Guarino, ILS1201-Section 2

Geography: Africa's Contributor to the Underdevelopment and Poverty

Africa has a geographically large land which makes it the second largest continent next to
Asia. However, unlike in Asia, underdevelopment and poverty are ongoing occurrences in Africa
due to geographical factors that hinder growth. The geographical features such as climate and
topography and human geographies such as population distribution, productivity, and policies are
contributing forces in the hindrance of its growth.

Firstly, Africa, with its multitudinous separations and formation of countries has made them
into a land-locked country that possesses large reserves of natural resources that have been
distributed unevenly on their land. With these land-locked countries, the transportation of goods
and services to the international market and even regionally have become difficult thus,
hampering economic growth and development. The difficulty arises with the costly
transportation overland which costs every 1 per cent of the distance will incur 0.25 per cent of
cost. In contrast to coastal regions, wherein large bodies of water are accessible in trade and
shipping, it is much cheaper. However, even if it is much cheaper to use water transport, the
production site wherein the manufacturing of goods for export is still far from the coastal area
thus still needing to use this expensive method of transport to get it there.

Second, the innermost areas of Africa have better rainfalls and lower temperatures which
assist in protecting the people from diseases such as malaria that thrive in warm temperatures.
Therefore, a majority of the African population resides in the innermost regions or countries of
the continent. This severely affects the specialization in each country thus also affecting its
productivity. As mentioned before, coastal regions that have access to cheaper transport are in
the outermost part of the continent however, if a majority of the population resides in the inner
parts there would not be enough people in different specializations to be able to produce goods
hampering the productivity of the region to produce exports.

In addition, despite the large number of natural resources and minerals, these countries have
at reach, bad governance makes it difficult to cultivate and grow. For example, resource rents
that are considered vital in the growth of the country, instead would be mishandled and end up
elsewhere other than where they should be. Also, proper public spending is important yet the
government instead takes funding from education and transportation which are vital. Also, as
said in the reading, some countries require a competitive electoral, while others require strict
checks and balances. Yet, in imposing checks and balances, the government opted not to due to a
lack of incentives for personal benefit.

In conclusion, the underdevelopment of Africa is heavily affected by its geographic features

and its human geography. Wherein, it is difficult to acquire growth due to the high-cost
transportation of food, population distribution, and due to the corruption that occurs in its lands
and progressive policies that will assist in the improvement and growth.