If poverty tourism in Africa provides therapy to citizens from the wealthy nations, I recommend that Africans tour Europe's no-go zones! As an African business "tourist," I was honored through pure accident to come face to face with a group of Europeans known as the "alternatives." 

This group of people shun modernity as we know it. For instance, they avoid use of machines, and seek to live poor lives. They yearn for a lifestyle that many people here in Africa are fleeing from. "Consumerism" is what they fight. I saw people struggling to be poor, because wealth is polluting and unexciting!

What will happen if the "alternatives" manage through continuous lobbying and provision of statistical evidence finally influence policy at the European Union? The one dollar a day measurement might be the first index to be recommended as a measure of civilized populations. All the hydro power stations machines will have to come to a halt. There will be a complete stop of fossil fuel use, and a ban on fertilizer, pesticide, and use of improved seeds. In other words, all Africans will have to retrace their foot prints to the 18th century lifestyle and become global hermits. 

Malthusian theorists will be waiting in the wings to prove an outdated argument that more people outstrip resources because all human ingenuity and creativity will have been driven back to the dark ages. Without innovations, human populations will surely outstrip known resources leading to serious conflicts. 

The parallels are unsettling. Could the ongoing global warming debate be a battle between developed country "haves-and-have not" or between the "alternatives" and "progressives?" The "haves" represented by mighty industrial production continuously dispute global warming arguments as flawed science. Could it be that with more aged people in wealthy nations, issues of health and lifespan influence concerns about the earth? Very much similar to biblical end of times arguments. Where exactly does Africa fit in this picture? 

The African business community has been caught up in this warfare. For instance, an estimated 65 per cent of Kenyan exports to Europe that constitute fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables is now threatened by "carbon footprint" measures advocated in Europe. If developed countries "experts" discover that bio-fuels harm the environment as do fossil fuels, Kenya's tourism industry should expect a slump due to a likelihood of visitors taking to ancient dhows and reliance on monsoon winds. If it is discovered that more people cause global warming, then, business ought to brace itself for campaigns to cut down on human populations which translates to a shrank market space. 

Developed country populations insist on measurements (never mind whether one can hide behind statistics) but the fact remains that one ought to measure and validate their arguments. Contrast that with recent happenings in Kenya where nearly everything is attributed to "spirits." When rains fail, when children are hysterical, when road accidents occur, it's always spirits. It is a taboo to measure food, count children and focus too far in the distant future. Contrast this with the Western world's quest for the last 400 hundred years to measure, quantify and steer clear of having humans driven by whim and prejudice in place of reason and logic. 

Kenyan and by extension African business people must urgently promote the culture of measurements if they have to authoritatively counter arguments advanced by groups whose motivation may be suspect. An alliance of business groups could support independent research institutions (and think tanks) to assist in measurements and forecasting to facilitate making of sober choices.

First appeared in the Business Daily, a publication of the Nation Media Group