The Weekly Sneak: Resource Schmeesource

For the first time in over one hundred and fifty something weeks, I missed my column deadline in the EA. I wish I could blame it on my bad karma, but it wasn't even that. It was a technical glitch- thanks, Gmail- compounded by a whole 24 hours spent offline. Perfect record: gone, just like that. But as my very nice editor pointed out: it buys me a week off, so, like, chill. Anyways, coming to an East African near you next week is this week's offering:

"Territorial disputes are nearly as boring to keep track of as footballers' careers, but I tried patriotically to have some – admittedly limited- interest in this particular one. The story that is emerging smacks to me of colonial baggage, avarice and no small amount of military restlessness. Even as I am of a mind to scoff at the thought of boys in uniform and their toys in matching camouflage getting excited about mud-wrestling over invisible lines, I am aware that there is a seriousness to these matters that should never be disregarded. Land is becoming a surprisingly valuable commodity in Tanzania, appreciating with every prospector who comes to scratch and sniff at what useful things might be lurking beneath."

If you've been keeping even half an eye on the regional news you'll have noticed that East Africa in general and Tanzania in particular is brimming with natural resources of all kinds. Oh, frabjous day, callooh, callay. Let me explain my disinterest thusly: resource curse. Stuff underground, especially in Africa, is usually a precursor to massive amounts of misery.

Take Tanzania, for example. If I thought there was even an inkling of a chance that those in public service were capable of engineering contracts that would squeeze every penny's worth out of our natural resources for the good of the collective, I'd say dig that stuff up right now (in an environmentally friendly way, of course). We could use our mineral wealth to jump start all kinds of development projects that would drive us into a glorious near-future. I might despise Dubai's tacky parvenu ostentation and Saudi Arabia's neanderthal gender politics BUT I do admire how the Arab nations transformed from nomadic desert tribes to ridiculously wealthy citizenry in the blink of a petroleum discovery. And let's not forget: they gave us Al Jazeera.

But our truth is that present day Tanzanian politicians lack the wherewithal to master our potential for the greater good. The political will is just about nil, and I don't doubt for a second that any and all can be bought by local and international "investors" for a couple thousand dollars, maybe a couple of million. Those that can't be bought... aren't anywhere near the wheeling and dealing, now are they? We're doomed by the petty hungers and limited ambitions of the men and women in short-sleeved suits.

And so I see two things coming out of our resource wealth in the near future. First, it will engender opportunistic greed in our friends and neighbors such as the Malawi debacle has shown. If in doubt, ask the Congolese how that mess works out. Secondly, may I drw your attention to the platinum miners in South Africa who have been thoroughly done over by their own police force for getting in the way of vested interests. Cautionary tale? Sure. It's not like Barrick has managed yet to quell for good the rumors of their malfeasance here in Tanzania. But let's not forget that for such gross inhumanities to take place the responsible government must be complicit. And ours is a government just writhing with excitement at the thought of being complicit, given the right price...

TEDxDAR: January Makamba

January Makamba (CCM-Bumbuli) is here in his capacity as a civilian, having been strongly warned not to use the stage as a political platform and game enough to try and cope with the high-tech environment while delivering his presentation. Multitasking, eh... :)

So his talk is about the amenities of life. He kicked off the meaty bit of the presentation with a slide that only had one word on it: Sameness. His idea is that although there is a wealth of diversity amongst people, there is a sameness that we should be embracing. I am listening with a skeptical ear until I realize that January is going to talk demographics. The set-up is this: he contrasts Zawadi with Vanessa...

The typical Tanzanian, aka Mtanzania wa Kawaida, he named Zawadi: female, 17, rarely eats meat or fish, walks almost everywhere, no mobile phone, born in a family of seven people, first sex at 17.5 yrs, married at 19, her husband will be 5 yrs older, first child at 19.5, last child at 36 yrs, lives in rural area, works on the farm. How does her life compare with yours? Good question for a TEDxDAR audience.

We are Vanessa, in the top 20% bracket of income earners: assured of university, living in 4 bedroom houses, drinking bottled water, driving to most places, 78% chance of employment, more than one mobile phone/smartphone, first intercourse 18.5, first marriage 23 yrs, finish university at 21, husband 26 yrs, first child at 23 yrs, last child at 32 yrs. Both Zawadi and Vanessa get married pregnant (zawadi 3 months, vanessa 5+). Number of children: more for Zawadi, fewer for Vanessa. However, in terms of power consumption, the pattern falls apart... our energy consumption is erratic, cannot be entirely determined by income bracket. And so on and so forth, January contrasted the top 20% with the remaining 80% to challenge our perceptions and thinking about how our country is structured.

The Question: what would it take for Zawadi to live the same lifestyle as Vanessa? On the consumption side, here are just a few data: by 2050 72% of tanzanians will have water problems... Zawadi's income would need to increase x6. For Zawadi to eat meat we would have to slaughter 7 million cows a year- the current national herd numbers roughly 15 million. Electricity consumption would have to increase x28. The list goes on. But here is something to challenge your thinking: the Hadzabe eat better than the average Tanzanian, and enjoy a better quality of life in many ways. Is it that Zawadi should be aspiring to Vanessa's lifestyle, or should Vanessa and Zawadi maybe learn something from the Hadzabe?

January's presentation used data from the Demographic and Health Survey of 2010. It is available on the NBS website, the report was launched a few months ago and apparently makes for riveting reading.

As a final point, Nadeem asked January: 'What can we, the Vanessas of Tanzania, do to improve the quality of life of all the Zawadis?' I think that the answer depends on a person's politics. In that vein, I am going to try and get a bit of a Twitter argument going with Shurufu kicking around some ideological perspectives. Let's see if that works...

TEDxDAR: Selemani Kinyunyu

"Green is Sexy." Yes it is. With this message, Selemani aimed to recruit the participants into doing their bit for climate change* in Tanzania. Whether that means biking to work, separating trash and composting, not printing every email or any host of daily activities that can actually make a difference, however small, in the ultimate fate of the environment. He's already doing his part. Selemani's talk was about what climate change has to do with Tanzania.

I asked Selemani to try and explain what the heck this carbon trading business is all about. And he did: the market for the environment aims for reduced emissions from avoided degradation and deforestation. Carbon emmission is a good measure of environmental degradation. Since 60% of Tanzania's GDP comes from the extraction of natural resources (tourism, mining, agriculture), climate change will directly affect how NRs will be used in Tanzania. In effect, through this carbon trading market we can, as nations, buy and sell 'carbon emissions' in a global market. And this is where I leave you to venture ahead on your own because I 'failed' Economics more than once due to my complete inability to understand let alone speak Economese.

*In the interest of time I am not going to blog what Climate Change is and the fiddly bits of the Kyoto and Montreal Protocols. Please watch Al Gore's movie and use your Googling skillz.