Tag: Africa

No snowplows in Ghana

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Metal goods at Obuasi market, Ghana

“Metal fabrication” and for that matter, the metal manufacturing industry, seem to have very different meanings and specializations, depending what part of the world you are in. A few days ago I was in London, admiring a fleet of brand-new snowplows, which stood brightly at attention, gleaming and winking in the autumn sun at the Heathrow airport. I remember thinking to myself, whoever got that contract is doing all right.

Now I am in Ghana, Africa, and I haven’t seen a single snowplow anywhere. It appears that the large metal machinery here is found mainly in the forests and other mining areas, and that bulldozers are much preferred over snowplows around these parts. But even here, those large machines don’t come cheap, and renting them alone costs around $2500 a day. Again, whoever has THAT contract is doing all right too.

To most Ghanaians, however, for whom a car is out of reach, heavy industrial equipment doesn’t seem to figure much into their daily lives. Instead, their idea of “fabricated metal” consists of rudimentary yet versatile tools that can be (and are) made by local blacksmiths using age-old –and time-honored– technology.

I went to the local market today to shop for a few items, and I found a section of the market that is in fact dedicated solely to manufactured metal goods. Among the things for sale were machetes (that’s Ghanaian for “lawnmower”, “coconut opener”, “nail trimmer” and goodness knows what else), shovels (aka “bulldozers”), knives, blades of all sizes and shiny black chunks of bitumen. I asked what this was used for and it was explained to me that it is melted and used to repair holes in buckets and things of that nature. Bitumen has been in use by humans for a very long time. It was also used by ancient Egyptians in the mummification process.

I’ve noticed that in general, the local technology here is geared primarily towards avoiding a dependency on electricity or fuel, which can be hard to come by in many areas. That’s why the women at the market use a bed of coals to heat their palm oil for the fried plantains they serve up fresh daily. That’s why the local “contract maker” uses a mechanical typewriter and carbon paper to draw up legally binding agreements. And that’s why everyone owns a machete but no one, not even the most affluent, seems to own a lawnmower.

That said, imagine how amazing it would be if they could get their hands on a C. Marshall Fabrication Plasma Burning Machine! I just might be able to talk one of the local blacksmiths into buying one…as long as it comes with a really, really long cord.

– Anja Wulf

African Gold

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Illegal gold miners in Africa

Last week I told you about the shipwreck that they’ve discovered just a short walk from where I live. Although I don’t have too many complaints about staying on a beach on a Caribbean island, this is about to change. Africa, here I come.

My husband is already in Africa. He’s actually working on establishing a gold mine there. No one seems to believe this when I tell them, but that’s OK since the last thing I want to do is invite more competition. The place where he is has a lot of illegal mining activity. He went into the jungle recently and took some pictures of the miners.

Their current rate of progress is pretty dire: they work extremely hard to extract a pretty measly amount of gold per day (although in their country’s economy, it’s probably well worth the effort). However, their technology is so primitive that their most advanced (and pretty much only) piece of equipment is a shovel.

What they do is this: they go into the jungle and start digging. They dig holes into the ground as deep as 3 meters. While one person digs, the other person starts filtering the mud using water and basically a blanket. That’s pretty much all there is to it. It’s the same technique that the ancient Egyptians and other civilizations from thousands of years ago used. In fact, it’s the same technique that gave rise to the “Golden Fleece” of ancient legend.

They don’t cover up the holes once they’ve dug them. Then the rains come, and what looks like a puddle on the surface is actually a 9 foot-deep hole. It can literally be fatal to take a walk through the jungle for this reason.

The tribal chief, who owns the land, is not happy that the illegal miners are taking gold off his land without giving him a cut. This is why he is only too happy to welcome a few Westerners into his neighborhood who are willing to give him a percentage of what they extract from his land. This said, it’s not uncommon to have 3 different people approach you to inform you that they are the tribal chief and in charge of the land. In any case, it is also important to maintain extremely friendly relations with the illegal miners so that your high-tech equipment (and by “high tech”, I mean anything more advanced than a shovel) doesn’t “accidentally” break overnight when it is left on the premises.

It’s not quite as structured or regulated as doing business in the US, and it’s a tad more risky than working at a 7-11, but then again, it’s also a bit more interesting. For example, I just found out yesterday that in the particular area where my husband is doing business, there is no such thing as a legitimate business transaction if the mother of the businessman is not in attendance. In other words, if you think you just struck a deal with one of the locals, if his mom was not physically present in the room, it was an illegal transaction.

In the meantime, however, I’m still holding out for the (albeit remote) possibility of finding a gold bar right here where I am, in one of the most beautiful places in the world, washed up on my beach from the shipwreck. Wouldn’t that just be peachy.