Hi, Quartz Africa readers!
Globalization’s bumpy roads
I recently asked a business acquaintance how long it took to travel by road between DR Congo’s biggest cities, Kinshasa and Lubumbashi given their recent work there. There was a long sigh, a pained look, then a helpless shrug: “It could take a week or two.” DRC is Sub Saharan Africa’s largest country but this seemed remarkable. A Google Maps search tells you the 1,451 miles (2,335 kilometers) between both cities should take 36 hours, but as my contact noted, it’s not quite that straightforward given poor road networks and other challenges. A similar distance from New York to Oklahoma City, (2,373 km) would take take 22 hours, says Google.
The DRC conversation came to mind while reading a report (pdf) from London School of Economics’ International Growth Centre. It argues that despite years of progressive international trade liberalization and tariff reductions across the continent, the impact has been limited by the internal costs of moving goods internally within African countries and between neighbors.
The first claim is that the high cost of moving goods from or to ports eats into the benefits of better trade terms. Research shows a one-day reduction in inland travel times could lead to a 7% increase in exports or the equivalent of a 1.5 percentage points reduction on importing country tariffs. Other research shows a 10% drop in transport costs could increase trade by 25%.
And as is likely in the case of DRC, it’s estimated the cost of transporting goods could be up to five times higher (per unit distance) in some sub-Saharan African countries when compared to the US, shows research from 2015. In Ethiopia it’s thought to be 3.5 times more while in Nigeria it’s said to be 5.3 times higher.
Some of the recent infrastructure partnerships and investments, such as those backed by China, give some hope that it won’t always be this way. But the report’s authors caution that just building better road and rail networks has not been enough to win meaningful cost reductions. A plethora of challenges include the price of fuel, labor, and equipment, unnecessary regulations, bureaucracy and cartels, among others.
Put another way, it’s great if my agribusiness can get its produce to ports in a day rather than a week, thanks to improved transport, but that’s not much use if it still takes two weeks to get through customs and the other “officials” to get my goods to international buyers.
It might be all rage to bash free trade in the age of Trump and, to some extent, Brexit, and yet, there’s is still much for African countries to gain from fully opening up. But to achieve that, to paraphrase the old aphorism, charity really must begin at home.
— Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Stories from this week
How Kinshasa’s informal economy is hostage to a powerful elite. The urban markets in DR Congo’s capital are home to over one million traders who constitute an important source of revenue for the government. As Kristof Titeca and Albert Malukisa Nkuku show in their research, the markets are also an instrument of accumulation by bureaucrats, security officials, and even members of the presidential household.
The sickle cell gene mutation came from one African child 7,300 years ago. Sickle cell anemia began as a disease from a single human in west-central Africa who developed the mutation in order to fend off malaria. Sarah Wild explains why the key reward of this new knowledge is an understanding of how the mutation can now either protect lives or destroy them.
Kenya’s M-Kopa Solar is downsizing and it’s sparked controversy at home. The pay-as-you-go solar startup announced this week it had raised $10 million in equity funding, even as it surfaced that it fired over 150 staff. Given that the company is outsourcing some of its operations to a UK-based firm, the layoff of mainly locals is sparking controversy in Kenya, writes Abdi Latif Dahir.
The gratifying outcome to the story of the Ghanaian instructor who teaches computing using a blackboard. Richard Appiah Akoto has been teaching computing to students in a school without computers in rural Ghana by drawing the features of Windows using multicolored chalk. After his photo at work went viral, much has changed in the lives of his students and himself, including receiving computers and a Microsoft-sponsored visit to Singapore.
Africa’s cities are facing an opioid crisis that’s quietly ravaging lives. In Accra, Cairo, Lagos and beyond, there’s been an increase in the trafficking and consumption of non-medical use of Tramadol, a synthetic opioid. But as Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu finds, African governments are still fixated on criminalizing cannabis while Tramadol wreck lives.
Nigeria’s fintech companies are bringing the “side hustle” economy online. Small businesses in Nigeria face increasing struggles including accessing credit, paying multiple taxes and overhead costs. Yet increasingly, as Yomi Kazeem reports startups like Paystack and VoguePay are helping entrepreneurs plug into the digital economy using just their mobile phones and identity cards.
Chart of the Week
Africa’s startups are more gender-balanced than their global peers. A survey by the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative of 2,568 ventures operating in sub-Saharan Africa showed over half included women on the founding team.
Other Things We Liked
Recounting wild tales from Kenya’s modern history. Morris Kiruga is best known for telling stories and unearthing mysteries about Kenya’s past. In this post on Owaahh, he tells seven interesting accounts including the beer-loving Boers who built a town in the Rift Valley, that time the second president lost his baton in Australia, and when the budget speech was read by a drunk cabinet minister.
How Mali, Niger, and Algeria are producing some of the world’s best rock music. After a lull in the production and dissemination of rock music in Africa, the genre is being revived on the continental stage. In Rolling Stone, Richard Gehr documents how inter-ethnic sounds from West and North African artists are leading this renaissance.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o discusses why language is a war zone. At 80 years of age, the novelist and writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has long been favored for the Nobel Prize for years. Just weeks after the publication of his prison memoir Wrestling with the Devil, he talks to The Nation’s Rohit Inani about art, imagination, the writers who influenced him, and why he describes himself as a “language warrior.”
Keep an eye on
Jacob Zuma is set to challenge corruption trial. South Africa’s former president will stand trial for corruption charges in a case related to a multi-billion dollar arms deal. His lawyer Michael Hulley has already said Zuma will consider challenging the decision to prosecute him.
Egypt’s elections (Mar. 26-28). Egyptians abroad started voting in the presidential polls on Friday (Mar. 16), ten days before those back at home will vote. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who is facing one contender, is expected to win a second term in office.
*This brief was produced while listening to Dog eat Dog by Fela Anikulapo-Kuti and Africa 70 (Nigeria)
Our best wishes for a productive and thought-filled week ahead. Please send any news, comments, suggestions, M-Kopa solar credit tokens and Nigerian side hustle suggestions to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day. This newsletter was compiled by Abdi Latif Dahir and edited by Yinka Adegoke.
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