A novel proposition for saving driest Africa from total collapse.
Few regions in the world are crying out for help louder than the Sahel, the parched underbelly of the Sahara that runs from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. Spanning nine nations, the largest being Chad and Sudan, the Sahel has the dubious distinction of being at the top of global social, economic, and cultural categories that no region would aspire to. Rife with civil war and droughts, the Sahel ranks among the highest in infant mortality rates and the lowest in per capita earnings and literacy rates of any area in the world. The best efforts of aid agencies have served only to create a culture of dependency, completely ignoring the hidden potential of the Sahel’s natural resources to build a resilient, market-based economy.
It’s not surprising, though, that well-meaning groups like the United Nations Development Program and U.S. Agency of International Development have failed to significantly improve the economic fortunes of the citizens of the Sahel. These agencies are not equipped with the type of business expertise required to manage market development and build sustainable commercial ventures. But imagine a business-centric non-governmental organization, an “Executives Sans Frontières” (Executives without Borders), patterned after Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, or Doctors without Borders), the international group of health-care workers that provides medical treatment and training to disadvantaged and underdeveloped countries in the world.
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