Engagement and group participation are two concepts in development that have changed the lives of many people in Africa. When groups, communities, organizations, and corporations work together on projects, the results tend to be positive.
A Nigerian man, Precious Emulue, was motivated to change the conditions in oil producing parts of his country. The oil producing sector consists of foreign corporations and workers separated from the rest of the community and locals whom live in dire poverty and unemployment. The hopeless conditions in which the locals live drive many to engage in violence and crime against the oil companies and their workers. Emulue founded a program that seeks to bridge the divide between the locals and the international corporations. Local youths are trained in specific job areas with the assistance of the corporations. Once their training is over the youths move on to entry level jobs at the businesses. The youths are given hiring preference over non- local applicants. This program has facilitated greater integration between the international corporations and the local communities. Instead of working against each other, they are working together and seeing positive changes.
Development projects in Africa can sometimes be unsuccessful and inefficient. One reason for failure is lack of consultation and involvement with the targeted communities and non-profits without accurate and in-depth knowledge about their targeted communities. The development Research and Projects Centre is an organization in Nigeria that develops and facilitates communication between communities and donor agencies. dRPC provides a forum for dialogue between communities and donor agencies from start to finish of development projects. This allows the donor agencies to realize the reality of their projects and their outcomes and the communities involved are able to participate in the decision making process. This results in projects that are successful for the agencies and beneficial to the communities.
When groups work together instead of individually, the impact is multiplied. As more organizations communicate, engage, develop, and participate together, the number of lives that are positively changed will exponentially grow.