Geographies of change in Africa

1. Africa
Geographies of Change
Chapter 1

2. Chapter 1: Introduction
• Setting the African stage:
• Africa is the cradle of humanity with evidence of the origins of the earliest human
beings.
• Despite this we know comparatively very little about Africa before the onset of
colonialism from 1500 onwards. “Africa’s forgotten history”.
• Much of Western understanding and contemporary framing of Africa has its roots in
the European colonial experience.
• The colonial era is when misconceptions about Africa became entrenched.

3. • Colonialism put forward a myth that Africans were people without history- when in fact
Africa has a rich past. E.g., Ancient civilizations of Nubia and 11th c. Great Zimbabwe.
• When universities were started in Oxford and Cambridge (UK) in the 12th c. Timbuktu
(Mali) already had three universities.
• The history of Africa was lost. European laws and plans were emphasised at the
expense of African oral traditions.
• There are so many misconceptions about Africa. Some think it is a single country – but
geographically Africa is enormous.

7. • Africa is diverse. It has a plethora of biomes, climatic regions and people.
• It is also ethnically diverse – colonial borders paid little regard to the ethnic
complexity of Africa when it was carved into colonies.
• Contemporary Africa is made up of many regions and sub regions.
• These include; North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and
Southern Africa.

9. • The African Union (AU) has ambitious plans to complete an African economic union
by 2027 – which will mean a common currency, mobility of labour, capital and
technology and free trade across borders.
• North Africa is largely influenced by Islam. North Africa is socially and politically
complex and often sites of conflict between Africans and Arabs and numerous terrorist
activities. E.g., Boko Haram, Al Shabaab, etc.
• The majority of our focus however is going to be on sub-Saharan Africa / i.e. Africa
south of the Sahara desert.

10. The urban revolution and emerging rural
revolution in Africa:
• 21st c. is an urban century for Africa, with an urban revolution unfolding.
• For most of Africa’s history it was not urbanized and predominantly rural.
• 2011 40% of Africans live in cities and by 2050 estimated to be 60%.
• Currently Africa’s population is 1 billion – 2 billion by 2050.
• The term “urban revolution” used to portray profound urbanization and its
wider societal implications.

11. • This is due to massive population increase and high urban migration within a short
period.
• Urbanization is usually accompanied by provision of sustenance (food and water
supplies), shelter, security, transportation and communications. These are all of the
basic requisites for urban settlements.
• The national capitals of Africa has emerged as areas containing the majority of the
elites and institutions and is also the site of the emerging middle class.
• Rural areas are also in some cases stable – need to understand Africa’s rural-urban
relationship. The payment of remittances, and flow of money and investment back
to rural areas.

12. • Africa has long been imagined as being largely rural (although Africa does
have a history of urban settlements) – the future of Africa is increasingly
urban.
• There is evidence of rural transformation and improvements of livelihoods:
• Remittances to family homes and importance of home towns (second homes).
• Spread of communication technologies in rural areas.
• Spread of agricultural technology.

13. The concept of “Africa”
• The origin of the word Africa is unknown, but experts trace it to Latin.
(Africa = sunny) and Greek (Aphrike = not cold).
• Early world maps from the 11th c. onwards use Africa to describe the
continent.
• Africa is not a single place. Africans are not one people. Africa is not one
country – The region comprises a rich mosaic of people, places, cultures,
economies, languages and political systems.

14. • Historically the Western view of Africa has always been the “other”, “a dark
continent”, “a mysterious place”, with endless tropes of tribalism, savagery
and chaos.
• Unfortunately many contemporary narratives recycle these old assumptions
and clichés about Africa – some contemporary views include; “failed states”,
development failures”, “lost decades”, “enduring poverty”, “hopelessness”
and “horrific disease”

15. • Western media is largely to blame for perpetuating negative perceptions about
Africa – focusing on stories that cover hunger, famine, starvation, endemic violence,
conflict and war and HIV/Aids.
• Not all media coverage is bad – there has been some stories covered that challenge
the negative perceptions of the continent. E.g., “Africa Rising”.
• Then there is the wave of NGOs (mostly from the West) who claim they are
“saving” Africa by their humanitarian interventions. It can be argued that these
interventions have made positive changes, but can also cause widespread societal
damage.

16. • Educated and the emerging middle class Africans are now acutely aware of
the power of international media in creating a global imagination about
Africa and how the media are prone to stereotyping.
• The influence of social media, blogs etc. are transforming this dramatically.

17. The “new Africa” growth story:
• The economist magazine reports that 6 African economies registered
amongst the top ten fastest growing economies in the world (2001 -2011).
These include; Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique and Rwanda.
• The World Bank believes that Africa could be on the brink of economic
take-off.
• Africa is seen as the ‘final frontier’ for investment and marketing
opportunities.
• Africa is hyped as the consumer market frontier (e.g., Coca Cola).

18. • Consumer product invasion of the worlds poor is heavily criticised. But
nevertheless it can be argued:
• Relocation of regional offices/ distribution channels and employment opportunities
created.
• CSR e.g., the work of Coca Cola in Africa.
• Internally, improved macro-economic management in African states and
ending of conflict has led to an improved business environment.

19. • The African debt crises in winding down – many states have moved beyond ‘crises
management’ to new forward thinking development.
• Of colossal importance is China’s widespread investment in Africa. China has
exploded into the African scene and is influencing trade, investment and diplomatic
relationships.
• China is now Africa’s largest trading partner, but its engagement is uneven. The bulk
of Chinese investment concentrates in resource rich centres like SA, Zambia,
Angola and Sudan. (Largely resource extraction, business and infrastructural
investment).

20. • Africa’s economy is traditionally focused on extractive industries.
• Investors are now diversifying into a range of sectors, including, wholesale,
retail, tourism, financial services, telecommunications, transportation,
construction and manufacturing.
• Of critical importance here are projections that forecast continued
urbanization and the rise of middle class African consumers.
• Africa’s emerging middle class is attracting the attention of multinational
retailers and service providers.

21. • Shiny new malls and international brands are becoming more of a common
sight in African cities.
• Middle class Africans want urban jobs, not farm employment and strive to
hold their leaders accountable to standards of responsible governance and
transparency.

22. • Africa’s population growth is increasingly significant. There is a youth bulge
which can be positive as the number of working age adults has increased
(but… providing enough employment opportunities are available).
• Issues of high population growth includes pressures on feeding, housing,
educating and providing sufficient health services to all.
• There is still considerable cultural and political resistance to family planning
in Africa.

23. • All this talk of economic growth in Africa can lead to some very important
questions…
• Is a narrow elite benefitting and the poor and unemployed left behind? or
• Will society eventually reach a sizable middle class?
• Widespread protests have voiced peoples social, economic and political
grievances. Some of these protests are linked to minimum wage, service
delivery, health care and education (#FeesMustFall movement most current
example of this).

24. • Social protests are symptomatic of both new democratic environments and
an undercurrent of widespread social grievances.
• Other issue such as conflict, war and climate change could also derail
economic growth in Africa.

25. Africa as a millennium development frontier
• The legacy of colonialism, persistent poverty, poor health, economic and
infrastructure deficits, unemployment and inequality couple with population
growth make a compelling case that Africa is in need of development.
• In the 20th c. “big push” projects were linked to Western ideas and
dominated African development policy.
• 1950s and 1960s modernization paradigm promoted urbanization,
industrialisation, Western values to transform society and economic growth
to ‘take off’ and eventually achieve high levels of mass consumption.

26. • Dependency theory criticised the modernization paradigm and highlighted Africa’s
dependence and questioned Western development models.
• 1980s and 1990s external ‘big push’ returned through structural adjustments and
widespread liberalisation policies mandated by WB and IMF following economic
crises.
• Early 21st c. development policies focus on alleviating extreme poverty.
• UN Millennium Development Goals (2000) - set of goals to alleviate poverty.
• These MDGs expired in 2015 – where are we now?

27. • The Sustainable Development goals have now been launched.
• Many targets of the MDGs have been met, whilst others not.
• The original goals of the MDGs will continue but the Sustainable
Development goals adds “greener” and sustainable targets to the goals.
Identifying issues of carbon emissions and climate change.

28. Urbanization in Africa
• We often look at cities of the global North to understand the processes of
urbanization. Cities in the global South are however completely different. The
populations are much larger and the timeframe of rapid urbanization is much
shorter – and the modes of integration into the global economy differs.
• African cities sit with:
• Huge infrastructure deficit
• Power supply is problematic and
• Poor infrastructures restrains Africa’s GDP growth by 2% per year.

29. • Manufacturing and industrialisation has not met full potential despite mass
urbanization.
• Phenomenal growth of slums in Africa – 62% of urban population lives in slums.
• Continued concentration on resource exploitation is driving urbanization and
expansion is not based on diversified economies. Thus there is greater need to add
value to resources before export.
• Climate change and environmental degradation contributes to rural urban
migration.
• Conflict and war also accelerates urbanization.

30. Conclusion
• Overall, Africa is still perceived far too negatively in most of the world.
• Africa is rising in many economic aspects, but there is no denying the risks
that impede growth.
• We need to understand African problems from a more local perspective.
Quite often global examples are not easily transferable to an African context.
• We (as scholars) need to expand our thinking about Africa and its problems
and come up with possible solutions from a ‘Southern’ perspective.