Steve and Cathy's Blog

Last night at 7:00pm, our ship Insignia left Mombasa. We will head due east for the next two days to cover the 1,080 miles to the Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands. We are leaving the continent of Africa behind, having made visits to eight countries.

Granted, in the great scheme of things, this is the merest of introductions to the second-largest continent on earth that has fifty-four nations. We were taken on tours in air-conditioned buses with English-speaking guides, led around in complete safety, able to scurry back to our ship, train or high end hotel every evening. As wonderful as it was, our experience hardly qualifies us as world travelers.

But we can’t help but reflect on what we did see and learn, and, as unfair as it may be, make generalizations on what we saw. Africa used to be just a map, or television shows. Now it’s actual people and places we have in fact seen. It is a real place that we have touched and has, in turn, touched us. Now we really do give a darn about what happens there, and so I am going to inflict you with a few observations that we have taken away from this 26-day experience.

1. The human potential and natural resources of the continent are staggering. That’s a given. The potential human energy of so many millions of people, combined with both exploitable mineral resources and the phenomenal diversity of geography and climate makes us very optimistic that these countries can succeed politically and economically. The foundation for this eventual success is there.
2. Having said that, the political structure is still fragile. The legacy of colonialism is the principal reason. The Europeans literally sat in Berlin in 1884 and carved up the entire continent to suit themselves, with no regard whatsoever to natural borders or the existing social order of the peoples there. And then they proceeded to fight amongst themselves over the colonies they had drawn up, treating the land and its people simply as assets to be exploited, giving nothing in return. When these vassal states became too much of a bother, the Europeans set them free, mostly without any history or experience in self-government. The results were often a disaster, and, in some cases, a lasting disaster. One-party rule prevails in a majority of sub-Saharan states. There is a tiny ruling elite answerable to no one in too many cases.
3. Economically, there exists unemployment in percentages that would be cause for revolution in America. Namibia, for example, proudly marks as real progress that they have reduced their rate of unemployment to 28% from the rate of 40% only ten years ago. There are many reasons for this, lack of educational opportunity being the most serious. Again, the legacy of colonial exploitation of the native populations is taking generations to overcome. The lack of money to be able to educate everyone adequately is another.
4. In the United States, we whine incessantly about inequality in our society, but our problem is a rounding error in comparison with practically every African nation. There is a very small middle class. From what we saw, you either have it made, or you have nothing. The economies do not throw off enough good jobs to build a solid middle class. The greatest ambition many people have in these countries is to land a government job – any government job.
5. One of the growing sectors of the economy of most countries – at least the ones with stable governments and relative peace – is tourism. And well it should be. The countries are beautiful, their flora and fauna fascinating, and the people friendly and attractive. African nations have tons to offer the rest of the world in the way of interesting and unique tourist experiences, and the jobs that are created are desperately needed.
6. The Chinese are aggressively moving on Africa. The ports are stacked high with goods from there, and the Chinese are donating billions in infrastructure improvements in order to move those goods to market, as well as to efficiently extract the continent’s mineral resources needed to feed the Chinese industrial base.
7. In many nations, 50% of the population is 15 years or younger. This is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it means that there will be a lot of young energetic people who can potentially contribute to a growing society. On the other hand, such explosive population growth puts a huge strain on meager government resources. Despite a social services safety net that is all but nonexistent compared to those in developed countries, there is a need to devote an enormous percentage to basic things such as primary education. There is no money for the most basic of infrastructure projects such as adequate water, roads, or sanitation (outside of the cities). They do provide universal health care, but unless you have money the lines are endless.
8. Speaking of healthcare, AIDS is indeed ravaging sub-Saharan Africa. Even in a country such as South Africa, with its enormous economy, 11% of the population has the disease.
9. It was interesting to learn how many countries, once they achieved independence, were taken over by Marxist Leninist dictators, who tried their best to provide the utopian dream of economic “fairness” and “equality.” Within a decade or so, each of these socialist paradises were economic basket cases, so much so that either the autocrat was overthrown or, in some cases, suddenly saw the light and instituted economic reforms (probably in order to save his job, but so be it) that brought back a private sector economy. Africa was a laboratory for socialism, and it failed here just as miserably as it has everywhere. When will we ever learn?
10. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Progress is slow, but it is taking place. And as these countries attract more and more visitors like Cathy and me, the more that we in the developed world will take an interest in them and their success. With each successive generation, more sophisticated political leadership is being developed. Cell phones and social media have helped with that. The economically downtrodden aren’t so easily manipulated now that information is so readily available.

I hope this doesn’t sound too negative. I don’t mean to sound that way. We have had a wonderful time meeting people from this part of the world. We just want them to have what we so much take for granted, and it’s frustrating to see such deserving people have to wait … and wait.

Thanks for listening. There is no point in taking this journey if we don’t let the experience shape our judgments. Africa will forever be close to our hearts, and we leave here hoping and praying that all their efforts bring them the peace and prosperity that has so long eluded these wonderful people.