Not so in Namibia. We were the very first African country able to demonstrate in a tangible fashion the advantage of an organised, facilitated transition. And we also did not receive a hothead government intent on breaking down all structures of progress, value and development. The result is that the very positive environment we inherited at independence has been fostered and has now developed to the point where synergies are emerging, often under their own impetus.
The biggest advantage of having an orderly transition is that the wealth of knowledge built up during the colonial period, has not been lost. In Namibia our entire history - pre-colonial, colonial and independent follows a clearly discernible continuous line. Despite all the political differences, eventually a country emerged that is built on all the combined inputs of its inhabitants of the past half a millennium or so. Researching this history back into antiquity often leads to the most amazing discoveries, especially if it regards development and it turns out that an idea we think we are very clever to have conceived, turns out to be over a hundred years old.
This applies to many of our mineral deposits, which were already explored, known and mapped before the South Africans chased the Germans out in 1915. It also applies to surveying techniques, subterranean water storage, identifying suitable crops and animals, and a host of more sublime contributions. Unfortunately, although this knowledge is not lost (it is very well documented and alive in our own archives), it has sort of faded after several changes of government in South Africa, and after our independence.
Imagine my joy when I came across a Namibian who hails from the earliest years of the South African occupation and who has an impressive knowledge of all the work done by the German colonial government for the development and management of our water resources.