Transport, Communication and Trade in Africa
Senior 3 · Geography
Transport, Communication and Trade in Africa
Lesson 3 of 5
30 min
Let's begin
In March 2007 the Kenyan mobile network Safaricom launched M-Pesa, a way to send money by text message from an ordinary phone. Within a few years, shopkeepers, farmers and students who had never had a bank account were paying school fees and receiving wages on their phones, and mobile money spread across Africa, including MTN MoMo and Airtel Money in Rwanda. A message that once took days by post or by a traveller now takes seconds. How did communication change so fast, and why are some Africans still left out?
Definition
Communication: the sending and receiving of information, ideas and messages between people and places. Telecommunication: communication over a distance by electronic means, such as telephone, radio, television and the internet. Mass media: means that reach many people at once, such as radio, television, newspapers and social media.
| Means | Examples in Africa | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional | Messengers, drums, horns, smoke signals, gatherings at markets | Need no electricity | Slow, short range |
| Postal services | Letters and parcels through national post offices, such as Iposita Rwanda | Carry documents and goods | Slow; few rural post offices |
| Telephone | Fixed lines and, far more, mobile phones | Instant, two-way, reaches villages | Needs network coverage and airtime |
| Radio | National and community stations | Cheap sets, battery-powered, reaches non-readers | One-way |
| Television | National broadcasters and satellite channels | Sound and pictures | Sets and electricity cost money |
| Print media | Newspapers, magazines, posters | Can be kept and re-read | Needs literacy; slow to distribute |
| Internet | Email, websites, social media, e-government such as Irembo in Rwanda | Fast, two-way, huge amounts of information | Needs data, devices, skills; spreads false news too |
Most international calls and internet traffic between Africa and the rest of the world travel through submarine fibre-optic cables on the sea bed. On the east coast, the SEACOM and TEAMS cables arrived in 2009 and EASSy in 2010. Landlocked countries such as Rwanda reach these cables through land fibre across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Figure 1 shows the chain.
Definition
Fibre-optic cable: a cable of thin glass strands that carries data as pulses of light, very fast and over long distances. Mobile money: a service that stores money on a mobile phone account and lets the user send, receive and pay with it. Subscriptions per 100 people: the number of phone (or internet) subscriptions divided by the population, times 100; it can pass 100 because some people have two SIM cards.
| Problem | Solution |
|---|---|
| Poor coverage in remote and mountainous areas | Build more masts; share masts between companies; use satellites; government subsidies for rural coverage |
| High cost of phones, data and airtime | Competition between companies; lower taxes on devices; cheaper smartphones on credit |
| Unreliable electricity | Solar-powered masts and chargers; expand the grid |
| Illiteracy and few digital skills | Digital literacy training; voice and local-language services |
| Cybercrime, fraud and false news | Cyber-security laws and agencies; public awareness; checking sources |
| Theft and cutting of cables and mast equipment | Bury cables; guards and community policing; penalties |
| Dependence on imported equipment and foreign skills | Train engineers; assemble devices locally |
Worked example
Worked example 1: subscriptions per 100 people. A district has 400,000 people and 300,000 mobile subscriptions. How many subscriptions are there per 100 people? (Illustrative figures.)
300,000 ÷ 400,000 × 100 = 75 subscriptions per 100 people. This does not mean 75% of people own a phone: some people have two SIM cards and others share one handset.
Worked example
Worked example 2: where does the break happen? A storm knocks out power at the mast serving a village, but the national backbone works. Using Figure 1, who loses service?
The break is at link 5. Phones served by that mast (link 6) lose their signal; people in other areas, served by other masts, are not affected. If the submarine cable (link 1) were cut instead, every user would lose international internet unless traffic could switch to another cable.
Warning
Transport and communication are not the same. Transport moves people and goods; communication moves information. A drone carrying blood is transport; a text message ordering the blood is communication.
Geography Masterclass: solutions to the problems facing transport and communication in Africa. As you watch, pick out the solutions that apply to communication only.
Practice
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
