An Overlooked Majority?

African cities are growing rapidly, but an estimated two-thirds of African people still live in rural areas. In some African nations, the ratio of rural: urban dwellers are even higher. In Burundi, in central Africa, it’s almost 9:1 – which gives some idea of the importance of the countryside.

However, numbers alone aren’t always enough to ensure that politicians based in capital cities focus on their rural populations. Providing necessary infrastructure in rural areas is much harder than it is in cities, which can lead to rural people feeling that their needs are not being considered.

Many approaches have been taken to addressing this, but so far, no single proposed solution has proven to be universally successful or appropriate. This presents an opportunity (and a need) for a rethink, and in this article, I’ll propose social entrepreneurship as a viable alternative. (Read more…)

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