October 24, 1954 and the assassination of President Anwar el-Sadat in 1981 were Developed as the work of Great Britain M16 because of their refusal to hand over the administration of the Suez Canal the British. The CIA, KGB and its allies encouraged and financed wars and political instability across the continent. Angola became the battleground for the CIA, KGB and the Chinese have tried to take control of the country, its people and resources. The civil war that ravaged the country in 1975 was only completed in 1991 after 26 years of conflict. When the war has taken end the little infrastructure that remained after the war of independence (1961-1974) have disappeared.

The product of these assassinations and coups state have been political instability and destruction of lives and want the property, including infrastructure ravaged Africa to today. As the elected leaders of the continent have been assassinated, overthrown and subjected to all forms of tactics of the Cold War, including corruption, twisting arms and blackmail the continent degenerated and faulted on all aspects of human activity. The new crop of leaders leaders who replaced the post-colonial independence and which have been largely puppets of Europe and America, governments have become increasingly authoritarian and corrupt. Joseph Mobutu Seseseku became the Americans' choice after helping assassinate Lumumba ruled Congo for 32 years and during those years the country became poorer than Mobutu and his cronies got richer and the Western countries, particularly in the U.S. and its allies had a free hand to plunder the mineral resources of cobalt most important very important minerals necessary for the development of missiles. little infrastructure activities was carried out by Mobutu. As a result today the Congo can be accessed by boats and canoes mainly by the Congo River.

Like tyrants and dictators had the support of Western governments and did what they wanted with their savings, their people without questions impoverished and the despair and hopelessness are the characteristics of their lives. As the little money that came into state coffers have been taken by corrupt officials and civil servants, there was almost no money to carry out infrastructure development and poverty has accentuated. Poverty, hopelessness and despair have visited the people and coupled with their inability to change their leaders democratically, dissents were sown in the population that serve as breeding grounds for more coups, civil wars and civil unrest. This was the proof in Ghana Nigeria, Niger, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Liberia, Mauritania, Algeria, Gabon, Togo, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Republic Republic, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda and Sierra Leone all experienced strokes in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and even early 1990s. These wave moves have been followed by civil wars that struck Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Congo, Chad, CAR, Somalia, Uganda, Sudan, Angola, Niger and Guinea. These wars outside of her human cost has also contributed to the destruction of roads, ports, airports, lines railways, telecommunications, hospitals, schools and much more. In the absence of infrastructure the country has been unable to progress in terms of economic development. To reverse centuries of slavery and colonialism on the one hand and decades of coups and civil wars, on the other hand, governments should focus their attention on building infrastructure on the continent.

This is because the state of infrastructure on the continent is nothing to write home about: roads, ports, telecommunications, health, education, market and airport are either not exist or are in a terrible state to describe. We have neglected some that existed to decay but we have forgotten that no continent or nation, regardless of the size of the natural resources it can develop without invest in infrastructure. This is why Democratic Republic of Congo has all the minerals you can think they are still one of the poorest on the continent. Therefore, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong has developed and that is why President Obama speaks of strengthening infrastructure of the United States because they are the engines that run on the economy. You can not export if you do not have the ports and airports to support. You can not attract tourists if you do not have the airport, hotels and other infrastructure that support it. You can not move goods from production centers to consumption centers, if you do not water infrastructure of roads, railway lines and through the delivery. You can not provide the industry with physicians, architects, bankers, lawyers, planners, engineers, teachers, nurses, if you do not have the education infrastructure to deliver it. And you can not run a competitive and dynamic economy, if you not have the energy and telecommunications infrastructure in place. Africa has been experiencing severe disruptions in the energy sector for years and no government has seen no wisdom to solve. As a result of the factories are folding and laying off workers, and we expect of nature to help fill our dams prior to rectify the problem. Could these approaches do nothing to solve the problems of our continent and help nations develop? What do we do with the abundance of sun on the continent? We have not taken advantage of it, do we? We have sunny days 365 and we do not tap into the solar energy that is cheap and more reliable than hydro. It is another indication of the institutions unnecessary and that we have paid lip service by the various political parties and their leaders for development. Look around you and see if one products you see are made in Africa. I mean mobile phones, computers, televisions, cars and flashy things that Africans are cracking. It is sad to note that almost all the raw materials necessary for the construction of these mobile phones, cars etc. are obtained from countries of the continent.

To appreciate the importance of infrastructure is the cornerstone of African development Consider transportation infrastructure in a country for example. The development of each country is heavily dependent on a reliable transport infrastructure for internal transport and for linking rural communities to market centers. The role of infrastructure in the economy of a nation not be overemphasized especially its impact on sustainable development, GDP growth, inflation and poverty reduction. effective and efficient delivery transport infrastructure in a country emphasizes all attempts to reduce poverty.

Transportation infrastructure plays key role in unifying all sectors of the economy including agriculture, health, education, commerce, industries and services. It is said that the transport is the thread of life of the economy. Without transport infrastructure of social and economic development in general will stagnate. Infrastructure transport ensures that raw materials are brought to the factory, while manufacturing finished products are also distributed to centers business and communities where they are most often needed. Agricultural products such as food crops are made available through the urban roads, rails, airports and ports. Transportation infrastructure also ensures that services are also products available where they are needed and timely.

Transportation infrastructure makes to the administration of new political entities such as districts, counties and regions easily, because it provides access to social infrastructure facilities such as schools, clinics, hospitals, markets, security services, and administrative offices. The transport infrastructure has a correlation in the improvement of overall living standards of people living in rural areas and communities urban. It improves the quality of life of people and has added benefit of providing rapid, sustainable development and has a long-term reduction poverty.

In areas where transport infrastructure is not available or are damaged in the severe difficulties are encountered in the production, distribution and marketing of goods and services. Such situations also have negative consequences for the patronage of goods and services produced and that the use of these facilities such as clinics, hospitals, markets, and schools. This has a negative impact on the status and quality of life of people affected by such situations, as well as a market effect on production and productivity levels in areas where the state transport infrastructure is poor. It is well recognized that transport infrastructure and also all the investments in infrastructure have correlations in the development and hence the living standards of people.

To move the continent away from its current situation, public works transport infrastructure should be made by all governments. freeways speed rail should be built to connect the different parts of the continent. This will make the transport of bulky goods and raw materials easier. The roads should be built to make transportation less difficult. Nile which is the longest river in the world should be developed as an important network of internal water transport so that products could be transported along the River. Other major rivers like the Limpopo, Zambezi, Congo, Niger, all should be developed to allow goods and people move easily. Every effort should be made to develop technology that will exploit the solar energy potential of the Sahara Desert, to make access to energy easily.

major ports such as Durban, Cape Town, Lagos, Tema, Mombasa, Port Said, Tunis, Tripoli and Benghazi should be prepared to be extended if necessary and every effort should be made to eliminate all bottlenecks Administrative bottlenecks and bureaucracy that trade and development will be crippled. The airport infrastructure should be developed to make it easier for people to move easily across the continent. The international airports of each country should be expanded, if necessary and must be equipped with modern technology to make it less burdensome for passengers to pass. In addition to the bureaucracies, administrative bottlenecks, delays that hamper the free movement of persons must be removed. Therefore, there should be a common immigration policy that is simplified to take care of people. The benefit of investment in transport is enormous and must be considered a priority.

If we can benefit both the transportation infrastructure so how our education sector on which the continent's development and our other Nations? The educational infrastructure on the continent and in our country have not been developed. Did they? View Ranking of World Universities and see where the first university on the continent falls. Can we afford to develop the continent and nations with low quality graduates not mention the millions of illiterate and semi-literates who wander across the continent and in our country? Of the approximately 9,760 accredited universities in the world, less than 10 universities have been able to make the top 500 and even those who made about 90% came from South Africa which is the most developed country on the continent (source: topuniversities.com). It is clear that our education system does not produce the architects, engineers, planners, bankers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, social workers, nurses and scientists that we need in the 21st century. Therefore all activity main architecture and engineering on the continent is provided by foreigners and foreign companies in particular the United States, Japan, China, India and Europe. And all continents and for that matter any nation depends on foreign expertise for its survival is doomed to failure long term.

Universities do not have well-trained teachers. They lack modern facilities such as state libraries of art, laboratory simulation facilities, studios, computers and books. They are absent because we can not build them, we can not build them, because the programs have not prepared our students to build them. Therefore, we need to import equipment and books from countries that have their home work well and have invested heavily in education, including science and technology. In many of our universities, polytechnics and secondary school teachers / teachers are still teaching students the same way academic institutions throughout the 19th century has taught forget that we are in the 21st century. The same notes given a final year student four years ago are still being given to students in first year without addition and subtraction. Teacher can not write books for students because they lack the resources necessary to carry research that formed the basis of all school materials.

While students in the advanced countries to hand over books as they those are released the continent must wait four years or more to get the same books. Moreover school facilities, including libraries are in a state too horrible to describe. Not one of our universities can boast of more than two million books in their libraries. Even the few books they are so old that the information contained in them are useless. very few books have been published by the Africans. Because of that most students must rely on notes that teachers give them. It is the state of our universities and the little I say about our schools, polytechnics and secondary schools (High school) the better. Our research institutions have achieved very little because they are under-funded and the researchers did not have the expertise and facilities necessary to conduct any further search for meaning. An example is Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) at New Tafo in the Eastern Region Ghana. Despite decades of its existence Ghana still exports of cocoa beans for peanuts. No value has been added to cocoa. CRIG has not been able to find other ways of using beans for the benefit of Ghanaians, despite mounting evidence that beans have many uses possible. To make the African continent and governments should make education a priority. They should urgently and need to invest in educational infrastructure.

In addition to these institutions of higher education should be structured to produce engineers, doctors, lawyers, bankers, sociologists and all human resources for various nation-building. Exchange Programs should be established between institutions and universities on the continent so that students on the continent could meet, exchange ideas and share ideas. Every effort should be used to enhance learning and quality of learning on the continent. Efforts should be made to attract Africans in the Diaspora to share their expertise with their colleagues and contribute their knowledge to the development of continent. research institutes should be established across the continent and the funding available to them to find how different resources Natural on the continent could be used to benefit the people. With the capacity of human resources law Africans can now embark on their journey to release its people from poverty

How about the state of housing infrastructure? A visit to a village or city gives the image very poor housing conditions and poor quality of public service. People live in mud houses / thatched bamboo or raffia leaf plate roof without electricity, clean water and clinics. They live in an environment of living without health insurance, health insurance and are sentenced to poverty, desperation and despair. Those living in urban areas are unemployed, with no mortgage, and face with utility bills high poor service. They face a constant stream of water and the disruption of energy daily. In each country, region, district of the situation is no different. On the other hand, our members, presidents vice ministers, presidents and political leaders, their friends and their families live in luxury total with mansions, SUVs, bodyguards, fat salaries, bonuses fat, servants of the house and they have all the resources of the continent available. Yet they claim to serve the people. How can it be? Governments should invite the private sector to take part in the delivery of housing. Earth and other water infrastructure such service, electricity and waste management should be provided for make it less difficult for the private sector to join.

Look at the condition of the agricultural sector. How many of our farmers have their own tractors and farm equipment to produce beyond subsistence level? Virtually none. Almost all the major equipment needed to make the agric sector viable and productive must be imported and how many of our farmers have their own resources to buy even the basic mechanism for developing their farms? Even if we are in the 21st Century yet our agricultural practices indicate that we have not yet passed the 19th century. It is why we continue to hunger, even if the soils abound in Africa. In the early part of the 2008 financial crisis violence erupted in Egypt, Sierra Leone and many other countries on the continent. Why? The answer is that we have ignored the sector for too long. Farmers have no access to irrigation, which can make farming possible year-round. They must rely on the nature of the rain before starting planting. They have no access to credit could help to expand their operations. Yet, Ethiopia, for example, could of millions of dollars to buy military equipment while famine threatens to destroy his people. She can not afford tractors and irrigation equipment that could help put food on the table and restore the dignity of his people. The lack of agricultural infrastructure has brought famine to millions on the continent. There is no storage silos during harvest. No roads to production areas. We use our land for lack of political commitment. We can not develop our economy if we fail to invest in infrastructure.

In addition, trade between countries should be encouraged at all levels. Africans must know that, together, they stand or fall and then the old politics of the former colonial master first and second neighbors should be discouraged and stopped immediately. That is why it is so important that these countries trade them, develop their markets, share their resources so that the lives of their citizens will be improved. The continent should not be allowed to serve as a dumping ground for European manufactured goods. industries of import substitution should be widely adopted on the continent and trade should be encouraged at all levels. The days when raw materials with little added value are exported for peanuts be given the boot. As Americans used to say to Japanese'if Japan wants a U.S. market share, so their products must be made right here in America. The same criteria should apply to any company or country that wants a share of the raw material Africa.

All national interests must give way to a common interest for the good of the people on the continent and the allegiance and the influence of outside bodies should be treated as slander. Africa and its people must be given serious consideration of all issues of economic, social and political. The old philosophy of the sale of the continent to international cartels and company should account Given the boot. Africans must know that the Europeans, Americans and the Bretton Woods institutions have no interest in seeing them grow At best, they prefer that slavery and colonialism were back.

The issues mentioned above should be priority if Africa is to break the cycle of poverty that people have endured for decades if not centuries.

Hopefully that the 21st century will be different for the continent. The hope that the infrastructure construction will be given higher priority by the various Members of the African Union.

About the Author

Lord Aikins Adusei

BR Class 25 Farewell.

British Rail Passenger Timetable Eastern Region Additional Trains August 1950 £0.99

British Rail Eastern Region Working Timetable Section YA 1977/8 £8.99

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British Rail Passenger Timetable Eastern Region 1973 1974 with Map £0.99

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BRER / B.R.E.R.: British Rail Eastern Region Diesels £16.34 A gricer’s view of trains between Liverpool Street, Stratford and Ilford in the 1980s. The Eastern Region was almost ignored by the railway enthusiasts. Its diesels and electric trains were worthy of more attention. Gricer William Riddihough set forth to rectify this. Trains seen are classes: 302, 305, 306, 308, 309, 310, 312, 313, 315, 108, 110, 115 and 117. Locomotives seen are classes: 08,…

Buckjumpers, Gobblers and Clauds: A Lifetime on Great Eastern and London North Eastern Region Footplates £3.25 …

Hudson’s Way: The Story of the York-Beverley Railway £2.25 …

Diesels on the Eastern £5.95 A portrait of the many different variety of first-generation diesel locomotives and DMUs on the Eastern Region from the late 1950s through to the early 1970s….