Africa represents a wealth of opportunity in all commercial sectors which is highly untapped. The problem when 'westerns' arrive to take advantage of these open fields of gold is that they forget that there have been many who have come before them. The people of this land have learned very well over the years that when someone with a tie and fancy watch appear saying how they can make their life better it ususally means a con-artist; what else can a slick commercial person be called?
Environmental is one of those fields which is in its infancy here, with room to grow. The people are both aware and unaware at the same time. Botswana is a good example of a country that is waking up to its responsibity of proper stewardship of the environment of their country.
Working with the national government in the area of energy planning I have found that there are many who understand the need to balance both the production of energy and protection of their environment. The use of 'temporary' diesel generators is a norm in most all countries throughout Africa. The companies that provide them tend to be short-sighted and are like the slick salesman mentioned above only thinking about how they can take advantage of the 'ignorant' people of developing countries.
Through my work to educate the 'decision makers' on the pros and cons of the various energy options I hope to show how they themselves can address their energy needs while maintaining a clean environment. They are the ones responsible for their house, and not let the commercial teams who only care for today destroy their home.
Our work will take us to Ghana in the next month, where I hope to have as productive a time as I have had here.
