Unit Two: Studying Africa through the Social Studies
Module Nine: African Economies
Teacher's Edition
Activity Five
Transportation in Colonial Era: Movement of Goods and People: Explain
Roads, railroads, and river transportation are essential components of economic growth through the movement of goods, services, and people. Modern economic systems are dependent on the efficient movement of goods, services, and people. You can learn about an economic system by studying its transportation system.
Take a look
at the map of
the colonially developed rail system in Africa. Railways were an important
method of transporting goods and people in Africa.
Although Africa has many great rivers, rapids and waterfalls make many of these
rivers unsuitable for long-distance transportation. Consequently, colonial
governments and commercial companies sponsored the development of railroads
as a primary method of transporting agricultural and mineral resources.
Study the map of Africa's Railroads. While studying this map look at the previous map on Africa's exports during the colonial era. Using the information provided in these two maps and what you have learned in this and previous lessons, try to answer the following questions. Write your answers on a piece of paper, and after you have shared your answers with your teacher, place your answers in your Exploring Africa Web Journal.
- Looking at
the railroad map, what can you conclude about railroad development in
Africa?
- What region(s)
has the most developed rail system? Why do you think this region has
the most developed rail system?
- What region(s)
have the least developed rail system? Why do you think these regions
lacked rail development?
- What products
needed rail-roads for movement?
- If you were a transportation planner, in what other areas in Africa would you build railroads? Are there alternatives to rail transport that might be more economical? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer Key:
Teachers should note that there are not "correct" answers to these questions. These questions are meant to stimulate student critical and analytical thinking.
- The
students, we hope, will note that almost all
of the railroads in Africa run from the interior
to the coast. There are few "inland" railroad
connections. This reflects the fact that railroads
were expensive to build. They were purposefully
built to take raw materials from the interior
of Africa to the coast where they could be exported
to Europe.
- Clearly
Southern, Central, and Eastern Africa have the
most extensive rail systems. This reflects several
factors, such as the need to get minerals from
Southern and Central Africa (Congo, Northern
Rhodesia/Zambia) to the coast for shipment to
Europe. The rail systems in Southern and Eastern
Africa also reflect the importance of European
settler agriculture in these areas. In East and
Southern Africa, commercial trading companies
partnered with colonial regimes to build railroads
to stimulate European settlement and agriculture.
- The
Sahel regions of North and West Africa and part
of the interior of West Africa have the least
developed rail systems. These areas were resource "poor" in
terms of exports. Colonial powers were unable
and unwilling to expend the money necessary to
build rail systems into areas where there would
be little financial pay-off for the investment.
Moreover, it would have been very expensive to
construct railroads into these areas.
- Minerals
and export cash crops such as coffee.
- Students may be tempted to suggest North Africa and the interior of West and Central Africa. However, you should encourage students to think about environmental concerns and economic realities (what goods would the rails move). Ask students to think about alternatives to rail development-maybe expansion of road systems that would be much cheaper and would be more accessible to small scale farmers and business people.
Go to Activity Six or
GO TO:
- Activity One: Engage (Wants and Needs)
- Activity Two: Explore (Food Production)
- Activity Three: Explore2 (Yoruba Case Study)
- Activity Four: Explain (Economics of Colonialism)
- Activity Five: Explain2 (Transportation)
- Activity Six: Expand (Case Study: Zambia/Northern Rhodesia)
- Activity Seven: Expand2 (Case Study: Mali/Soudan)
- Activity Eight: Expand3 (Post-Colonial Economies)
- Activity Nine: Expand4 (Globalization and Africa Economies)
- Activity Ten: Summary
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