Say what you will about China’s multi-billion dollar deal with the Congolese government to trade infrastructure development for access to minerals with little regard for human rights and environmental issues.
They’ve still managed to turn a big segment of North Kivu’s main highway from this:
Into this:
And there are KILOMETER MARKERS.
And I have to tell you, after riding down one of the huge walls of the Great Rift Valley escarpment on a terrifying dirt segment of the highway that has yet to be paved, China’s intentions in Africa don’t seem so bad at all.
From Texas in Africa.
After two weeks on Liberia’s horrendous roads, I can appreciate her point. If I had to endure 52 weeks a year…
5 Responses
“Loves conquers all things except poverty and toothache.”
Why in God’s name, in a world with multi-billion-dollar NGOs, is there a single major unpaved highway in Africa?
If I were looking for a project I knew would be a big success, I’d pick a huge road, pave it, and set up a fund to cover maintenance. Is that crazy?
Marisa beat me to it, so let me second her concern for maintenance. Building roads is one thing, upkeep is quite another. But maybe that is the point, an endless supply of “work” for Chinese firms.
But how long will these roads last and who will rebuild them once China’s contract responsibilities are up? After spending painful time on the roads in Katanga I can say that the number one priority in DRC are roads, without them people are isolated and business does not exist. However, what’s the plan for maintaining them? These roads deteriorate very, very quickly under the circumstances. The Chinese built roads in northern Zambia are already filled with massive potholes only after a few rainy seasons. If plans for sustaining these roads in DRC deteriorate, will trading all of the mines for infrastructure have been worth it when the roads and buildings are crumbling within the next 5 years?
I can see her point as well. Much the same could be said about the Indian state of Gujarat, whose Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, is accused of inciting (or at least turning a blind eye to) Hindu-Muslim riots in his state. Despite ethnic and religious conflict, Gujarat leads India in terms of growth. Taking a drive through the state helps one understand why, especially when comparing roads there to the infrastructure in the rest of India. Though I hardly condone Modi’s treatment of Muslims or China’s turning a blind eye to human rights violations, there is something to be said for building roads in places that otherwise would not have them.
I’m not even sure how helpful it is to pose the debate in terms of a stark choice: human rights versus economic development. Thinking about what all is needed to realize one’s most basic rights (e.g. security, education, healthcare), I would imagine roads factor quite high on the list. It’s much easier to chastise leadership that appears to condone egregious violations than to call out highly corrupt or incompetent governing elites who slowly bleed their populations by ignoring problems like malnutrition, malaria and other silent but deadly forces that don’t make for great headlines.