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Re:Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa? by LaMarseillaise on Monday May 03, 2021 @11:58AM (#27026714)
> Africa needs more factories, more mills, more kilns, more technical know how.

Building capital requires financing. Financing depends on trust and stability. From your description, it seems like the issue is an ineffective legal system that allows widespread fraud.

Re:Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa? by sthnblllII on Monday May 03, 2021 @12:58PM (#27027543)
Financing (credit cards, furniture rentals, payday loans, diversity business loans) has not made poor people in rich countries rich.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4LSuZGlqL34

African attitudes and behavior are very different from those of people whose nations have developed technologically in the past 200 years. No amount of loans will teach people how to mix concrete or organize an effective workforce. These are things that people either decide to do on their own or have imposed upon them by a colonial power.

I oppose ensnaring third world nations in debt. Either give them free stuff or let them figure civilization out on their own. "We can help them while making money at the same time" is always a veil for exploitation.

Re:Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa? by LaMarseillaise on Monday May 03, 2021 @02:05PM (#27028539)
> Financing (credit cards, furniture rentals, payday loans, diversity business loans) has not made poor people in rich countries rich.

Predatory loans are not the whole picture. Stock markets and business loans have made many poor people rich. I know some of them.

> No amount of loans will teach people how to mix concrete or organize an effective workforce.

Student loans can help here.

> I oppose ensnaring third world nations in debt.

The developed world does not have a monopoly on finance. Credit unions and microcredit are possible anywhere, but nevertheless depend on trust and stability.

Re:Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa? by baybal2 on Monday May 03, 2021 @01:51PM (#27028314)
> From your description, it seems like the issue is an ineffective legal system

There are African countries with well functioning legal system.

Widespread fraud is, you know, happens much across the rich world, and victims are usually much the same demographic.

Re:Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa? by LaMarseillaise on Monday May 03, 2021 @02:14PM (#27028676)
No doubt fraud is an issue everywhere. The question is whether it incurs cost on the fraudster. You mentioned people who took the money for construction and disappeared - why were they not sued or prosecuted?
Re:Why are there so many unfinished buildings in Africa? by baybal2 on Monday May 03, 2021 @02:36PM (#27028958)
Fraudsters can equally well disappear in USA or UK, and they certainly do so.

You can't prosecute a man going missing without a trace.