Q-MHI Africa Weekly Brief ;

Hi Q-MHI Africa readers!

ROADS VS SCHOOLS

In recent years, discussions on how to jump-start development in sub-Saharan Africa have been about addressing the infrastructure deficit. The lack of everything from roads and railways to electricity and running water are recognized as huge obstacles on the journey to sustainable development.

The World Bank estimated in 2009 the infrastructure deficit in Africa would need $93 billion spent each year for the continent to have any chance of catching up to developed countries. However in 2014, IMF reckoned just $51.4 billion was spent on infrastructure—a $40 billion shortage.

But most of these discussions have focused on physical infrastructure. A paper this month from the Centre for Economic Policy Research argues the challenge for many countries is not so much investing in infrastructure as working out the trade-offs between physical infrastructure like roads and railways versus social infrastructure like schools and hospitals. It’s summed up as “roads versus schools”.

Here’s the issue for policy makers—particularly those in the least developed countries—there’s plenty of research which shows investing in roads and railways will boost economic growth “relatively quickly” by increasing the productivity of local private firms.

Yes, it’s true that for largely the same upfront costs, building more schools and scaling up education will raise workers’ productivity “potentially to a larger extent” than roads. Though compared with roads, the benefits of schools come mostly over the long run. In addition, the schools require teachers and books, so there are larger current expenditures compared with maintaining a road. Governments might also be concerned with their debt profile as it takes longer forschools to produce notable economic returns (24 years versus 15 years for roads, according to research).

The authors argue a “big push” investment in schools would be the way to help education output match or exceed output from roads. They seem to suggest few governments take this approach.

While it’s not an either-or situation, the common sense, long view does seem to favor schools as the better investment. Yet, the everyday reality of political and economic policy management means many governments will make the calculation that interrupting much-coveted economic growth and expanding debt commitments might not be worth it.

That would be a bad calculation.

Yinka Adegoke, Q-MHI Africa editor

STORIES FROM THIS WEEK

China’s highest-grossing movie is set in a “war-ravaged Africa”. In the movie Wolf Warriors 2, Chinese special forces enter a generic African country to save locals from dangerous white mercenaries. As Lily Kuo writes the popular movie, which is China’s highest-grossing movie of all time, puts a new twist on the familiar Hollywood trope of “White savior”.

British Museum is in talks to return Benin Kingdom bronze artifacts to Nigeria. In 1897, British soldiers raided the ancient kingdom of Benin and took hundreds of bronze artifacts. The items have been on display in museums across Europe and the US for decades but now British Museum is leading a move by museums to return the artifacts to Nigeria.

Social media isn’t ready to deliver political change in Kenya. Boniface Mwangi, the photojournalist-turned-activist-turned-candidate, changed how the political class in Kenya engaged with social media during recent elections even though he didn’t win. But as Abdi Latif Dahirexplains, social media isn’t yet able to substitute for traditional forms of campaigning and engaging citizens.

South Africa struggles to mourn Marikana miners. South Africa has always acknowledged its fraught past but is yet to recognize the protesting miners at Marikana killed by police in the post-apartheid era. On the fifth anniversary of the massacre,Lynsey Chutel writes that the country’s refusal to honor the slain miners represents its failure to reconcile healing with remembrance.

How Djibouti became the world’s key military base. This month, China became the latest superpower to open a military base in Djibouti joining the US, France, Japan and others. While the country’s geo-strategic location makes it ideal for world powers to set up their operations, the third smallest country on mainland Africa will find itself toeing the thin line between neutrality and opportunism.

Influencers are using Instagram to change the face of African tourism. Traveling in Africa was once considered costly, difficult, and lacking variety beyond safaris and pyramids. But a new crop of entrepreneurs and local influencers are using social media and photography to reveal rarely seen travel gems across the continent find Khanya Mtshali.

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CHART OF THE WEEK

Internet speeds in Africa are still lagging global standards. It takes more than a day for users in many African countries to download a 7.5 GB high-definition movie, data from the global broadband speed league revealed. As Yomi Kazeem argues, slow internet speeds hobbles the growth of African tech hubs and prevents the ability to tap into the digital economy.

OTHER THINGS WE LIKED

What do Africans think of the US after Charlottesville? Africans have long viewed America as a bastion of human rights and democracy. However, the events at Charlottesville last weekend shattered these ideas for many on the continent. Reporting for BuzzFeed, Monica Mark and Tamerra Griffin explain how social media helped to expose America’s hypocrisy.

Congo’s collapsing finances shows a government desperate pleading for help. Inflation in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now at 50%, and the Congolese franc is one of the world’s worst-performing currencies this year. As Aaron Ross reports for Reuters, a recent effort to raise cash from a Russian state-owned bank under US sanctions shows up a cash-strapped government.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Angola’s election (Aug 23) .Angola will hold its fourth multi-party elections after president José Eduardo dos Santos announced he was stepping down after 38 years in power. Defense minister João Lourenço will run as the presidential candidate for the ruling party MPLA, facing opposition UNITA candidate Isaias Samakuva.

Q-MHI Africa