Africans and Time (life, view, people, move)

[Motion]

Do Africans have a different way of telling time? Are there any disadvantages to how Africans view time?

Walk, drive around Africa and you will see people sitting, chatting, waiting. You come by a few hours later and they have not moved. Are they not bored? No, the African enjoys and savors the time before him. There is not the anxiousness to do this or that, to meet this deadline or that one.

https://kabiza.com/kabiza-wilderness-safaris/keeping-time-in-africa-the-african-concept-of-time/

[Motion]

As Africans we argue that we exist in time, not for time as is cited by our former colonizers. As such, our lives are not defined by seconds, minutes and hours like cogs. To us, time is not money. But this thinking keeps Africa as one of the world's poorest regions. This situation requires increasing foreign investments and international trade meaning that as Africans we must realize promptness does not only define our future but also shows integrity.

https://www.myghanalinks.com/index.p...an-punctuality

This is why I wonder if not doing things by specific times can affect development on the continent?

[Milky Way Resident]

I think that mentality holds true in many societies. Depending on the type of lifestyle one wishes to pursue, time management can indeed be perceived differently.

[ThreeSides]

Originally Posted by Motion

Do Africans have a different way of telling time? Are there any disadvantages to how Africans view time?

Just as we can always find you, here in this forum, complaining, and therefore, wasting time. Are you bored?

[Chava61]

Tanzania has a different system for telling time: https://www.voanews.com/a/4148054.html

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by Motion

Do Africans have a different way of telling time? Are there any disadvantages to how Africans view time?

Africa has 3,000 distinct ethnic groups and 1.2 billion people. This lends to my impression that there is probably a bit of diversity in how time is reckoned across Africa.

I would guess that Africans with urban lifestyles pay more attention to the details and precision of time than rural people, as is the case on every continent.