Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48303011

Points: 3

# Comments: 0

However, there are a multitude of problems that have resulted in us being where we are. Now mind you, I am just a software engineer not a development expert (but for some credibility, I was the first engineer at Malawian owned Credit Reference Bureau and built most of the software there and I have worked with Social Cash Transfer program before as a consultant).

* Infrastructure is a big problem, we have poor road infrastructure, almost no rail or airline industry though those are picking up as of recent years. Very few Malawians have access to electricity, I believe some reports indicated less than 10%. Most of our population lives in rural areas. Internet penetration is growing but even cell tower coverage is not yet there - our TELCOS have about 3-4 million subscribers max, we are a population of about 20 million people (maybe 40% under 19?) and yet our largest bank only has about 2 or 3 million customers.

* We have low literacy rates and high dropout rates especially in rural areas. This is worrying for a population with almost half being youth/children. Our school infrastructure is also not that great, it is not strange to find a class of students learning under a tree in some rural and peri-urban areas.

* Corruption and mismanagement of funds - this is a big problem here. A lot of the money in the government programs and NGO/Donor programs finds it's way into individuals' pockets. Some of the initiatives are well meaning but because of corruption and pilfering of funds the impact isn't always felt at the level that's expected.

* Mismanagement of Natural resources - we have deposits of gold, rutile, uranium and other materials - we have companies from Australia/China and the likes setting up and possibly benefitting without giving much back to the country besides some veiled Corporate Social Responsibility activities, with parts of the funds going into people's pockets - we need to do better to control our resources but the low literacy rates and lack of awareness of some of these things affects how we as citizens react.

* There's lots online about our agriculture, so I won't spend too much time there - only to say we need to do better to mechanize and not rely too much on the rain cycles. I'm saying this as someone who has gotten into farming recently and is frustrated by how... manual it all is :)

There's a lot more I could say but I hope this give somewhat of a picture.

I should just mention, Malawians are some of the brightest most hardworking people you will ever meet but also trustworthy and loyal. You will probably meet a Malawian doctor in any part of the world and our software engineers are getting there too, we just need the exposure and opportunity to prove ourselves. I help moderate a community of developers and I can tell you we have talent and we do come cheap (even as low as $25/hr ;)

If you are ever in the market to try working with some Malawians, contact is on the profile :)

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48064404

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48050402

Points: 4

# Comments: 1

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47982527

Points: 13

# Comments: 2

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47969288

Points: 158

# Comments: 59

Thanks for sharing.

Anyways, I wish more people commented on what's actually in the article - i've observed what OP is complaining about happening in whatsapp groups too esp when there is a difference of opinion; people defer to calling Meta's in-chat AI instead of giving a bit more effort and stating _their_ view.

[0]: https://github.com/zikani03/basi [1]: https://code.zikani.me/using-the-zig-built-lightpanda-browse...

[0]: https://riverqueue.com/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46903070

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46847325

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

I help moderate a community of developers and we hit the whatsapp group limit of 1024 members and sometimes have to wait for someone to leave (intentionally or accidentally) before we can add new members. We've tried to move people onto "better" platforms like Discord or Slack but we always end up coming back to WhatsApp which is subsidized via MNOs (mobile network operators) social media data/internet bundles and for the fact that most people are just stuck on whatsapp.

This one hit me right in the feels, I have been buying more woodworking/DIY tools than the projects I've worked on with them.

https://code.zikani.me - My Hashnode Blog (planning to self-host soon)

https://blog.nndi.cloud - My startup's blog

I appreciate that you've made it open source and will be checking out the code and maybe that can get me to finally play with Tauri :)

Ironically, my company's blog and websites are built with Hugo.

[0]: https://code.zikani.me