Transportation Geography 52
CHAPTER 9
AFRICA
Infrastructure
The continent is divided into several large general regions:
North Africa: Mediterranean coastline countries: good coastal road network, no rail lines. Algeria and Libya
have limited paved roads south into the Sahara Desert. No road connection north-south through the Sahara
Desert (only ancient caravan tracks).
West Africa: Mauritania to Nigeria range (includes landlocked Sahara countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and
Niger). Mainly only road access from the coast inward. Limited road network; some rail lines, but poorly
maintained.
Central Africa: Chad, Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire). Limited
road access from the coast inwards. No rai l lines. Some limited river transportation on the Congo River
upstream from Kinshasa to Kisangani. The southern DRC is only road accessible from Zambia. Eastern DRC
is road accessible from Uganda and Tanzania (via East African ports of Mombasa and Tanzania). No east-
west road connection in DRC. Central African Republic is best accessible by road via Cameroon. Chad is best
reached by road via Nigeria.
East Africa: while Sudan is considered as part of the Middle East by many, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya
(landlocked since the creation of Eritrea) now needs to transit through Eritrea. A road and poor railway connects
Addis Ababa with Djibouti on the Gulf of Aden as the only other land alternative. The ports of Mombasa (Kenya)
and Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania) are also entry ports for Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern DRC (formerly
Zaire), as well as Dar Es Salaam also functions as an entry port for Malawi and Zambia.
Southern Africa: Angola, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa
(including landlocked Swaziland).
Angola has a limited and very poor road system from the coastal towns inward. The old Benguela rail line has been
destroyed by war. There is no more railway in Angola. Namibia has several ports and very few roads into the desert
hinterland. No rail lines. Zambia (landlocked) is road accessible from South Africa (via Zimbabwe), and from East
Africa via the port of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. A somewhat functioning rail line (capable of moving containers as
well) from South Africa and Tanzania also exists. Malawi has road connections via Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe
and port of Beira (Mozambique). Zimbabwe has road and rail connections to South Africa and Beira (Mozambique).
Mozambique has its own independent ports of Maputo and Beira.
South Africa has a very good road and rail system. The port of Durban is the main entry port for Johannesburg and
the road and rail gateway north into Zimbabwe, Zambia and the southern part of the DRC (Copper Belt) adjacent to
northern Zambia. Botswana (landlocked) has rail and road access via South Africa.
Various coastal vessel services exist along the coast lines of Africa; some double as feeder carriers for international
lines.
The island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa has its own ports, some of which have direct overseas services.
Few roads exist. There are no rail lines on Madagascar.
