Africans should unite

In early 2013, Microsoft an American software giant and Huawei a cell phone manufacturer from China agreed to team up and make an inexpensive smart phone for Africa. This is great in many ways, but sad that there is no African player targeting the African market in such a manner.It is like a comical scene where a young lad has a girlfriend and two other young lads fight for the girl because the winner knows they can easily get the girl from the official boyfriend. That is the plight of Africa; everybody is fighting for Africa as they see those who officially by custom have been given Africa as their bride.We have to get into the economic game of using our minds rather than being just an extractive continent. It can be done; all that is missing is the will. Have proper economic systems that allow the people to use their potential, which unfortunately is the only way. We need proper liberty, greater liberty than the rest of the world because we are the ones behind and have to be more efficient, the greater the liberty, it seems the greater the ideas and people will hustle for the resources to fulfill those ideas.Often times, the state needs to be involved to get things going, after all we have the internet as a result of the US government. A people can do anything only if they put their minds to it. Former US President Kennedy said we must land on the moon, and the Americans landed on the moon, it was a matter of national urgency, the economy should become a matter of national urgency in Africa. How do we enter the modern age? We have lots of tourists coming to Africa; we have many villages in remote areas in Africa. Why not for example consider manufacturing of helicopters, a less expensive way of entering the aerospace industry than the alternative, the alternative being planes. Many things go into a helicopter, engines, telecommunication equipment, meaning telecommunication technology, as well as software, meaning software technology. Helicopters have a ready use, tourism, defense, and accessibility to remote areas, as well as a show for the rich. Knowledge is gained by doing. China thirty years ago had no cellphone manufacturers, but over the years, they have gained supreme ability and ability leads to confidence, and confidence leads one to make better and better products as they refine their ideas over time. Nobody knows what Africa is waiting for.You build a helicopter and take it to market, if people like it they buy it, if they do not they will not, but one must believe that Africa will make a good inexpensive product. Look around you, when Korea started manufacturing cars, the world is riding them right now. What are we going to do with all the engineers in Africa, they will all run to where they think they can use their knowledge if they can not use it in Africa.It is not too late, humanity has a long way to go in terms of technology. Whilst I was researching knowledge I happened to discover that mathematics behaves differently according to dimensions, I have demonstrated this and explained this in terms of logic in published academic papers. Maths is basic tool of science, simply put the discovery means we still have much more to discover as human beings and one can only hope Africa will participate in future human technological progress. We have to take this seriously, we should have started yesterday, but today is good enough.We start now, and slowly increase concepts of liberty as our practical knowledge increases, then and only then will Africa’s star rise to its zenith, when we start using the materials we have, and research the materials we have and make products from the materials we have. The helicopter is but an example, it could be anything, but it should have a good multiplier effect, it should have input from many sectors, but a helicopter is ideal to enter the aerospace age as it needs software, engines, and telecommunications. Whatever it is, we need to get moving, we need to start working, even manufacturing a cell phone with idea eventually it will be sold to the world. Each contributing fully their part, Africa will rise to its Zenith, can only do that if people are allowed, and governments understand what must be done to start.Bhekuzulu Khumalo writes about knowledge and economics.

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Africans should unite