By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa
An opportunity for African governments to provide water, energy and other services to those in need and control speedy urbanisation to the continent’s cities could be on the horizon.
It is a well-known fact that an emerging region like Southern Africa is hamstrung by the overwhelming influx of thousands of its rural citizens yearly – to its poorly resourced cities – by people in search of a ‘better life’.
This is compounded by the thousands of illegal immigrants from other African countries and elsewhere.
What the flocking of many of these, mostly poor and unskilled, people to African commercial cities leads to is overcrowding and straining of infrastructure and amenities that are not equipped like those of Europe and America, for example.
With little prospect of employment or creating their start-ups, many will join the masses that are already unemployed and living in poverty and underdevelopment.
Societal ills like crime, disease, homelessness and poverty, to name a few, would ‘skyrocket’, leaving governments with inadequate resources to turn around the situation, and provide the better services they always promise the electorate during election time.
But now, all that could be issues of the past. At least if what Pumpmakers claim is true. The Austrian organisation has launched the Pumpmakers Platform.
This programme is said to be a virtual marketplace that helps people help themselves by providing individuals, local companies, NGOs and volunteers with free access to the easy-to-use do-it-yourself (DIY) solar pump.
The system comes with a global network to implement projects for everyone where there is a need of water.
According to Pumpmakers, “This helps reduce the global water shortage, strengthens the local economy, creates jobs and prevents migration from rural areas.”
Also noted is that the group has successfully installed DIY Solar Pumps in Africa and Europe since 2012.
“A single pump system provides up to 1 000 people a day with clean drinking water.”
And that building on the success of these first projects, new Pumpmakers projects will follow in Somalia, Morocco, Zambia, Cameroon and Tanzania.
The expansions would allow entrepreneurs, local companies, NGOs and individuals requiring water every day to register themselves free of charge on the Pumpmakers Platform, and present their company, organisation or project to a global community.
Furthermore, “Pumpmakers are on the lookout for new project entries and water wells as well as existing sources of water with and without water pumps (for example, hand pumps or diesel-powered water pumps), which may be replaced by or equipped with a DIY Solar Pump.
Dietmar Stuck, an experienced Austrian well-builder, founder and CEO of Pumpmakers explains, “There is a huge need for safe, clean drinking water in Africa. To date, however, more than 300 000 hand pumps are inoperative or broken.
“That’s why our DIY Solar Pump and the Pumpmakers Platform present an ideal solution. Project entries on our world map will provide us with the information we need to realise these projects together with our partners.”
Back in 2010, Stuck developed the world’s first DIY Solar Pump together with his team of experts, using the latest technology as well as a sustainable and patented concept.
“All materials as well as the individual parts of the pump are maintenance-free and corrosion-free. What’s more, the pump is affordable and has been designed for easy assembly, even in the remotest corners of the world. Due to the fact that we only use renewable solar energy to pump water from a depth of 100 metres, our system incurs no running costs. The optional hand pump can be used for operations at night.
More importantly, our DIY Solar Pump works independently from wind and fuel. It is the ideal substitute for conventional systems that are often too expensive or require a lot of maintenance.”
According to Pumpmakers, just basic DIY skills and a few parts that are readily available locally are required to assemble and instal the solar pump.
The pump kit, piston and gear unit as well as suitable tools or advertising material can be purchased via the webshop of the multilingual Pumpmakers Platform
“The parts needed for the pump tower can either be obtained locally or via the webshop. Videos and images provide step-by-step assembly instructions,” the group says.
The new platform offers local companies and start-up entrepreneurs, the Pumpmakers, a straightforward business model and the support they need.
“Pumpmakers can present their services to the global community, network with NGOs, customers or fellow Pumpmakers, report on their DIY Solar Pump project and upload images and videos.”
A world map highlights water supply needs and shows the status of current projects.
Meanwhile, the 2012 book ‘Capital Cities in Africa: Power and Powerlessness’ looks at the contemporary issues facing these cities.
According to the editors of this book, capital cities have always played a role in nation and state building.
“Typically, the state projects its power through the urban landscape and layout of its capital city. Power is asserted via the capital’s architecture, its public monuments and the names of its streets and public places. But these urban symbols of authority are fluid and subject to change as ideologies and political landscapes shift.”
In the book, a range of authors present a set of multifocal studies of sub-Saharan African capital cities. From Dakar to Conakry, Nairobi to Luanda, the chapters deal with the historical development of these capitals, their political dramas, their levels of service delivery and their location within the ethnic, economic and demographic fabric of their nations.
What emerges from the studies is a sense of the power of African capitals, in terms of their political importance and their proximity to the centre of patronage and redistribution.
But what is also revealed is their powerlessness, in the face of both massive immigration and the resultant service demands of exploding populations and ethnopolitical violence.
The primary historical focus of the book is the period since political independence from European colonialism, some 50 years or less (2010 marked the 50th year of independence for many countries in Africa).
Hence, much of the urban and built landscape discussed is of recent construction, while colonial traces are still significant.
Each study provides a short historical context of the city and nation state, while concentrating on the urban geology of the capital, on its use of monuments and names of streets and identifying pertinent spaces where public rallies, marches and other forms of mobilisation have taken place.
While each city has its own individual national trajectory after independence, they also share a common demographic feature.
In contrast to Europe, where rapid urbanisation is past, sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing a process of urbanisation that is moving at extraordinarily great speed.
The studies and concluding overview cover west, central, East and southern Africa, and British, French, Portuguese and Boer colonialisms, with some mention of German, Italian and Spanish legacies.
The contributors succeed in bringing a range of diverse disciplines to the discussion – from historical to geographical to political – which need to be taken to account by all stakeholders committed to the development of Africa.
According to Stuck, there is a great demand, not only in Africa but also increasingly in South America, Asia and Australia. Therefore, the next series production of the DIY Solar Pump commenced in March 2016.
“Compared to many traditional water pump systems that are often maintenance prone and expensive, the investment of about US$7 500 for the maintenance-free DIY Solar Pump is amortised over about one to two years.”
However, “Even individuals or volunteers who want to make a difference can help fight the global water crisis.
“They can invest time and effort by joining the Pumpmakers Platform and highlighting their project on the world map.
That way, they can effectively draw sponsors’ and organisations’ attention of the need for water in their region.”
Stuck adds, “Our goal is to provide thousands of people worldwide with access to safe, clean drinking water and give those wanting to start their own business the support they need.
“That is why we came up with a unique DIY concept. It makes people more self-sufficient and effectively helps fight the global water shortage and poverty.”
Today, almost 800 million people still have no access to safe, clean drinking water. As a result, some 10 000 people die every day – most of them are children under the age of five.
Another study of note is ‘Alternatives to Privatisation: Public Options for Essential Services in the Global South’ published that confirms that the number of people in the global south without access to basic services is staggering.
Globally, more than 1.1 billion people are not able to obtain safe water supplies, 2.4 billion people do not have access to improved sanitation facilities, and 1.4 billion do not have electricity, with the vast majority of these people living in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“The interconnectivity of these service deficits makes matters worse, a lack of clean water, inadequate sanitation, no electricity for the refrigeration of food and health supplies and a shortage of medical personnel all combine to wreak havoc on people’s lives.
“These are service gaps that cost a lot of money for example, an estimated US$41 billion a year will be needed for energy infrastructure in Africa alone if universal access is attained by 2030. A major question is thus who will take responsibility for service delivery?
Privately-owned profit-driven corporations, or state-operated/public entities? All indications are that struggles over privatisation and its alternatives are going to feature prominently for many years to come.
“In this light, Alternatives to privatisation: Public options for essential services in the global South offers the first global survey of its kind to provide a rigorous platform for evaluating alternatives to private enterprise.”
The book looks at what constitutes alternatives, what makes them successful or not, what improvements have been achieved and what lessons have been learnt. This is backed up by examples in over 50 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, covering three sectors – health care, water/sanitation and electricity.
In this study, there are also contributions from a range of researchers, activists and NGO members, the publication is academically rigorous but also accessible to policy makers, analysts, unionists and others familiar with the debates on privatisation and its alternatives.
The question is, are African governments and stakeholders listening? Or will they act to change the conditions under which the people live at least by 2030?
Time will tell.
*Thandisizwe Mgudlwa is an internationally acclaimed journalist based in Cape Town, South Africa. He is the author of the best-selling children’s book – ‘Kiddies World’.