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The oil industry has a quickly increasing presence in Africa - particularly off the West coast - and runs into continual problems with safety there, for both employees and equipment. I've heard numerous stories and read multiple reports of people murdered or kidnapped, as well as pillaging by locals.
The goal is a worthy one, however, so I'm not saying this shouldn't be pursued. The security aspect of the plan is just something I think many of the "researchers, environmentalists and businessmen" might be missing.
These are the most valid points here. There are sooooo many places on Earth that would be optimal for putting unsightly "green" energy generating stations. But those areas always seem to have some sort of security or political issue making them nearly unviable for investors.
It's part of the irony I find with extreme eco-tree huggers. They want all this peace, love and harmony but refuse to see the need sometimes for things like militaries and conflict resolution in order to make way for the ideal solutions to be implemented.
It is a shame, though, after being in the Sahara last May such an industry would be amazing for places like that. It's a chicken and egg problem though. With economic success, the people could establish a standard of living and political expectation above squalor and violence. But, without that standard, they can never get the appropriate influx of investment to attain it. So the cycle circulates and circulates.
I suspect that things will continue to progress in Africa...although the Ivory Coast is experiencing the problems you mentioned they are far removed from the carnage of the Biafran War its only a matter of time...the Sahara idea is great...doing things by force is a dated concept though...I believe it isn't until we give people (Africans) a viable financial incentive that they will make an effort to protect an investment like that.
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Problems with maintaining infrastructure in Africa
As an employee of Shell International Exploration and Production, the first thing that popped in my mind after reading this was the huge potential cost of maintaining the infrastructure needed for this sort of plan. The oil industry has a quickly increasing presence in Africa - particularly off the West coast - and runs into continual problems with safety there, for both employees and equipment. I've heard numerous stories and read multiple reports of people murdered or kidnapped, as well as pillaging by locals.
The goal is a worthy one, however, so I'm not saying this shouldn't be pursued. The security aspect of the plan is just something I think many of the "researchers, environmentalists and businessmen" might be missing.
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