" Expecting a lot from nothing is generally a frustrating experience.."
(Oscar Wilde I believe )
A bit of ( central ) African ATC explanations for those that still believe there is a " lot" down there. ( These are bits from existing facts , taken from various African countries )
Average salary of a Controller 150 USD / month , with lows a far as 45 USD/month.
Everyone has a second job to pay the bills,.
Often the second job is more important (i.e brings more money)
The only ATC training received is often the initial one, sometimes 30 years ago.
Civil war or political unstability change some priorities in life.(e.g. if someone is shooting with real bullets on your street at night, you might skip going to do the night shift )
Salaries are sometimes not paid for up to 6 months .
Controllers that do complain about either social of technical issues are simply fired.
Technical equipment fails, and there is no spares or no technician to repair it.
When air condition fails, most electronic equipment fails. Sometimes remain inop for years.
I can go on for a page more , but you get the picture.
Now your Airlines pays a lot of $$$ to overfly those countries . Maybe they should put pressure and ask where the money goes. Because it is certainly not going to ATC .
The only things IATA has done visibly so far , was to establish the Broadcast procedure and the lateral offset.
An attempt to cure the symptoms , but leaving the main desease untouched : corruption .
Flying above Africa today , is a bit like buying a diamond : enjoy the magic moment but do not ask too many questions.