One of the biggest issues that is addressed again and again is how to ensure that the economic development of the LICs can be done sustainability. How it can learn from the mistakes of the HICs and mitigate for the hugely damaging impacts of elements such as energy provision through fossil fuels and infrastructure with steel and concrete.
There have been examples of leapfrogging in the east i.e. adopting better and newer tech without using a poorer, earlier version at all. Witness Africa’s early and rapid adoption of mobile phone tech which allowed an avoidance of the damage of laying phone lines but also gave remote communities instant access to money transfer.
Yet many LICs, especially in Africa remain hampered by problems that have been around for years. This good article in African Business highlights this in the energy context.
What much of this all points to of course is who should pay? And it seems more and more to me that the only viable answer to that is the HICs and the TNCs of the 21st century.
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.