Roads of Liberia

In the middle of the XIX century Liberia, the country found by the freed slaves, was the first hope of building the new independent and self-sufficient Africa. Being the first independent state ruled by the African people in the equatorial part of the Black Continent, Liberia was the center of attention. But everything went wrong.

Slavery, constant civil wars, corruption and aid embezzlement turned Liberia into one of the poorest nation in Africa. And here are the results of state failure—roads of Liberia as a warning sign of the economic and social disaster.

I think I have found the source of all the problems with Liberian transportation networks. Look at the picture above. Two guys are working in the mud. One guy’s pretending to help them. And seventeen guys are giving advices. This is way to much management to get the things actually done in any reasonable time. There is no economy that would coup with such a terrible thing.

But everything will be fine, eventually. Just remember—don’t rock the boat.

Roads of Liberia was posted by Vitali K. on 4th June 2011 as part of the Curiosities section. Check the front page for the latest posts or use navigation links below: