Unknown to many, the world's most volatile location, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be the answer to many of Africa's problems. The vast unrealized potential of this region is mind boggling. While the rest of the world mulls over the challenges of renewable energy, a gargantuan resource lies unused in the heart of Africa.

For the last few years, plans have been on the table to develop the world's largest hydroelectric power dam - one that upstages the still incomplete Three Gorges Dam in China. Called the Grand Inga, this dam would produce enough electricity to power the whole of Africa! With a potential of 39,000MW output, the 500 million residents of the continent would be ushered into the industrial and digital age with electricity to spare. Many challenges lie ahead for the project. Building this great dam across the entire Congo River has a price tag of +$50 Billion which might be one of the lesser problems, considering the nature of the region itself, and the rampant corruption that has plagued Africa in general for the last few decades.

That said, the Congo has the agricultural potential to feed the whole of Africa too. Its climate favors the cultivation of a very wide range of crops. More than half of the Congo's land is arable land, but only about 2% of this has been cultivated! Agricultural yield is extremely high in the region - high enough to supply the whole of Africa with all the necessary food crops (Rice, corn, millet, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar cane… the list goes on and on). War and a decaying infrastructure may keep all this unexploited sadly.

Africa is a paradox unto itself, an enigma without an solution. For now we can only hypothesize about what 'could be' and 'might be'.

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Escalation of the Darfur crisis is further evidence that no one really cares, but a new website from Amnesty International gives you a peek into the atrocities being committed.

The new website, www.eyesondarfur.org, posts images caught using high resolution satellite cameras watching over villages in Darfur Sudan and the hope is that this will bring awareness to the violence and plight of the terrorized citizens of the region.

To be quite frank, I don't think the Janjaweed (the people engaged in committing these brutalities) could give a damn. The fact that no one is doing anything has probably emboldened them to the point that I can imagine them posing for a photo from above - 'say cheeese!'

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The Kenyan economics expert James Shikwati, 35, says that aid to Africa does more harm than good. The avid proponent of globalization spoke with SPIEGEL about the disastrous effects of Western development policy in Africa, corrupt rulers, and the tendency to overstate the AIDS problem.

Shikwati: If they really want to fight poverty, they should completely halt development aid and give Africa the opportunity to ensure its own survival. Currently, Africa is like a child that immediately cries for its babysitter when something goes wrong. Africa should stand on its own two feet.

Read the SPIEGEL interview here

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I think I’ve just about had it with these environmentalists and would love to tell them to stick their hypocritical message up their rear. Ask them to give up their cars and heated homes and you’ll be all alone in the room. Global Warming is the new Con - if you open your eyes, you’ll see that this is driven purely by marketing. I actually gave ExxonMobil credit for not pretending to be a ‘Green’ company like BP or Shell - the main purveyors of oil, the root of all our ‘problems’. Pumping gas at a BP, I noticed their new tagline, ‘Beyond Petroleum’ — ??? Ha! Give me a break.

We (Africa) have arrived at the table very late in the game. Developed countries are almost done sucking fossil fuels out of the ground - the very substance required to support the quality of life everyone craves (including environmentalists). As China & India fight for the remaining crumbs to satisfy their explosive economies, I can’t help but wonder where this leaves us. The last major oil reserves have already been discovered, and the remaining options can only be compared to pulling teeth.

• Solar Power
  Extremely clean, and there’s plenty of it on the continent. Unfortunately technology hasn’t advanced enough for us to harness it efficiently. Right now, this form of energy is just a romantic dream that is still out of reach.

• Hydroelectric Power
  Has been extremely reliable for years. Also, it requires large dams that displace people and destroy ecosystems. Ultimately our future lies here. Africa has taken advantage of only 7% of its hydroelectric potential compared to 75% in Europe. It is however going to require massive dams that translate to massive investment on a still volatile continent.

• Methane Gas (NEW!!)
  For a moment there I was convinced this was the Silver Bullet solution to our problems, a green almost endless supply of energy. As stated in this BBC News article and on Afromusing, Lake Kivu in Rwanda is holding enough unexploited energy to meet Rwanda’s (and the regions) needs for 200 years. In all the excitement, finer details like the fact that methane is a extremely explosive gas were left out - more details here.

I’d like to go on, but I think you get the idea - we are literally going to be pulling teeth to come up with a solution. Ultimately, the environment will be a casualty if we want to get what everyone else has.

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Every enthusiast needs a skeptic around to keep them balanced. The power of positive thinking is immense—but so is its capacity for error, unless you take the time to answer the skeptics before committing yourself.

That said… I'll get to my point. The 'Cell Phones Are The Future' statement is very heavily clichéd at this point. It is said that the mobile phone is the one pervasive device that has penetrated some of the poorest economies due to the overwhelming demand for any form of telecommunications. Sure, but If you're an entrepreneur thinking of leveraging this mobile platform, consider the following:

• The mobile phone companies have invested billions in notoriously difficult economies in Africa and are currently raking in sweet profits. Trust me, they're not about to share the loot with just anyone after pouring blood and sweat into the current infrastructure. The barriers to entry are extremely high at this point… and I'm almost tempted to say that the current companies have ganged up in a cartel-like structure to protect themselves.

• Africa is the wild west. Interoperability issues are sure to be a big problem especially where m-commerce is concerned. Interoperability aside, I can't even begin to fathom the imminent fraud quandary.

• Seriously - all cell phones are good for at this point is calling and sending text messages. Outside the cell phone companies, the only other people cashing in are selling ringtones and graphics. Beyond that we have very few early adopters willing to try anything else.

Many of the new startups are spending ridiculous amounts of money on impractical schemes. Is anyone even studying the habits of the end user to determine if all this is necessary? Someone will make plenty of $$$$ down the road, but until then there will be plenty of burnouts on the side of the road.

I'm sorry for the pessimistic view, but that's just my 2 cents.

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For the last few years, the old media companies have belittled blogging - pretty much classifying it as writing for fun. Newspapers have long been the voice of truth and a credible source of information. Blogs on the other hand have been notorious for recycling news originally printed in the papers. Over the last few years there has been a major shift in the balance of power in professional journalism. Bloggers are now breaking news, and journalism is sovereign territory no more.

Reuters Africa is breaking new ground by meshing regular news articles with blog articles with the launch of their new website dedicated exclusively to the African continent. Journalism in Africa has been tricky, due to the fact that dissemination of information in past years could cost you your life. Blogging opens up unprecedented avenues of expression. I can't wait to see where this is headed.

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South Africans have had it with internet spam (unsolicited email)! The Internet Society of South Africa (ISOC-ZA) has launched a new program that puts a bounty on spammers. We're not talking about a measly amount of money - you can earn up to R30,000 (USD 4,250) for reporting a spammer who's successfully convicted. What was once considered child's play is now a grown mans game. Spammers are now criminal offenders and the consequences can range from harsh fines to jail sentences.

Local ISPs have reported that spam makes up more than 70% of all monitored email traffic. This has increased by well over 20% in the past 6 months. This along with all the viruses and phishing attacks puts quite a dent in the global economy. Spam is costing the world billions in network resources, diminished productivity and forgone Internet sales.

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