The Effect of Sea Access on Economic Income Level in African Nations

A sea border provides trading opportunities for nations and enables participation in the world market and therefore economic growth. In this essay sea access is considered a significant limiting factor in the economic success of African countries. Research of this hypothesis illustrates a positive relationship between access to the sea and the economic success of African nations when Gross National Income per capita is utilized as the economic indicator. This essay summarizes the methods utilized, results obtained, and the implications of sea access as a limiting factor in the economic success of African states. Introduction Africa has long been considered the "Dark Continent." Its countries are "developing," unable to break into world trade and the world market, surpassed economically by the countries of Asia and Latin America. However, African nations face challenges that differ from those of other continents. Rigid borders created by colonial rulers split ethnic groups and created conflict within the new states. After the independence of nations from colonialism, "African rulers developed a system of norms under the Organization of African Unity auspices that declared all inherited colonial borders legitimate" (Thies 2009:470) resulting in the creation of more than fifty African nations. These countries have all faced considerable challenges in resolving ethnic rivalries, establishing secure governments, treating deadly diseases, and achieving economic success. This paper focuses on the economic status of African nations based on their continental location; sea access in particular is analyzed to investigate its effect on the economy and income level of a country. The economic success of a nation with sea access, measured using Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, is predicted to exceed that of a landlocked state. 64 From: Nebraska Anthropologist, Volume 26: 2011. Copyright © 2011 University of Nebraska-Lincoln's AnthroGroup. Methods In order to examine the effects of sea access, each African nation was sorted into two different categories, Sea Access or Landlocked, based on direct access to the sea (Table 1). All countries that had a border adjacent to the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Atlantic Ocean, or Indian Ocean were considered to have sea access and were placed into the Sea Access category (n=37). Nations without a sea border were placed into the Landlocked category (n=15). Table 1: African Nations Categorized by Sea Access . Sea Access *1. Algeria 2. Angola 3. Benin 4. Cameroon 5. Cape Verdeo 6. Republic of Congo 7. Cote d'Ivoire 8.Democratic Republic of Congo 9. Djibouti 10. Egypt 11. Equatorial Guinea 12. Eritrea 13. Gabon 14. The Gambia 15. Ghana 16. Guinea 17. Guinea-Bissau 18. Kenya 19. Liberia 65 .. Landlocked 38. Botswana 39. Burkina Faso 40. Burundi 41.Central African Republic 42. Chad 43. Ethiopia 44. Lesotho 45. Malawi 46. Mali 47. Niger 48. Rwanda 49. Swaziland 50. Uganda 51. Zambia 52. Zimbabwe 20. Libya 21. Madagascar 22. Mauritania 23. MauritiusO 24. Morocco 25. Mozambique 26. Namibia 27. Nigeria 28. Sao Tome and Principeo 29. Senegal 30. Seychelleso 31. Sierra Leone 32. Somalia 33. South Africa 34. Sudan 35. Tanzania 36. Togo 37. Tunisia *Numbers correspond to location within Figure 1. °Designates countries not located in Figure 1. The economies of each country were analyzed using Gross Domestic Product (GDP), GDP major sector contributor, and Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (Appendix A). According to The World Bank Group, "GDP at purchaser's prices is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers in the economy plus any product taxes and minus any subsides not included in the value ofthe products" (The World Bank Group 2011). GDP is measured in billions of current United States Dollars (US$). Economies are divided into three sectors: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. The Primary sector is composed of raw materials, including agriculture. Manufacturing and industry form the Secondary sector, and services, or intangible goods that require "interaction with the customer" 66 (Jacobs and Chase 2011 :9), constitute the Tertiary sector. In this analysis Agriculture, Industry, and Services are used to define GDP major sector contributor (Appendix A). Ten nations utilize Agriculture as the primary contributor to GDP, of those three are Landlocked and seven are Sea Access. Eight countries employ Industry as GDP major sector contributor; all have access to the sea. Services comprise the GDP major sector of thirty-four nations, twelve of which are Landlocked and twenty-two are Sea Access. GNI is "the sum of value added by all resident producers plus any product taxes (less subsidies) not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (compensation of employees and property income) from abroad," and is measured in current US$ (The World Bank Group 2011). GNI per capita, as compiled by The World Bank Atlas method, provides a more accurate representation of a nation's wealth than GDP because it represents a nation's GNI divided by its midyear population, and therefore is a measure of the distribution of wealth evenly among the entire population (The World Bank Group 2011). The World Bank Group assigns national economies to income levels according to 2009 GNI per capita. These rankings are Low Income (GNI per capita is current US$995 or less), Lower Middle Income (GNI per capita is current US$996-$3,945), Upper Middle Income (GNI per capita is current US$3,946-$12,195), and High Income (GNI per capita is current US$12,196 or above) (World Bank Group 2011). Seventeen of the thirty-seven countries with Sea Access are considered Low Income, thirteen are placed into Lower Middle Income, six are in the Upper Middle Income field, and one has a High Income level. In the Landlocked category, twelve countries have a Low Income level, two have a Lower Middle Income, and one is considered Upper Middle Income (Figure 1, Appendix A). Figure 1 locates all countries with a Lower Middle Income level, apart from Lesotho and Swaziland, along a coastline. Nations with an Upper Middle Income level, excluding Botswana, are located adjacent to the sea. Furthermore, Equatorial Guinea, the only African nation with a High Income, benefits from sea access.