Back in February, I talked about solar power from the deserts, and it looks like this is finally going to become a reality. The $10bn solar power plan backed by a Jordanian prince could provide the EU with a sixth of its electricity needs in the very near future. The concept, dubbed DESERTEC, has many beneficiaries; The EU and North Africa (but mostly the EU) would benefit from the potential billions of watts of power and lower carbon emissions from this renewable source of energy. Believe it or not, waste from the plants is desalinized water which is worth more than its weight in gold in the arid regions of North Africa.

The aim of the project at this point is to bring the cost per kilowatt-hour down to roughly 25¢ or less for it to be more cost-effective than coal.

Read more at The Observer

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It is with great anticipation that I awaited the 3-part documentary 'Diamond Road' that's currently airing on the Discovery Times Channel. I thought this might be a good follow up to another documentary - 'Blood Diamonds' that aired on the History Channel. While the focus of the documentaries might be different, the core message is the same - The diamond industry has been taking us for a ride!

My article is titled 'A Solution To Conflict Diamonds' because it looks like the industry is about implode on itself. Two startups in America are launching an all-out assault on the cartels. Gemesis (Florida) and Apollo Diamond (Boston) are now manufacturing gem-quality synthetic diamonds, replicating in two weeks the 100 million years that nature needs to make diamonds from coal.

As it turns out, it is now getting close to impossible to find any discernible differences between synthetic and natural diamonds. The $7 billion industry has been shaken to its core with unfathomable implications - public perception will surely be affected. In my opinion it can only mean that diamonds will become more affordable as the two startups increase their yearly carat output. Hopefully this will make mining diamonds a worthless endeavour and put an end to the madness.

Diamonds have always been steeped in mystery purposefully in an industry that's increasingly heartless and indifferent - except to the end users of course, who have been duped into believing that a marriage cannot work without a diamond. Conflict diamonds have been sold to buy weapons for the mass slaughter of innocent victims while the diamond cartels like De Beers profit.

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Celebrities like to portray it as a basket case, but they ignore very real progress.

It's a dark and scary picture of a helpless, backward continent that's being offered up to TV watchers and coffee drinkers. But in fact, the real Africa is quite a bit different. And the problem with all this Western stereotyping is that it manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of some current victories, fueling support for patronizing Western policies designed to rescue the allegedly helpless African people while often discouraging those policies that might actually help.

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I’m going to contradict myself here - I criticized the iPhone before it launched, but as soon as I laid my hands on it, all I could think of was ‘Eureka!’. My friend Hash at the White African blog has been preaching  mobile computing in Africa for quite a while now, but none of us could have seen this coming. indulge me for a moment…

Phones are the prevalent computing devices in Africa, but they have numerous drawbacks (a ball and chain if you will):

• There are so many types of phones and mobile operating systems that developing software for them is extremely arduous
• The WAP Protocol (Protocol that allows online access on phones) serves up multimedialess web pages that offer little or no interaction
• Developing websites for mobile phones is a resource hog, in terms of labor

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. The iPhone on the other hand gives us the one thing that has become standard across all computers - a true web browser. The real magnitude of this will unravel in coming years. We have come to depend heavily on the web browser for work and play, and having one on your hip means we’re set to become an ‘always on, always connected’ society. Imagine checking your email, reading news, monitoring stocks and viewing FaceBook or MySpace without the need for special software! I suspect by now you see where I’m headed with this.

The device still has an exorbitant price tag, but this is sure to come down. Either way, a standard has been set, and other companies are sure to follow. More later…

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Early last month Rwanda's president, Kagame inaugurated Africa's largest solar energy plant, proving once again that Rwanda can stay ahead of the curve in the adoption of new technology on the continent. The plant generates only 250kW, which isn't much, but definitely a sign of things to come.

Also on the horizon is the harnessing of methane gas from lake Kivu, which could potentially generate up to 700mW!

At this point I should mention that while renewable energy holds the great promise of energy independence, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that by 2030 only 14 percent of total energy demand will be met from renewable sources. I tend to disagree with this notion because solar cell efficiency has been improving steadily every year, converting even more of the sun's energy into electricity. Solar power will be in widespread use in a decade or so.

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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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I might be jumping the gun here a little, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents before the pre-launch euphoria kills everyone. The iPhone hype is so great, Jesus might be coming shortly thereafter. All hail the life changing utility of the future - or is it?

Judging from what I've seen online and in the catchy TV ads, this might well be the phone to end all phones. I'm not sure whether to call it a phone, or a gizmo with Phone + iPod + Internet. What more could you possibly ask for? I'm a certified phone whore, switching phones every few months, on a quest for the mythical device, the holy grail of all gadgets and I'm just wondering if this could be it. My gut feeling is that brilliant marketing is what is at play here.

I suspect that the iPhone will have the same flaws the T-Mobile MDA did (back when I had it). The MDA was everything you might want in a phone (multimedia & internet)… except it failed at the one thing it was supposed to do the best - be a phone. Touchscreen dialing looks nice and easy until you have to do it driving a car. People take a keypad for granted. Have you ever noticed the the #5 key always has that tell-tale bump that guides you to dial a number even while blind-folded?

Anyone planning to use this 'Great Gadget' in Africa might be a little disappointed. All that I've read so far hints at the internet being at the core of its great features, with the Safari Browser, Email, Google Maps, YouTube integration and more. GPRS/EDGE coverage in most African countries is spotty if any. If you just want to settle for a glitzy phone with music, then by all means go for it. Also, if the iPhone gets you a hot date, then you have my blessings and it is definitely worth the price.

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