RE: My Name is What? EnergyAddict22 - Writing Contest
Not sure I will be able to participate in this one. I upvoted and resteemed, although not sure how much that will affect your odds of influencing the judges.
While admittedly I am far from an expert on either resources or sub-Saharan African countries, it seems to me that they have plenty of resources at their disposal. The problem if I remember correctly was in the greed of the ruling class not allowing their people to own any of the resources on their property. The clampdown (which the US has been headed towards as well) gives a disincentive to utilize any of the resources to the advantage of the people as the ruling class would rather profit directly by selling the resources to big business and foreign interests.
Given that it appears the people there are unable or unwilling to stand up to the corruption (also a growing problem in the U.S.) it appears that if things will ever change for them it will have to come from outside pressure on the companies/bankers who subsidize/profit from this paradigm.
Many countries in Africa have energy resources, but the poorest don't. However, even the poorest have other resources at their disposal and you are spot on regarding the mismanagement of these potential sources of income. Of course, with increased education and wealth that would result from access to electricity comes the inevitable increase in wages, which nobody in power wants.