Rising Region ~ The True Size of Africa

Thanks to MapPorn for revisiting The True Size of Africa!

African Infra ~ The Underdeveloped Continent...

Globaia shares via the Telegraph composite images of Earth showing impact and role of humans, here illustrating how Africa is the most underdeveloped -- and thus most promising -- Continent...

Ebola Ward ~ BBC on Treatment Facilities...

BBC shows How Ebola is being treated on the ground...

"The treatment centre is designed to separate confirmed Ebola patients from probable or likely cases. Upon entry, patients are examined by medical staff in full protective gear. Following the initial diagnosis, they are then split into low or high probability wards until the laboratory results come in, which could take anything from a few hours to days, depending on the facility. There is little that medical workers can do for their patients, as there is no cure for Ebola. All they can help with is to care for the patients and treat symptoms like dehydration, as well as wash and comfort them. According to MSF, good care increases the chances of survival from a disease that has a 50% fatality rate and whose symptoms include vomiting, diarrhoea and bleeding, sometimes from the eyes and mouth. However, overcrowded facilities and a shortage of staff on the ground have made this difficult so far."

African Tech Hubs ~ Mapping Creative Hotspots...

WhiteAfrican spotlights map of African Tech Hubs...

African Infrastructure ~ Visualizing Improvements

Excellent to see infrastructure blossoming in and around the African continent. Rapidly changing is broadband internet access... Existing and planned power pool connections... And planned power plants... Plus, see my earlier Maximizing Progress posts here with maps of African Seaports, Bollore's ports, rail and waterlinks, the planned roadway and current rails, and proposed African Rail Corridors, including special focus on Rail West Africa.

Fertile Continent ~ Detailed Soil Atlas of Africa...

Thanks to Emeka Okafor at Africa Unchained for spotting the new Soil Atlas of Africa...

"Using state-of-the-art computer mapping techniques, the Soil Atlas of Africa shows the changing nature of soil across the continent. It explains the origin and functions of soil, describes the different soil types that can be found in Africa and their relevance to both local and global issues. The atlas also discusses the principal threats to soil and the steps being taken to protect soil resources. [...] It presents a new and comprehensive interpretation of an often neglected natural resource."

Conservation Militias ~ Stop Elephant Holocaust...

Jeffrey Gentleman writes in the NYTimes that To Save Wildlife, and Tourism, Kenyans Take Up Arms...

"...destitute villagers have seized upon an unconventional solution that, if replicated elsewhere, could be the key to saving thousands of elephants across Africa, conservationists say. In a growing number of communities here, people are so eager, even desperate, to protect their wildlife that civilians with no military experience are banding together [...] risking their lives to confront heavily armed poaching gangs. It is essentially a militarized neighborhood watch [...] These citizen-rangers are not doing this out of altruism or some undying love for pachyderms. They do it because in Kenya, perhaps more than just about anywhere else, wildlife means tourists, and tourists mean dollars -- a lot of dollars."

See also photoessay by Tyler Hicks. And illegal trade infographic...

Land Rush ~ International Aquisitions in Africa...

Map Porn spots The 21st Century African Land Rush...

Chinese Investment In Africa ~ Mapping Maoismo

MapPorn spotlights Chinese Investment in Africa...

See also Heritage Foundation's China Global Investment Tracker Interactive Map.

Sahara-Sahel ~ Mapping Movements and Routes

Le Monde Diplomatique shares nice map of Sahara-Sahel...

Mobile Money ~ Africans Living the Future!

The Economist Daily Chart features The bank of SMS: Banking on the move in Africa...

"Africa is the continent where “mobile money” -- monetary transactions on mobile phones -- is by far the most advanced. "

African Aquifers ~ Huge Groundwater Reservoirs

BBC's Matt McGrath writes 'Huge' water resource exists under Africa...

"Researchers from the British Geological Survey and University College London (UCL) have mapped in detail the amount and potential yield of this groundwater resource across the continent."

African Democracy ~ 3 Steps Forward, 2 Back?

See The Economist on African Democracy: A Glass Half-Full...

"...many Africa-watchers perceive a gradual erosion of democratic standards. [...] African elections do not necessarily produce representative governments. [...] Academic studies also paint a gloomy picture. [...] Southern Africa, historically the best-performing region, is now a problem child. [...] Still, Africa has come a long way..."

Resource Nationalism ~ Economist on Africa...

The Economist writes Wish you were mine about the growing and troublesome resource nationalism in Africa...

"African governments are seeking higher rents and bigger ownership stakes from foreign miners. [...] in the past year resource nationalism has jumped to the top of the list of things that worry the 30 biggest global miners. [...] In Africa mining companies are often especially vulnerable -- they are usually the biggest corporate beasts around. Widespread poverty has provided a ready excuse for governments dependent on income from resources. The trick for miners is to ensure not only that the money keeps flowing but also that the miners agree to the spending on roads, railways, schools and hospitals that are now a customary part of the package the industry offers to acquire mineral rights."

On the one hand, I loathe the kleptocratic corruption and wasteful incompetence of the typical nation state and its minions. On the other hand, most big corporates have a disproportionate skill and knowledge advantage and have a track record of exploitation. Surely there's a third alternative which embraces strategic CSR and allows everyday citizens to participate in the bounty?

African Seaports ~ Infra'ture Investment Needed...

Tremendous infrastructure investments in ports & ways are urgently needed to enable Africans to properly participate in the global economy. Indeed, I've written before about vital translogistics, accelerating infrastructure, and transport corridor plans as well as the need for creative thinking about infrastructure financing together with the challenges of special Chinese "deals". So it's very interesting to read the AfDB's key message Too many ports handle Africa’s maritime trade traffic -- few of them large enough to attract major shipping lines...

"A greater degree of regional port planning would make it possible to select hubs large enough to offer efficient transshipment services. A hub system would help to lower transport costs."

Check out their map of African ports showing their scale...

Africa Is Big ~ Nice Economist Cartographic!

Given their recent pro-Africa writings, the Economist reminds us of a great cartographic in their True size of Africa post riffing on the earlier piece (albeit deceptively distorted) by Kai Krause...

Africa Rising ~ Economist on Emergent Growth...

The latest Economist spotlights Africa Rising and notes how The sun shines bright on the continent's future...

"Over the past decade six of the world’s ten fastest-growing countries were African. In eight of the past ten years, Africa has grown faster than East Asia, including Japan. Even allowing for the knock-on effect of the northern hemisphere’s slowdown, the IMF expects Africa to grow by 6% this year and nearly 6% in 2012, about the same as Asia. [...] Optimism about Africa needs to be taken in fairly small doses, for things are still exceedingly bleak in much of the continent. [...] some fundamental numbers are moving in the right direction. Africa now has a fast-growing middle class: according to the World Bank, around 60m Africans have an income of $3,000 a year, and 100m will in 2015. The rate of foreign investment has soared around tenfold in the past decade. [...] Africa’s enthusiasm for technology is boosting growth. It has more than 600m mobile-phone users -- more than America or Europe. Since roads are generally dreadful, advances in communications, with mobile banking and telephonic agro-info, have been a huge boon. [...] All this is happening partly because Africa is at last getting a taste of peace and decent government. [...] At a dark time for the world economy, Africa’s progress is a reminder of the transformative promise of growth."

Walvis Bay ~ Namibia's Cool Coastal Enclave...

Given the word that Namibia has Angola-scale oil and gas deposits, it's worth taking another look at this most intriguing south-west-African country -- a state half the size of north American Alaska! In addition to capital city Windhoek and southern coastal port town Lüderitz, there's the north-central coastal Swakopmund and especially the nearby historical enclave of Walvis Bay...

"...a haven for sea vessels because of its natural deepwater harbour, protected by the Pelican Point sand spit, being the only natural harbour of any size along the country's coast. Being rich in plankton and marine life, these waters also drew large numbers of whales attracting whalers and fishing vessels. The Dutch referred to it as Walvisch Baye and the English as Whale Bay. In its eventual proclamation it came to be called Walfish Bay, then Walvish Bay, and ultimately Walvis Bay. [...] During the scramble for Africa, the United Kingdom annexed Walvis Bay and a small area surrounding the territory in 1878 to the Cape Colony both to forestall German ambitions in the region and to ensure safe passage of British ships around the Cape. In 1910, Walvis Bay, as well as the Cape Colony, became part of the newly formed Union of South Africa. However, a dispute arose with Germany over the enclave's boundaries. This was eventually settled in 1911 and Walvis Bay was allocated an area of 434 square miles (1,124 km2). [...] In 1990 South-West Africa gained independence as Namibia but Walvis Bay remained under South African sovereignty. At midnight on 28 February 1994 sovereignty over Walvis Bay was formally transferred to Namibia."

I'm fascinated by such historical enclaves. Other great examples include Hong Kong, Singapore, Monaco, Gibraltar, the Panama Canal Zone, and on the African continent, both Ceuta and Melilla in Morocco. Today, Walvis Bay is fully integrated into Namibia, itself a former German colony which today is a fascinating up-and-coming African country, part of the rapidly growing SADC economic community...

Emerging Africa ~ 17 Countries Leading The Way

Many thanks to our Harvard colleague Calestous Juma for spotting the latest report by the Center for Global Development on Emerging Africa: How 17 Countries Are Leading the Way by former senior fellow Steven Radelet with an introduction by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf...

"Since 1995, seventeen African countries have defied expectations and launched a remarkable, if little-noticed, turnaround. These countries are putting behind them the conflict, stagnation, and dictatorships of the past and replacing them with steady economic growth, deepening democracy, improved governance, and decreased poverty. Five fundamental changes are at work:

1. more democratic and accountable governments;
2. more sensible economic policies;
3. the end of the debt crisis and changing relationships with donors;
4. the spread of new technologies; and
5. the emergence of a new generation of policymakers, activists, and business leaders.

[This study] takes a fresh approach by recognizing the important differences between Africa’s emerging countries, the oil-exporters (where progress has been uneven and volatile), and the others (where there has been little progress) instead of treating sub-Saharan Africa as a monolithic entity. This important book describes the revitalization underway in the emerging countries and why it is likely to continue."

Check out their Average Growth Rates per Capita 1996–2008 map...

African Rail ~ Present & Planned Trans-Corridors

UN Economic Commission for Africa and African Union Commission offer this map of African Rail Corridors, both present and proposed...