Trans-African Highways

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Map of Trans-African Highways.PNG

The Trans-African Highways are a system of transcontinental road projects in Africa run by the Economic Commission for Africa , the African Development Bank (ADB) and the African Union together with the local authorities. Its goals are the promotion of the African economy, the alleviation of poverty in Africa, the development of the infrastructure and the trade route network. The total length of all nine Trans-African Highways is 56,683 kilometers.

Some documents refer to “Trans-African Corridors” or “Road Corridors” instead of trunk roads. The name Trans-African Highway and its variants are not very well known outside of the planning groups and currently road signs and maps only indicate a “Trans-Africa Highway” in Kenya and Uganda , which consists of the section Mombasa - Nairobi - Kampala - Fort Portal des TAH 8 and the Kampala – Kigali feeder road .

States involved

The network is intended to connect all the countries of continental Africa with one another, with the exception of Eritrea , Somalia , Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni), Malawi , Lesotho and Swaziland . Of these states, Malawi, Lesotho, and Swaziland have paved roads that are connected to the network; in the other states the Trans-African Highways pass in close proximity to the borders.

Missing pieces

More than half of the roads in this network are paved, but maintenance is a major problem in many areas. Many missing sections in this network are not yet completed. It is not uncommon for driveways to become impassable after rainfall or their use is particularly dangerous due to falling rocks , sand and sandstorms . In some cases there was never any road on the planned route, e.g. B. on the 200 km between Salo in the Central African Republic and Ouésso on the TAH 3. Such sections are missing in most cases because the country concerned does not consider the relevant route to be as important, while it is for the region and the African continent would be of great importance.

Because of these missing sections of the 5 major regions of Africa - North Africa , West Africa , Central Africa , East Africa and Southern Africa - only two, namely South and East Africa, are connected by roads that can be used at all times, and this connection consists of a single road in southwest Tanzania .

North and West Africa will soon be completely connected with roads through the Sahara as soon as the last small missing sections are paved. The main problem with the network, however, is the lack of paved roads through central Africa. This not only hinders trade between East and West Africa and between South and West Africa, but also within Central Africa. There are paved roads from West, East and South Africa that reach the borders of Central Africa, but they do not lead very far into this region. The geography, rainforest and climate in the middle of the continent, especially in the catchment areas of southern and central Congo , Ubangi , Sangha, and Sanaga , are major obstacles and paved roads in these areas are short-lived. Furthermore, in northern Cameroon and Chad, mountainous areas or plains, which are often flooded, have so far prevented the construction of asphalt roads.

Through these difficult areas, three TAHs are planned in an east-west direction (6, 8 and 9) and one in a north-south direction (3). All of these highways have large gaps in central Africa.

Background and Need for the Trans-African Highways

In Africa there has so far been little international cooperation in road construction. The colonial powers and later competing national and territorial powers generally did not want road connections between their areas of influence. Exceptions were only made where these connections were absolutely necessary, and in the now independent states of Africa the borders were emphasized more in order to protect the economy of their own country than as a weapon in border conflicts and to promote corruption .

The poverty also hindered the development since the meager financial resources for national priorities, must be used for international instead.

Those who want to upgrade the highways do so because they believe that it will stimulate the economy, alleviate poverty, and benefit health and education as the roads promote the distribution of medical services and educational resources in inaccessible areas .

Wars and conflicts

Wars and conflicts prevent progress in road construction, led to the destruction of existing roads and bridges, prevented maintenance and often led to the closure of important connections. Sierra Leone , Liberia , the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola are now rebuilding after wartime. The civil war in the Congo threw back the infrastructure in this country by decades and interrupted the important route between East and West Africa. In recent years, road safety problems have been a hindrance in Algeria , Libya , parts of Egypt and northern Chad .

The Trans-African Highways can only develop in times of peace and stability. In 2007 the future looks better than before, as only the Darfur conflict in western Sudan is currently hindering the development of the network (TAH 6). It is not war but lawlessness that hinders the construction of TAH 3 between Libya and Chad, and even if economic problems could hinder the maintenance of TAH 4 and TAH 9 through Zimbabwe , there are viable alternatives in neighboring countries. The conflicts in Somalia do not affect the network as it is the largest country without TAHs, but they could hinder the development of the access roads.

Principles and processes

Wherever possible, the development centers use national highways . Their goals are the identification of economic necessities, the planning of the highways, the search for financial means for missing sections and bridges, the asphalting of gravel and mud roads and the restoration of destroyed asphalted roads.

The need to reduce delays caused by checks at police and border posts and to remove obstacles to travel is also recognized , but no solutions have yet been found. Instead of getting international highways over which every country still has control and applies its legal regulations, what is needed is transnational highways with simplified and common travel rules without delays for travelers and goods .

Missing environmental aspects

While detailed studies of the effects of highways on the environment are generally carried out in other parts of the world, the reports by ADB and UNECA lack studies by specialists on the effects on wildlife , forests , air pollution , drinking water protection , health and the spread of epidemics completely. The role of highways in forest disappearance, erosion , destruction of wildlife sanctuaries, the expansion of the bushmeat trade, and human, animal and vegetable diseases such as those caused by the tsetse fly is well known but not considered. This led to routes through sensitive and relatively untouched regions, such as the forest areas of the upper Sangha River, although alternatives with less environmental impact would have existed.

Description of the trunk roads

Nine trunk roads have been designated. In a coarse network, six lead mainly from east to west and three lead mainly from north to south.

East-West routes

Starting with the northernmost route, these are the routes from east to west:

  • Trans-African Highway 1 (TAH 1), Cairo-Dakar Highway , 8,636 km This road mainly runs along the North African Mediterranean coast and continues on the Atlantic coast of northwest Africa. In 2005, the last missing section in Mauritania between Nouakchott and Nouadhibou was asphalted, only a few kilometers of piste remain at the Western Sahara- Mauritania border crossing . The TAH 1 is connected to the TAH 7 and thus forms the fourth north-south connection along the western part of the continent. The north-western part of the Maghreb region is called the Transmaghrébine . The route section in Algeria is currently being expanded into a three-lane motorway, which is to be inaugurated in 2011. The border crossing to Morocco, which has been closed since 1994, poses a problem.
  • Trans-African Highway 5 (TAH 5), Dakar-N'Djamena-Highway , 4,496 km , also known as Trans-Sahelian Highway , connects the West African states of the Sahel region . Approx. 80% of the road is ready.
  • Trans-African Highway 6 (TAH 6), N'Djamena-Djibouti Highway , 4,219 km : Following TAH 5, it connects the eastern Sahel zone with the Indian Ocean near Djibouti . The colonial power of France was striving for this course at the beginning of the 20th century .
  • Trans-African Highway 7 (TAH 7), Dakar-Lagos-Highway , 4,010 km : also called Trans-West African Coastal Road , approx. 80% complete. This trunk road is connected to TAH 1 and forms with it an additional north-south route on the west side of the continent.
  • Trans-African Highway 8 (TAH 8), Lagos-Mombasa-Highway , 6,259 km : Connected with TAH 7, this trunk road forms a 10,269 km long connection between east and west Africa. The eastern half of the Lagos-Mombasa Highway has been completed in Kenya and Uganda, where it is sometimes referred to as the "Trans-Africa Highway" (only there this name is generally used). The western part in Nigeria , Cameroon and the Central African Republic is almost finished, but a long missing section through the Democratic Republic of the Congo prevents practical use in the central part.
  • Trans-African Highway 9 (TAH 9), Beira-Lobito-Highway , 3,523 km : The western half is ready, but the route through Angola and the south of the Congo urgently needs to be rehabilitated.

North-South routes

Starting with the westernmost inland route, these are the routes from north to south:

  • Trans-African Highway 2 (TAH 2), Algiers-Lagos-Highway , 4,504 km , also Trans-Sahara Highway : The route was already paved except for the last 200 km lane before Arlit in Niger, but large parts of the Algerian route are already south of In Salah so badly damaged by the climate and truck traffic that it is necessary to go back to the slopes. In addition, border and police controls are increasingly hindering traffic in this area.
  • Trans-African Highway 4 (TAH 4), Cairo-Gaborone-Cape Town Highway , 10,228 km : The southern half of this route is complete, but has yet to be built in northern Sudan , northwestern Ethiopia and northern Kenya . The border crossing from Egypt to Sudan has been closed for many years, but a car ferry on Lake Nasser can be used. As with TAH 3, South Africa was originally decoupled from this road, but has since been included with routes via Pretoria to Cape Town. With the exception of the route through Ethiopia, the route coincides with the British planning of a Cairo-Cape Town road in the early 20th century.

In the far west of the continent, the foothills of the east-west routes TAH 1 and TAH 7 join to form a fourth north-south route, which extends from Rabat to Monrovia .

Regional highway projects in Africa

Regional-international bodies are heavily involved in the development of the trans-African highway network and work with the ADB and UNECA. So z. B .:

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Open that border. Will the long stalemate between the Maghreb's two big rivals ever end? The Economist, May 27, 2010