Find out what means of transportation exist in Africa, so you can have an idea about it, whether you want to travel or simply as part of the notions of general culture that everyone should enjoy.
Means of transport in Africa
The African continent is very wide and includes a great diversity of countries, however, in many of them, extreme poverty and precarious conditions abound, limiting access to certain amenities such as means of transportation.
Even Africa is the poorest continent in the world according to the NGO and this directly impacts areas such as means of transportation.
In Africa, the most common means of transport is land and is represented mainly by buses, cars and motorcycles, as far as motor vehicles are concerned, in addition, access to the rail network is little, except for South Africa, which enjoys greater benefits. in this ambit.
Transport networks are of vital importance for any country, since they allow access to goods, services, entertainment and work, however, in countries where infrastructure in the field of transport is scarce, as well as investment in it, development is limited, as is the case in Africa.
Disadvantages of land transport in Africa
The roads in most of the continent are scarce, with respect to the amount of existing population, of the rest there are only plain dirt roads as improvised roads.
This undoubtedly represents a problem, since the lack of paved roads and the constant use of improvised dirt roads generates a large number of accidents per year, in which many people die.
On the other hand, there is the factor of travel time, since in the absence of adequate road conditions, transportation in rural and even urban areas is affected, causing people to require a longer period of time to move, due to the logistical challenge it represents.
This not only affects the movement of people in general, but also that of goods and services that are distributed in the same way, through land routes. Businesses and companies are negatively impacted as a result.
Not surprisingly, the cost of transport is also high, mainly due to the precarious conditions, making the costs among the highest in the world.
These costs do not only affect the population that travels daily, but also trade, exports, services and more.
Despite the fact that the means of transport in Africa are scarce and this represents a drawback in terms of economy and the possibility of moving within the cities, it is expected that the efforts that are being carried out at this time will lead to favorable results for the benefit of the entire community.
In this sense, it should be taken into account that not only those who will make use of these means are favored, but also sources of employment that are so necessary in these countries will be generated.
The train in Africa
Currently, there are some railways linking the main capitals of countries on the African continent, mostly financed by China. Although there is an ambitious expansion plan that is committed to the growth of this means of transport in Africa, there is still a long way to go and the population’s access to the service is quite scarce compared to conventional land.
In addition, the costs are not affordable for the poorest population and this also limits its use. However, it has brought considerable improvements, including for trade, border transportation and the general growth of the continent.
Air and sea transport in Africa
Finally, although air and sea transport is present on the continent, most of the population does not have access to it, either for economic or geographical reasons, which means that its use is not really representative.
They are mainly used for commercial and mostly industrial purposes and only sparingly for recreation and general use by the African population, except for the rudimentary river boats that are common in certain localities.