Living a life that largely emphasises as much independence from the mass consumer market as possible teaches one how to sift through all of the elements presented as part of modern day life to focus on the essentials. As a result, off-the-grid champions of all sorts are often roped in to weigh-in on some economic issues that affect a large group of people.
On one such occasion it became apparent that this off-the-grid, essentialist viewpoint has some real value to offer to large groups of people who might be looking to make use of the various regional advantages they have, many of which advantages they’re not even aware of.
These are some sleepy regional economic powerhouses that could make a real impact on the economy if they banded together and made concerted efforts to drive a new economic revolution.
Southern Africa
The Southern African region is blessed beyond measure with natural resources, most of which are simply mined straight out of the ground and sent to the ports for export as raw materials. If they could find a way to refine these materials and actually create finished products, so much more could be added to each of the countries’ GDPs in the region.
Let’s not even mention the tourism potential! While there is a lot of tourism in the region, imagine if on a packaged deal you could visit countries blessed with natural beauty such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, etc, in one trip. How about including some of the islands which are part of the SADC region, including the Seychelles and Mauritius?
Central Africa
Copper, diamond, gold, graphite, iron ore, ilmenite, kaolin, kyanite, lignite, limestone, manganese, monazite, quartz, rutile, salt, tin, and uranium…These are all mineral resources which can be found in one country, the Central African Republic, but when we consider the neighboring countries which make up the central African region then it becomes clear that this has to be the richest region in the world by way of minerals. Uranium Production is at an all-time high in Africa, as well as the production of copper and graphite.
It’s the region’s geographic location, which is effectively right in the middle of the world, that renders this a sleeping regional economic giant. How about the money generated out of mining those minerals be used to create what would be a strategically located air-travel industry?
Of course it’s common knowledge that there’s perpetual conflict preventing anything of this sort.
Los Angeles, California, United States
Naturally this would be out of pure necessity over anything else, but if you were looking for the services a personal injury attorney Los Angeles doesn’t ordinarily come to mind as a place renowned for such services. The city and its state (California) are perhaps known more for tourism and perhaps the world’s pioneering film and television industry, but this is indeed a sleepy regional economic giant when it comes to many other services in so many different industries away from entertainment. Law is one of them, because residents and visitors alike are inevitably most affected by this particular industry.
You’ll find a very good personal injury lawyer in LA, don’t get me wrong, but I feel there could be a much, much bigger industry around the legal field.