WHY PEOPLE IN AFRICA ARE POORER IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Kano is an ancient city in Northern Nigeria, which is (was) known for its great involvement in trading. Trading is about exchange, where goods produced in one region in abundance is exchanged for a more scarce product.

During the ancient times, almost all the goods being exchanged for money or other goods were produced by indigenes of the region. So sellers either produced their wares or bought from the skilled men, and sold in the markets.

One thing to note is the fact that the daily items being used by the people of the city and the surrounding cities were made in the region.

The clothes from embroidery and its decoration from the ancient tie & dye methods. (I visited the 300-400 years old dying pits in Kano, a few men are still there).

The food, largely produced and processed in the region.

The building materials for homes. There were skilled men in Hausa "Block" making. There was the Hausa architecture, with horn looking designs called 'Tubali', of which I believe the best designs would have been made by indigenous architects and craftsmen.

The tools for farming and wars were made by blacksmiths and metal craftsmen/workers. They had a content to innovation and probably every 50 years, a person comes up with a better design for a hoe or cutlass.

For transportation, there were men who's business was to raise horses, donkeys and camels. These were the Mercedes, Toyota and Landcruiser respectively... you probably bought as you could afford.

I can go on and on about the various industries and how it was represented in ancient times.

Then something happened.

Kano had visitors.

These visitors came with alternative technologies.

A new ways to cloth.

A new food to eat.

A new way to build.

A new set of tools.

A new way to move.

And truly, these some (most) of these newer alternatives were more efficient.

But the mission of the visitors was not to show the Kano people how to make these new things. But to trade them and exchange them for the resources of the Kano people that the visitors needed.

Slowly and gradually... it became an obsession and also a necessity to use the alternatives. But little did the Kano people realize that they were becoming less productive and less industrious AS A PEOPLE by the day.

The man in the dye pit was no longer getting customers. More people wanted the cloth which didn't fade or colour their water while washing. But dying is all he knows in his family line.

The man who made mud bricks started experiencing a decline from his biggest and wealthiest civil construction client... because the elite wanted the finest, made by the visitor's more advanced cutting tools. The mason also saw a decline in the demand for his existing skill.

The blacksmith watched in awe as gigantic metallic parts were shipped in. New bullet vomiting war tools. New Farm tools. He could only try to copy, but the precision was never same. And those who had the means wanted the finest.

The stableman saw how horses were being sidelined. Bicycles are now cool! Cars were now the vogue! He didn't become poor in his lifetime though, but what he left, his children could not continue with it. It was out-phased.

NOW, this submission is not a blame game, but a critical look at what happened, and perhaps, is still happening.

Because the daily items being used by a whole nation were no longer produced by the nation, it is only a matter of time before the individuals in that region begin to have nothing to trade for their daily needs.

When this happens, everyone goes back to the very basic resources what exist in the ground to exchange. We go back to agriculture, mining and extractions. But the buyer see our desperation and tell us the price they're willing to buy our products (FOREX and Devaluation). And we, like addicts, agree to anything just to get the next iPhone, Gucci Shoe, Tee Shirt, Bulldozer, Mercedes Benz.

The MISSING link was this, when we were RICH, we ignored learning the methods of the visitors and how they made these things, so that we could make our own.

Not just the product, but the MACHINES that made the MACHINES that made the products.

We consumed and consumed until we have nothing left but NATURAL RESOURCES.

The term NATURAL RESOURCE means you didn't work for it. That means all we are celebrating Africa for is what didn't work to create. Meanwhile, no one prospers without WORKING.

The missing link was leadership.

China was in the same place, but made a move to change that narrative. That is why until today, they ban APPs that they can replicate.

There's no Facebook in China, they have Baidu. Facebook was banned.

There's no WhatsApp in China (legally), they have WeChat. It is intentional...

Amazon has a close competitor/replica, Taobao, Alibaba and Aliexpress.

China does not consume, they see what you do, copy it and make their people create home version for it.

At some point, they sent emissaries to Europe and US to learn technology and come and replicate it at home. This is what leadership and foresight looks like.

So what is the way out.

As a people, it is a long thought and discussion I'm not willing to expend time and energy on at this time. It's easy to say leadership, but hard to tell the path to a change in poor leadership culture.

As a person, you have to become aware of the consumer mentality that we all have. You have to reassess your values to know what you actually want from what society tells you you have to want.

You have to shift into the producer mentality. And it is hard, because everyone around you is a consumer.

You have to look for ways to sell to the visitor the things they need, without necessarily exchanging NATURAL RESOURCES. Add value to the natural resource. It is HARD, but not impossible.

You have to stop playing the catchup game in Technology/Solution and seek to lead the industry you play in. To lead must first be a desire.

While we may not solve the entire African problem or state, we can begin to solve our individual mental limitations. It is a HARD thing, but it is not impossible.

I wish you prosperity!

Cheers.