Geographical Information Systems (GIS)

5^th AfricaGIS Conference
Nairobi, Kenya
5-9 November 2001

3.1 A socio-economic, political and environmental perspective of Africa

The socio-economic, political and environmental character of Africa is both unique and very complex. These unique features are a consequence of the many historical (e.g. colonization), political and natural factors that have moulded the African landscape. Present estimates of the African population show that the continent has 818 million people and it is increasing at a rate of 2.4% per annum (Population Reference Bureau, 2001). Although Africa has one of the highest population growth rates it remains one of the more under populated continents in the world. HIV/Aids is expected to have a severe impact on the population in Africa and will result ultimately in a decline of the fertility and population growth rates (UNEP, 1999). It is estimated that there are over 24.5 million people on the African continent who were infected with the HIV virus in 2000 and that 6 000 people will die of Aids and another 11 000 will be infected each day (Brown, 2000). Of the development regions in Africa, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is impacted the most with 12.8 million people being infected.

Of all the social problems faced in Africa, poverty is suggested to be the overriding priority. However, it is felt that unemployment and HIV/Aids are probably the more important issues on the African continent. Poverty does not happen on its own, but is caused by several factors including environmental degradation and the inability of people to secure employment. This is often related to the economic situation, education of the labour force and the availability of jobs. Unemployed people are more at risk of being infected with HIV and becoming impoverished and, thereby, continuing the vicious circle of human depravation. Africa is also the only continent where poverty is expected to increase in the next century. Therefore, economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction remain the primary challenges for Africa (UNEP, 1999). Part of the problem is the $300 billion debt burden that many African countries are presently bearing (79% of the debt comes from sub-Saharan countries), which seriously hampers economic and social development on the continent but which is beginning to be taken seriously by the international community (Colgan, 2001).

Another issue that characterizes many African countries is the under provision of basic services and infrastructure, such as water, sanitation, electricity, telephones, education, health and roads. To improve access and the quality of services and infrastructure requires an understanding of what is the status quo at a national and sub-national level. This requires information on the size of the population as well as the availability of these basic services and infrastructure. Migration across national borders and within countries is a factor that is now being recognized as having a major impact on governments planning for the provision of basic services and infrastructure. By looking at the per capita access to basic services gives a better understanding of the under provision within and between African countries. An initiative is presently on the go in SADC to map the access to services and infrastructure at a sub-national level (i.e. district). Another part of the project will look at whether SADC countries have population statistics from their census available at a localized level. This is required to provide information for decision-making in terms of both development and encourage private sector investment in the region.

According to the Global Environment Outlook 2000 report (UNEP, 1999) competition for resources and declining opportunities are the causes of the political instability, civil unrest and military conflicts that are presently occurring in Africa. Other factors that can be cited in contributing towards these problems are inter-sectoral power struggles, inequality amongst social groups and unequal access to political power. A consequence of these conflicts and wars are the displacement of millions of people to neighbouring countries and the growth of large refuge populations. To overcome these conflicts and bring about peace, it is necessary to instill democratic principles, sustain economic growth and ensure an equitable income distribution.

Since time immemorial, many different regimes and conflicts have molded the political landscape of Africa. The two that have had the greatest impact in recent African history and that come so readily to mind is the slave trade in 1700's and 1800's and the colonization of the continent in the 1880's. The slave trade saw the forced removal of more than 22 million people from all regions in the continent. This resulted in the significant destabilization of certain areas and in some instances the total disintegration of societies. Following the suppression of slavery, the Berlin Conference of 1884-85 paved the way for imperialism in Africa with nearly all the continent under the control of European countries. The independence of Ghana in 1957 saw the start of political power being given back to the people of the continent (Carlisle, 1999). During this same period many African countries where still not controlled by the indigenous peoples of Africa. The transfer of political power back to the African people has continued up until the early 1990's with South Africa being one of the most recent, when the first truly democratic government was elected in 1994.

Colonialism left many countries in Africa under developed, with weak governments and unable to economically sustain themselves. This remains the case in many African countries even today. The postcolonial period saw a dependence of African countries on their colonial masters for funding, which is where a lot of the debt burden of Africa can be traced. During this postcolonial period, a strong nationalism developed as well as social classes. This led to the rise of many dictatorships in the 1970's that continued the political, economic and social exploitations of the previous colonial powers. The net effect of all of this, is that it entrenched a vicious cycle of economic decline, reduced capacity and poor governance in most of Africa. It is only in the last two decades that there has been a strong movement towards implementing democratic government systems, which has in itself resulted in much conflict and destruction of nations on the continent. However, great hope is placed in the modern leaders of Africa to take the continent and its people into the 21st century. Under the framework of an African Renaissance, initiatives such as the Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery Programme (MAP) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) have blossomed and gained the support of the international community.

From an environmental perspective, Africa has seen a steady decline in the terrestrial, freshwater and marine biospheres over the last century. Research has shown that this is predominantly a consequence of people being dependent on their natural resources to ensure their survival. This survival became especially entrenched in the postcolonial and dictatorship periods during the 1950's and 1970's. The social inequalities and the lack of access to basic services meant that the people were forced to exploit whatever resources were available. Consequently, African countries were forced to address the environmental problems that they were faced with so that the people could survive.

If we knew then more about sustainable development as what we know now the focus would probably have been on addressing the social problems that are often the driving forces of environmental change. The environmental challenges for Africa are many and diverse within the different regions of the continent. Those that are on the priority list include environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, access to water, water scarcity, deforestation and desertification. Poverty is seen to be both a cause and a consequence of these environmental problems. However, it is again argued that unemployment and a lack of access to basic services are probably the driving forces of both poverty and environmental degradation.

The above gives one a better understanding of socio-economic, political and environmental characteristics of Africa and, therefore, what information is required for the development of the spatial information system. For this information to be forthcoming and for it to be placed in a GIS format before further analysis can be done, will require the collaboration of all countries in Africa. Who will undertake this analysis will still have to be decided on. However, it would have to be recognized research institutions from the different regions of Africa that have a knowledge of this information and its use in a spatial context.