African Politics - Aid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

African Politics - Aid - Essay Example Aid was started in Africa in order to facilitate development projects after colonialism. Colonialism had impoverished African countries and the western nations came in with the concept of aid to assist. The intentions were pure and there was initially no agenda behind the money being provided. As Michelle (2013) stipulates in the journal article, there were big development ideas that were to be funded by the aid money but what lacked is the technical expertise. Aid was to be used in various developmental areas such as education, health, infrastructural development among others. Education is the baseline of every country whether developed or developing. It is therefore in the best interest of every nation to have its entire people educated if it is to have developments in the future and use it to enhance their livelihoods. Africa has been left behind for decades on the issue of access to education and this has led to aid being given and debt accrued in the need to educate their public. The dire need to raise the education standards led to need to borrow money from the Bretton Woods institutions such as the World Bank in order to complete the project. The project ended up consuming more and having no much return benefits to the intended public and a debt accrued. Drazen, (2002) explains how debts from the aid continued to increase with no hopes of them being paid back especially with the oil crises which led to an increase in food prices as well as the deplorable conditions in these African nations that have led to an increase in poverty. The Bretton Woods institutions together with the western countries that supplied the money for the aid came up with the concept of structural adjustment programs as the condition for being granted the aid. The African leaders desperate for the money went along with this program that saw massive layoffs and retrenchments taking place in the public sector. The structural programs were

Shell uses new refinery new reffinery to support sustainability Essay

Shell uses new refinery new reffinery to support sustainability - Essay Example addition to being a big project, the new transformation process has the potential of creating a new natural gas, which would contribute to earnings for the company. GTL gas is priced at roughly half the normal price of crude oil, which is likely to spur increased demand mostly due to lower natural gas prices. Shell is also likely to win the environmentally conscious consumers and businesses since GTL is purer than the traditional crude thus having a competitive edge over other companies in the energy business. The process of GTL however, has various production and operational barriers. The process is extremely expensive, considering the amount invested in the project, which is $ 19 million, and this has drawn the attention of critics who hold the view that alternative procedures are more cost effective. Moreover, the GTL process consumes a lot of energy, hence posing the question of the effectiveness of the projects’ environmental sustainability. Another barrier facing the venture is the fact that the GTL project can only make profits when oil prices are high and thus the company’s stakes are either a loss or a win with this particular venture. In the event of the project’s failure after 5 years, the company should not abandon the project all together. With the experience it had with a similar project in Malaysia, this should be an indication that the company should remain optimistic and keep the project running. The company should take into consideration the experience with the previous project to know what to do and what to avoid in this particular venture. Having worked through the numerous glitches in the GTL process, the company should be more confident in undertaking this particular project. Finally, Shell stand s to win more profitable relationships in future in case this project succeeds in the rich labour and energy resources Qatar. Thus, Shell should consider continuing with the venture even if it was to fail after 5