What are /r/Africa's favorite Products & Services?

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

I think the issue is actually bad or poor leadership in Africa. It doesnt matter if the money comes from the west or the east, if our leaders make bad deals, are corrupt or incompetent then the result is the same.

I did find the Intelligence Squared debate around it to be interesting. It challenged my automatic negative reaction to eastern investment and realise that the problem is actually of our own making. We are able to do better but dont.

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/intelligence-squared-2/e/beware-of-the-dragon-africa-should-not-look-to-china-36459414

Read this book and tell me if you think it will still work. The Great Rebalancing: Trade, Conflict, and the Perilous Road Ahead for the World Economy - Updated Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691163626/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_GCMSBWWJS4NH2DPGVX8T

https://www.amazon.com/Dictatorland-Men-Who-Stole-Africa/dp/1784972134?tag=search0ce-20 Gives you some good perspective of how our dictators don't go at it alone.

Taliban had mountains that they entrenched themselves in. See the book Prisoners of Geography Afghanistan is essentially a giant valley and so even the US marines aiding there were at a significant disadvantage, coupled with the corruption within the Afgani military as well as religious intimidation within their ranks by the Taliban.

Al shabaab doesn't appear to have a similar geopolitical advantage.

What a shame that, instead of feeding money to Google, he didn't contribute to Openstreetmap and Mapillary instead...

That's not DRC OP, your map is pointing at Zambia. And it's not Carbon monoxide or a wild fire, it's just bad weather caused by fast winds >50km/h

Great post, tagging onto to this I recommend reading, “Shaping the Future Power” by Linda Benabdallah

https://www.press.umich.edu/10194421/shaping_the_future_of_power

Also Lina Getachew Ayenew’s book is great as well.

https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Beginners-Guide-China-Africa-Relations/dp/0997312432

Would also recommend reading some first hand accounts by folks actually effected in Africa. Let me know if you’d like some recs there, but others may be more qualified to speak here than myself.

I can entertain your point. But I see it differently. I created a fun app that aims to make people happy and connect them to the hidden misteries of their local region/city. It's a geolocation social game. It's suposed to be something fun and positive and when I was building it I designed it so anyone in the world could use it and be a little entertained by it, that includes Africans

Check this out:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orbis.orbis&hl=sw

I even hired a native swahili speaker to translate the app and create a customized app description for swahili speakers. If I'm building something for the world , this includes Africans, and I'm proud to come here and post my hard work to share it with the people of Africa, why should I promote it everywhere but Africa ? I don't see it this way.

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I'm not getting into a political or historical debate. And I'm glad to clarify any doubts, but I'm not some silly academic researcher, shit.. I don't even have a college degree. I'm an app developer. I built a fun app and want Africans to use as much as Europeans, Arabs, Asians, Martians, you have it. It's my work and I want to share it with the world. I think it will make people happy.

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I even translated into Swahili

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.orbis.orbis&hl=sw

I want africans to check out my work.

have you read China's Second Continent by Howard French? If so, does your experience match with the pictures he paints?

I think this book pretty much sums up my views on economic development.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Asia-Works-Joe-Studwell/dp/0802121322/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472065282&sr=8-1&keywords=how+asia+works

If you have any interest what so ever in the subject I strongly recommend:

China's Second Continent: by Howard W. French http://www.amazon.com/Chinas-Second-Continent-Migrants-Building/dp/0307946657

Easy to read and taking in many countries in Africa from Namibia to Liberia.

Tiny things give me some hope.

It seems that DRC has been getting a little more attention in the US lately. The concept of exploitative coltan mining broke through to a few percent of the population here in a way that even the wars themselves didn’t. And we’re starting to see some useful analysis of exactly what the rest of the world did wrong, for example here.