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daniel orupabo

MD, southernhouse ltd

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In what practical ways can African states tackle the issue of poverty and unemployment amongst its young people?

Many African states list their young people as a vital resource base. But very disturbing is the fact that young people in Africa are left to rot due largely to almost zero opportunity and failing structures compounded by systemic corruption. Now, for African states a wasting generation of young people is a more threatening challenge than political instability.

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    David Hamilton 50+

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    Oct 2 2012: I think the cheapest, large scale collective action that an emerging economy can make right now... Is still a relatively expensive one. An online university, from k-doctorate, supplemented by a public library system, with free internet access. Use recording devices, in already existing classrooms, and tag every question asked, so that people in need of education can choose a teacher, but if he or she did not answer the students question, they can type it in, and see another teachers answer.

    This is not just incredibly effective for young people but it would, by far, be the best way to re engage older people who have not yet learned basic skills. They can sit, in private, at the library, and no one will bother them, or make fun of them for doing young childrens work to catch up.

    How could you do this cheaply? Well. Not for profit, might work. Government sponsored might work. Even, if the people trust the current military, you could use bases as classrooms, and make people feel more connected to and comfortable with their soldiers, that would be really cheap. Most African countries would have great difficulty implementing something like this however, and I am far too ignorant of Nigerie to know what would work for them specifically.

    Tariffs, and home product bias, help. Small business loans sponsored by local wealthy people, or the government, could create companies that make simple agriculture, and trade goods, and then be seen buying and supporting those local businesses, as a matter of national pride. I think people often think that "home bias" is about economic warfare, or descrimination, but actually it is much simpler, if every nation likes its products a little bit more than its neighbors, less goods will require expensive transport, and all local economies will be a bit more stable. It's not about not liking your neighboring country, it's about liking your actual neighbor with a business, just a bit more. Solar concentration.
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      Henry Woeltjen 10+

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      Oct 6 2012: David,

      How much do you think it would cost to build an online database large enough to teach people from kindergarten through the doctorate level?

      If it was offered for free how would you handle the overwhelming load of people?
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        David Hamilton 50+

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        Oct 6 2012: I think it would be cheaper than building a brick and mortar system which services the same overwhelming load.
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      Iulian Sociale Ingegnere

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      Oct 12 2012: Less than 5 minutes ago: What do you think of my idea (see my posts) ,"friend in your pocket" that can help you if you do not have a way to solve something. Like a communication center or a lot of communication centers around world. We already have the tools but we waste resources not helping each other and no need of enormous data base, we have just to involve people and let them know what we know http://www.ted.com/conversations/14085/human_specialists_call_center.html?c=540825

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