(This was an answer by me to an interesting question on Quora, here is the question,https://www.quora.com/What-items-or-technologies-do-people-in-developing-countries-need-but-cannot-afford/answer/Geoffrey-Ruto)
I’ll keep it short and sweet(*Sauti sol’s reference, Kenyan's will get it.)
THE ISRAELS IRON DOME, ITS CALLED.
Its a missile defense system although they are calling it an ’’AIR’’ defense system but it was made to shoot Palestinian rockets targeted at Israels cities. Ooh Yeah it also mobile, making it convenient to move around. But here is the weird thing, the $100Million price and the 90% claimed accuracy in taking the rockets down are all on the internet and even to make it more absurd there are long video reportings on the Iron dome and even an explanation on how it works all over youtube(check VICE).
They are trying to sell them, its an advertisement to Generals all over the world and at the same time a tool for intimidation to their enemies. That’s why Britain obtained it for £78 MILLION(Israel sells Britain £78m ‘Iron Dome’ to protect Falklands from missile attacks ) and so did Romania (Israeli Defense Contractor Rafael Sells Iron Dome to Romania).
And am having a feeling they are targeting, war prone countries, African countries interested in gaining arms, Terrorized countries and countries governed by ignorant leaders.
This is why I believe so. With its kind of capabilities which they don’t fear to show off, if it actually does what it does with a 90% success rate, its probably a longtime research that has been going on for awhile to build it. If it was the united states even Israel itself, they would have kept the tech until other countries were about to catch up on them, how? When the countries would start experimenting with the technology involved in its creation.
Then that’s when they would be selling them at over inflated prices. So why would they sell? One answer sticks out prominently, the cost of making one and using one is expensive, with no exact figure to its manufacturing cost the cost of making one is not certain but shooting one rocket down costs $500-$1000 and with a couple of attempts on Israel daily that’s very expensive for Israel .So selling it provides two streams of income the sell of the IRON DOME and its missiles.
I am guessing most developed countries would take about 9 years minimum to start experimenting on ‘new’ technology years after and maybe never consider it at all because by then new technology would have caught up and it will be even more expensive. So they either buy the old tech or the buy the old tech because the new tech is even more expensive, so with every decade or so developing countries are robbed and some are in such a bad state because of internal conflicts(South Sudan, Somalia, DRC and Syria.) that it becomes uncertain if they will ever develop, with massive exodus by the citizens of those countries to other more peaceful neighbors they also loose man power to build the country from the ground up and since African leaders are neither patient, never after the countries interest or even the slightest patriotism they can’t have the will to die building the country, countries like Somalia would take more than one president to build, maybe even more than two presidents.
That is why they choose to profit in other ways, continue with the war and still stay in OFFICE, even though their people are dying. In Sudan War lords profit from selling and smuggling oil, as long as the country is at war making it unstable hence no rule of law or accountability.
The point am getting at is in order for African countries to develop they need to invest heavily in their own industries, research, tech, education, medicine, security and corruption free govt institutions. This will mean Africa will be competing with the rest of the world to create and sell new age tech, in academia, innovation through technology and probably invention. One big advantage that the West has given Africans is its education a few big disadvantage we Africans have is shortsightedness, greed, violence, tribalism and religion.
African countries that will focus on investing and watching its investments keenly, will grow to being powerful, prosperous, safe and an oasis in the dessert which is Africa.
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