The population of Africa has increased rapidly, with a population of 630 million in 1990 exploding to a population of 1.2 billion in 2016. Furthermore, across the continent, there is rapid urbanisation combined with a significant growth in mining, mineral processing, transportation, fuel storage, energy generation and industrial activities. This has resulted in the fire risk for the continent growing exponentially in the past decades, and it is the cause for serious concern that there are very few educational, research and regulatory bodies providing the necessary training and knowledge basis to keep the continent safe from fire. It is with this background that this paper seeks to provide: (a) a high-level overview of Africa's recent growth and development, that is illustrated with (b) a number of recent disasters that present events that could become more commonplace if action is not taken which (c) is used to explain the growing fire risk on the continent, and leads to the proposal of (d) a high-level roadmap for producing a continent that is more resilient to fire. International data from developed countries are used to demonstrate how the application of fire engineering standards and knowledge has improved fire safety and reduced losses in various developed countries, and Africa could potentially follow this trend, although there are significant challenges that must be faced.

中文翻译：

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非洲：推进消防安全

非洲人口增长迅速，从 1990 年的 6.3 亿人口激增至 2016 年的 12 亿人口。此外，整个非洲大陆都在快速城市化，同时采矿、矿物加工、运输、燃料等方面的显着增长存储、能源生产和工业活动。这导致该大陆的火灾风险在过去几十年中呈指数级增长，令人严重关切的是，很少有教育、研究和监管机构提供必要的培训和知识基础来保护该大陆免受火灾影响. 正是在这种背景下，本文试图提供：(a) 对非洲近期增长和发展的高层次概述，这通过 (b) 一些最近发生的灾难来说明，如果不采取行动，这些事件可能会变得更加普遍，其中 (c) 用于解释非洲大陆日益增长的火灾风险，并导致提出 (d)生产更耐火的大陆的高级路线图。发达国家的国际数据被用来证明消防工程标准和知识的应用如何提高了各个发达国家的消防安全并减少了损失，非洲可能会遵循这一趋势，尽管必须面对重大挑战。并提出了 (d) 高级别路线图的提议，以生产一个更能抵御火灾的大陆。发达国家的国际数据被用来证明消防工程标准和知识的应用如何提高了各个发达国家的消防安全并减少了损失，非洲可能会遵循这一趋势，尽管必须面对重大挑战。并提出了 (d) 高级别路线图的提议，以生产一个更能抵御火灾的大陆。发达国家的国际数据被用来证明消防工程标准和知识的应用如何提高了各个发达国家的消防安全并减少了损失，非洲可能会遵循这一趋势，尽管必须面对重大挑战。