Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to
describe the area of the
African continent
which lies south of the
Sahara, or those
African countries which are fully
or partially located south of the Sahara. It contrasts with
North Africa, which is considered a
part of the
Arab world.
The
Sahel is the transitional zone between the
Sahara and the
tropical savanna (the
Sudan region) and
forest-savanna mosaic to the south.
The
Horn of Africa and large areas of
Sudan
are geographically part of sub-Saharan Africa, but
nevertheless show strong Middle Eastern
influence and, with the exception of Ethiopia
, are also
part of the Arab world.
The Sub-Saharan region is also known as
Black
Africa, in reference to its many
black populations. Notably, commentators in
Arabic in the medieval period used a similar term,
bilâd as-sûdân, which
literally translates to "land of the blacks" in contrast with
populations of the classic
Islamic
world.
Since around 5,400 years ago, the Saharan and sub-Saharan regions
of Africa have been separated by the extremely harsh climate of the
sparsely populated Sahara, forming an effective barrier interrupted
by only the
Nile River in Sudan, though
the Nile was blocked by the river's
cataracts. The
Sahara Pump Theory explains how
flora and
fauna
(including
Homo
sapiens) left
Africa to penetrate the
Middle East and beyond to
Europe and
Asia. African
pluvial periods are associated with a "wet
Sahara" phase during which larger lakes and more
rivers exist.
Climate zones and ecoregions
Sub-Saharan Africa has a wide variety of
climate zones or
biomes.
South Africa and the Democratic
Republic of the Congo
in particular are considered Megadiverse countries.
History
Sub-Saharan Africa is historically known as "Ethiopia" or
"Aethiopia".
Prehistory
The
East African Rift region is
the presumed area of
human origins.
Homo sapiens appeared
some 250,000 years ago, and
spread within Africa,
to
Southern Africa (
L1) and
West
Africa (
L2), before also
migrating out of
Africa some 70,000 years ago (
L3).
After the
Sahara became a desert, it did not
present a totally impenetrable barrier for travelers between North
and South due to the application of animal husbandry towards
carrying water, food, and supplies across the desert. Prior to the
introduction of the
camel, the use of oxen for
desert crossing was common, and trade routes followed chains of
oases that were strung across the desert. It
is thought that the camel was first brought to Egypt after the
Persian Empire conquered Egypt in 525
BC, although large herds did not become common enough in North
Africa to establish the
trans-Saharan trade until the eighth
century AD.
East Africa
Historical African states and
empires
Sphinx of Nubian Emperor
Tuharqa
The distribution of the
Nilo-Saharan linguistic phylum is
evidence of a certain coherence of the central Sahara, the Sahel
and East Africa in prehistoric times. Much of Ancient Egypt's
culture came from sub-Saharan Africa including her religion,
agriculture, and language via the Red Sea Hills. Ancient
Nubia appears to have acted as a link connecting
Ancient Egypt to sub-Saharan Africa,
based on traces of prehistoric south-to-north gene flow.
Kush,
Nubia at her greatest phase
is considered sub-saharan Africa's oldest urban civialization.
Nubia was a major source of gold for the
ancient world. Accordingly, the
Old
Nubian language is itself a member of the Nilo-Saharan phylum.
Old Nubian (arguably besides
Meroitic) represents the oldest attested
African language outside the
Afro-Asiatic group.
The
Axumite Empire spanned the
southern Sahara and the Sahel along the western shore of the Red
Sea.
Located in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea
, Aksum was
deeply involved in the trade network between India
and the
Mediterranean
. Emerging from ca. the 4th century BC, it
rose to prominence by the 1st century AD. It was succeeded by the
Zagwe dynasty in the 10th
century.
Parts of
northwestern Somalia
came under the control of Ethiopian Empire in the 14th century, until
in 1527 a revolt under Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi led to
an invasion of Ethiopia. The
Ajuran
dynasty ruled parts of East Africa from the 16th to 20th
centuries.
Further south in East Africa, during the first millennium AD,
Nilotic and
Bantu-speaking peoples
moved into the region, and the latter now
comprise three-quarters of Kenya's population. Increased trade
(namely with Arab merchants) and the development of ports saw the
birth of Swahili culture.
Developed from an outgrowth of indigenous
Bantu settlements, the Swahili Coast
of Kenya
, Tanzania and northern Mozambique
was part of the east African region which traded
with the Arab world and India especially for ivory and slaves.
Swahili, a Bantu language with many
Arabic,
Persian and
other Middle Eastern and South Asian loan words, developed as a
lingua franca for trade
between the different peoples.
In 1498,
Vasco da Gama became the first
European to reach the East African coast, and
by 1525 the Portuguese
had subdued the entire coast. Portuguese control
lasted until the early 18th century, when Arabs from Oman
established
a foothold in the region. Assisted by Omani Arabs, the indigenous coastal dwellers succeeded in
driving the Portuguese from the area north of the Ruvuma River
by the early 18th century.
West Africa
Fortifications were significant in
West Africa, the Wall of Benin was the second largest man made
structure in the world
The
Bantu expansion is a major
migration movement originating in West Africa around 2500 BC,
reaching East and Central Africa by 1000 BC and Southern Africa by
the early centuries AD.
The
Nok
culture
is known from a type of terracotta figure found in
Nigeria, dating to between 500 BC and AD 200.
There were a number of medieval kingdoms of the southern Sahara and
the Sahel, based on
trans-Saharan
trade, including the
Ghana Empire
and the
Mali Empire,
Songhai Empire, the
Kanem Empire and the subsequent
Bornu Empire.
In the forrest zone, several states and empires emerge. The
Ashante Empire arose in the sixteenth
century, in modern day Ghana and Ivory Coast.
Other major states
included, the kingdoms of Ifẹ
and Oyo in the western block of Nigeria became prominent
about 700–900 and 1400 respectively, and center of Yoruba culture. The Yoruba's built
massive mud walls around their cities, the most famous Songbo's
Eredo, the largest man made structure in all of Africa. Another
prominent kingdom in south western Nigeria was the
Kingdom of Benin(1440–1897), whose power
lasted between the 15th and 19th century.
Their dominance
reached as far as the well known city of Eko which was named
Lagos
by the Portuguese traders and other early European
settlers. The
Edo speaking
people of Benin are known for the Walls of Benin, which was the
largest man-made structure(lengthwise) in the world, second only to
the Great Wall of China, according to the Guinnes Book of World
Records.
In the 18th century, the
Oyo and the
Aro confederacy were responsible for
most of the slaves exported from Nigeria.Following the
Napoleonic wars, the British expanded trade with
the Nigerian interior. In 1885, British claims to a West African
sphere of influence received international recognition and in the
following year the
Royal Niger
Company was chartered under the leadership of Sir
George Taubman Goldie. In 1900, the
company's territory came under the control of the British
Government, which moved to consolidate its hold over the area of
modern Nigeria.
On January 1, 1901, Nigeria
became a British
protectorate, part of the British Empire, the foremost world power at
the time.
By 1960, most of the region received independence from colonial
rule.
Central Africa
At
Urewe, in the first half of the 1st
millennium BC.
There follow a series of southwards
advances, establishing a Congo nucleus by the end of the 1st millennium BC.
In a final movement, the Bantu expansion reaches Southern Africa in
the 1st millennium AD.
During the 1300, the
Luba Kingdom in
Southeast Congo near Lake Kisale came about under a king, whose
political authority came from religious spiritual legitimacy and is
seen as a spiritual guardian. The kingdom controlled agriculture
and trade in the region of salt and iron from the north, copper
from the Zambian/Congo copper belt.
Rival kingship factions who split from the
Luba Kingdom later moved among the Lunda
people, marrying into its elite and laying the foundation of the
Lunda Empire in the 1500s. The ruling
dynasty centralised authority among the Lunda, under the Mwata
Yamyo or Mwaant Yaav. The Mwata Yamyo's legitimacy, like the Luba
king, came from being viewed as a spiritual religious guardian.
This system of religious spiritual kings was spread to most of
central Africa by rivals in kingship migrating and forming new
states. Many new states kings received legitimacy by claiming
descent from the Lunda dynasties.
Another significant kingdom in west central Africa was the
Kingdom of Kongo, which existed from the
Atlantic west to the Kwango river to the east. During the 1400s,
the Bakongo farming community was united with the capital at Mbanza
Kongo, under the king title , Manikongo.
Other
significant states and peoples included the Kuba Kingdom, producers of the famous raffia
cloth, the Eastern Lunda, Bemba, Burundi
, Rwanda
, and the
Kingdom of Ndongo.
Southern Africa
Great Zimbabwe: Tower in the Great
Enclosure.
Settlements of Bantu-speaking peoples, who were iron-using agriculturists and herdsmen, were already
present south of the Limpopo River
by the 4th or 5th century (see Bantu expansion) displacing and absorbing
the original Khoi-San speakers. They
slowly moved south and the earliest ironworks in modern-day
KwaZulu-Natal Province are believed to
date from around 1050.
The southernmost group was the Xhosa people, whose language incorporates certain
linguistic traits from the earlier Khoi-San
people, reaching the Fish River
, in today's Eastern Cape
Province.
Monomotapa was a medieval kingdom (c.
1250–1629) which used to stretch between the
Zambezi
and Limpopo rivers of Southern
Africa in the modern states of Zimbabwe
and Mozambique. It enjoys great fame for the ruins at its
old capital of Great
Zimbabwe
.
In 1487,
Bartolomeu Dias became the
first European to reach the southernmost tip of Africa.
In 1652,
a victualling station was
established at the Cape of Good Hope
by Jan van Riebeeck
on behalf of the Dutch East
India Company. For most of the 17th and 18th centuries,
the slowly-expanding settlement was a
Dutch possession.
Great
Britain
seized the Cape of Good Hope area in 1795, ostensibly to stop it falling into
the hands of the French but also seeking to use Cape Town
in particular as a stop on the route to Australia and
India. It was later
returned to the Dutch in 1803, but soon afterwards the
Dutch East India Company declared
bankruptcy, and the British annexed the
Cape
Colony in 1806.
The
Zulu Kingdom (1817–79) was a
Southern African tribal state in what is now Kwa-Zulu Natal in
south-eastern
South Africa. The small
kingdom gained world fame during and after the
Anglo-Zulu War.
During the 1950s and early 1960s, most sub-saharan African nations
achieved independence from imperialist rule.
Demographics and economy
Sub-Saharan Africa is the poorest region in the world, suffering
from the effects of economic mismanagement, corruption in local
government, and inter-ethnic conflict. The region contains most of
the
least developed
countries in the world. The sub-Saharan African countries form
the bulk of the
ACP countries.
Malaria is a chronic impediment to economic
development. The disease slows growth by about 1.3% per year
through lost time due to illness and the cost of treatment and
prevention measures. According to the World Bank, the region's GDP
would have been 32% higher in 2003 had the disease been eradicated
in 1960.
The population of sub-Saharan Africa was 800 million in 2007. The
current growth rate is 2.3%. The UN predicts for the region a
population of nearly 1.5 billion in 2050.
Sub-Saharan African countries top the
list of
countries and territories by fertility rate with 40 of the
highest 50, all with
TFR greater than 4 in 2008.
All are above the world average except
South Africa. Figures for
life expectancy,
malnourishment,
infant mortality and
HIV/AIDS infections are also dramatic.
More than
40% of the population in sub-Saharan countries is younger than 15
years old, as well as in the Sudan with the
exception of South Africa.
Sub-Saharan Africa has a very high
child
mortality rate. While in 2002, one in six (17%) children died
before the age of five, by 2007 this rate had declined to one in
seven (15%). The leading cause of death was malaria
infection.
Besides bad news in Zimbabwe, Congo, Sudan, and Kenya, most African
governments have become more transparent and democratic. Most
African governments were elected by the people and enjoys the
support of the populace. Last year 54 million Africans voted in 19
peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections.
Foreign direct investment in Africa has grown at an average of 146
per cent a year over the last 22 years to reach US$36billion in
2007, while trade between Africa and the rest of the world
particularly Asia has been steadily increasing. Most notable,
bilateral trade between China and Africa jumped 45 per cent in 2008
to reach US$107 billion, the bulk of which went to sub-saharan
Africa.
Real economic growth in 2 out of 5 sub-Saharan countries was triple
that of the US economy last year, on a pace that rivals that of
Southeast Asia in 1980. African economies from Senegal to Benin to
the Democratic Republic of Congo are more diversified. Growth in
the region is expected to hit 6.5 percent.
Sub-Saharan Africa’s economy will probably expand 1.3 percent this
year, down from 5.5 percent in 2008, and compared with a forecast
of 1.5 percent made by the IMF in July. Growth will rebound to 4.1
percent in 2010 as global trade improves.
Health care
Right
In 1987,
the Bamako Initiative conference
organized by the World Health
Organization was held in Bamako
, and helped
reshape the health policy of sub-Saharan Africa. The new
strategy dramatically increased accessibility through
community-based
healthcare reform,
resulting in more efficient and equitable provision of services.A
comprehensive approach strategy was extended to all areas of health
care, with subsequent improvement in the health care indicators and
improvement in health care efficiency and cost.
As of October 2006, many governments face difficulties in
implementing policies aimed at tackling the effects of the
AIDS pandemic due to lack of technical support despite
a number of mitigating measures.
Oil and Minerals
Sub-Saharan Africa is rich in minerals. The region is a major
exporter to the world of
gold,
uranium,
chrome,
vanadium,
antimony,
coltan,
bauxite,
iron ore,
copper, and
manganese. South Africa is a major
exporter of
manganese. Sub-saharan Africa
produces 33% of the world's
bauxite with
Guinea the major supplier. Zambia is a major producer of
copper.
Sub-saharan Africa produces 49% of the world's
diamonds.
Agriculture
Agriculture has always been an integral activity in Sub-saharan
Africa. Sub-saharan Africa has more variety of grains than anywhere
in the world. Between 13,000 and 11,0000 BCE wild grains began to
be collected as a source of food in the cataract region of the
nile, south of Egypt. The collecting of wild grains as source of
food spread to Syria, parts of Turkey and Iran by the eleventh
millennium BCE. By the tenth and ninth millennia southwest Asians
domesticated their wild grains, wheat and barley after the notion
of collecting wild grains was spread from the Nile.
Numerous crops have been domesticated in the region and spread to
world. These crops included
sorghum,
castor beans,
coffee,
cotton okra,
black-eyed peas,
watermelon,
gourd,
and pearl
millet. Other domesticated crops
included
teff,
enset,
African rice,
yams,
kola nuts,
oil
palm, and
raffia palm..
Domesticated animals included the
guinea
fowl and the
donkey.
Agriculture represent 20% to 30% of GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Agriculture represent 50% of exports. In some cases, 60% to 90% of
the labor force are employed in Agriculture .
Most agricultural activity in Sub-Saharan Africa is subsistence
farming. This has made agricultural activity vulnerable to climate
change and global warming. Biotechnology has been advocated to
create high yield, pest and environmentally resistant crops in the
hands of small farmers. The Bill and Malinda Gates foundation are
strong advocates and donors to this cause. Biotechnology and GM
crops have met resistance both by Sub-Saharan Africans and
Environmental groups.
Cash crops include cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, and
tobacco.
The OECD says Africa has the potential to become an agricultural
superbloc, if it can unlock the wealth of the savannahs by allowing
farmers to use their land as collateral for credit.Recently, there
have been a trend to purchase large tracts of land in Sub-sahara
for agricultural use by developing countries.Earlier in 2009,
legendary hedge fund speculator George Soros highlighted a new
farmland buying frenzy caused by growing population, scarce water
supplies and climate change. Chinese interests bought up large
swathes of Senegal to supply it with sesame. Aggressive moves by
China, South Korea and Gulf states to buy vast tracts of
agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa could soon be limited by a
new global international protocol.
Languages and ethnic groups
Sub-saharan Africa displays more diversity than anywhere in the
world. This is more apparent in the number of languages spoken. The
region speaks 2000 languages, which is 1/3 of the world's total.The
Niger-Congo language family covers much of Sub-Saharan Africa and
is probably the largest language family in the world in terms of
different languages.
Speakers of
Bantu languages (part of
the Niger-Congo family) are the majority in southern, central and
east Africa proper. But there are also several
Nilotic groups in East Africa, and a few remaining
indigenous Khoisan
('
San' or '
Bushmen')
and
Pygmy peoples in southern and central
Africa, respectively. Bantu-speaking Africans also predominate in
Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and are found in parts of southern
Cameroon and southern Somalia.
In the Kalahari Desert
of Southern Africa, the distinct people known as
the Bushmen (also "San", closely related to, but distinct from
"Hottentots") have long been
present. The San are physically distinct from other Africans
and are the indigenous people of southern Africa. Pygmies are the
pre-Bantu indigenous peoples of central Africa.
South Africa has the largest
populations of whites, Indians and Coloureds in Africa.
The term
"Coloured" is used to describe persons of
mixed race in South Africa and Namibia
. People of
European
descent in South Africa include the
Afrikaner and a sizeable populations of
Anglo-Africans and
Portuguese Africans.
Madagascar
's population is predominantly of mixed Austronesian (Pacific Islander) and African origin. The area of southern
Sudan is inhabited by Nilotic
people.
List of major languages of Sub-Saharan Africa by region, family and
total number of native speakers in millions:
- East Africa
- West Africa
- Niger-Congo
- Afro-Asiatic
- Nilo-Saharan
- Southern Africa
- Central Africa
Religion
Traditional African
religions can be broken into linguistic cultural groups, with
common themes. Among the Niger-Congo are the belief in a creator
God; ancestor spirits; territorial spirits; evil caused by human
ill will and neglecting ancestor spirits; priest of territorial
spirits. Among the Nilo-Saharan are the belief in Divinity; evil is
caused by divine judgement and retribution; prophets as middlemen
between Divinity and man. Among Afro-Asiatic speakers is henotheism
(belief in one's own gods but accepting the existence of other
gods); evil is caused by malevolent spirits. Khoisan religion is
non-theistic but a belief in a Spirit or Power of existence which
can be tapped in a trance-dance; trance-healers.
North Africa is strongly dominated by Islam, while Sub-Saharan Africa—with the exception of
the predominantly Muslim Horn of Africa, Sudan, Swahili coast, and the Sahel --
is mostly Christian or home to many
traditional African
religions.
Traditional Sub-saharan African religion displays very complex
ontology, cosmology, and metaphysics.Mythologies for example
demonstrated the difficulty fathers of creations had in bringing
about order from chaos. Order is what is right and natural and any
deviation is chaos. Sub-saharan cosmology and ontology is neither
simple or linear. It defines duality, the material and immaterial,
male and female, heaven and earth. Common principles of being and
becoming are widespread: Among the Dogon, the principle of
Amma(being) and Nummo(becoming), among the Bambara Pemba(being) and
Faro(becoming),
- West Africa
- Central Africa
- East Africa
- Southern Africa
Music
Traditional Sub-Saharan African music is as diverse as her people.
The common perception of Sub-Saharan African music is that it is
rhythmic music centered around the drums. It is partially true. A
large part of Sub-Saharan music, mainly among Niger-Congo
linguistic groups is rhythmic and centered around the drum.
Sub-Saharan music is polyrhythmic, usually consisting of multiple
rhythms in one composition. Dance involves moving multiple body
parts. These aspect of Sub-Saharan music has been transferred to
the new world by enslaved Africans and can be seen in its influence
on music forms as
Jazz,
Rhythm and Blues,
Rock & Roll,
Salsa, and
Rap music.
But Sub-Saharan music involves a lot of music with strings, horns,
and very little poly-rhythms. Music from the eastern sahel and
along the nile, among the Nilo-Saharan, made extensive use of
strings and horns in ancient times. Among the Afro-Asiatics, we see
extensive use of string instruments. Dancing involve swaying body
movements and footwork. Among the Khoisans extensive use of string
instruments with emphasis on footwork.
Modern Sub-saharan African music has been influence by music from
the New World (Jazz, Salsa, Rhythm and Blues etc.) vice-versa being
influenced by enslaved Sub-saharan Africans. Popular styles are
Mbalax in Senegal and Gambia,
Highlife in Ghana,
Zoblazo
in Ivory Coast,
Makossa in Cameroon,
Soukous in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
Kizomba in Angola, and
Mbaqanga in South Africa. New World styles like
Salsa, Rap, Reggae, and Zouk also have widespread popularity.
Art
Sub-Saharan African art is the oldest in the world.
The oldest abstract
form of art is found in the Blombos Cave
at the cape in South Africa, dated 77,000
years. The Blombos Cave represent what is referred to as rock art, man's
earliest art form. Sub-saharan Africa has some of the most
varied style of rock art in the world.
Although Sub-saharan African art is very diverse there are some
common themes. One is the use of the human figure. Second, the
preference for
sculpture. Sub-saharan art
is meant to be experience three dimensionly, not two dimensionly. A
house is meant to be experience from all angles. Third, Art is
meant to be performed. Sub-saharan Africans have specific name for
mask. The name incorporates the sculpture, the dance, and the
spirit that incorporates the mask. The name denotes all three
elements. Fourth, art that serves a practical function,
utilitarian. The artist and craftsman are not separate. A sculpture
shaped like a hand can be used as a stool. Fifth, the use of
Fractals or non-linear scaling. The shape
of the whole is the shape of the parts at different scales. Before
the discovery of
fractal geometry, Louis
Senghor, Senegal’s first president, referred to this as “dynamic
symmetry.” William Fagg, the British art historian, compared it to
the logarithmic mapping of natural growth by biologist D’Arcy
Thompson. Lastly, Sub-saharan art is visually abstract, instead of
naturalistic. Sub-saharan art represents spiritual notions, social
norms, ideas, values, etc. An artist might exaggerated the head of
a sculpture in relations to the body not because he does not know
anatomy but because he wants to illustrate that the head is the
seat of knowledge and wisdom. The visual abstraction of African art
was very influential in the works of
modernist artist like Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse,
and Jacques Lipchitz.
Cuisine
Sub-saharan African cuisine like everything about Africa is very
diverse. A lot of regional overlapping occurs, but there are
dominant elements region by region.
A plate of fufu accompanied with
peanut soup
West African cuisine can be described as starchy, flavorfully
spicey. Dishes include
fufu,
kenkey,
couscous,
garri, foutou, and banku. Ingredients are of native
starchy tubers,
yams,
cocoyams, and
cassava.
Grains include millet, sorghum, and african rice, usually in the
sahel, are incorporated. Oils include palm oil and shea
butter(sahel). One finds recipes that mixes fish and meat.
Beverages are palm wine( sweet or sour) and millet beer. Roasting,
baking, boiling, frying, mashing, and spicing are all cooking
techniques.
East African cuisine reflects its islamic, geographical Indian
Ocean cultural links. Dishes include
ugali,
injera,
wat, sukumi wiki,
and halva. Spices such as curry, saffron, cloves, cinnamon,
pomegranate juice, cardamon, ghee, and sage are used, especially
among muslims. Meat includes cattle, sheep, and goats, but is
rarily eaten since its viewed as currency and wealth. In the
Horn of Africa, pork and non-fish
seafood is avoided by Christians and Muslims. Dairy products and
all meats are avoided during lent by Ethiopians. Maize(corn) is a
major staple from Sudan to southern Africa. Cornmeal is used to
make
ugali, a popular dish with different
names from Sudan to southern Africa.
Teff is
used to make
injera or canjeero(Somali)
bread. Other important foods include
enset,
noog, lentils, rice, banana,
leafy greens, chiles, peppers, cocconut milk and tomatoes.
Beverages are coffee(domesticated in Ethiopia), chai tea, fermented
beer from banana or millet. Cooking techniques include roasting and
marinating.
Central African cuisine connects with all major regions of
Sub-saharan Africa: Its cuisine reflects that.
Ugali and
fufu are eaten in the
region. Its cuisine is very starchy and spicy hot. Dominant crops
include plantains, cassava, peanuts, chillis, and okra. Meats
include beef, chicken, and sometimes exotic meats called bush meat
(antelope, warthog, crocodile). Widespread spicy hot fish cuisine
is one of the differentiating aspects. Mushroom is sometimes used
as a meat substitute.
Traditional Southern African cuisine surrounds meat. Traditional
society typically focused on raising, sheep, goats, and especially
cattle. Dishes include braai (barbecue meat),sadza, bogobe,
pap (fermented cornmeal), milk products
(buttermilk, yoghurt). Crops utilized are sorghum, maize (corn),
pumpkin beans, leafy greens, and cabbage. Beverages include ting
(fermented sorghum or maize), milk, chibuku (milky beer).
Influences from the Indian and Malay community can be seen its use
of curries, sambals, pickled fish, fish stews, chutney, and samosa.
European influences can be seen in cuisines like biltong
(sausages), potjies(stews of maize, onions, tomatoes), french
wines, and crueler or koeksister (milk tart).
Clothing
Kangas
man wearing boubou and woman wearing
kaftan
Like most of the world, Sub-saharan Africans have adopted Western
style clothing. In some country like Zambia used Western clothing
have flooded markets, causing great angst to the retail community.
Sub-saharan Africa boast its own tradional
clothing style. Cotton seems to be the dominant
material. It was domesticated in
Nubia and spread.
In east Africa, one finds extensive use cotton clothing. Shemma,
shama, and kuta are types of Ethiopian clothing.
Kanga are
Swahili cloth that comes in rectangular shapes, made
of pure cotton, and put together to make clothing.
Kitenges are similar to kangas and kikoy, but are
of a thicker cloth, and have an edging only on a long side.
Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and
Sudan are some of the African countries where kitenge is
worn. In Malawi
, Namibia and Zambia
, kitenge is
known as Chitenge. One of the unique materials, which is not
a fiber and is used to make clothing is
barkcloth, an innovation of the baganda people
of Uganda. It came from the Mutuba tree (Ficus natalensis).On
Madagascar a type of cloth called
Lamba Mpanjaka, made out of silk, was worn like a
toga.
In West Africa, again cotton is the material of choice. In the
Sahel mainly and other parts of West Africa we have the
boubou(male) and kaftan(female) style of clothing.
Kente cloth created by the Akan people
of Ivory Coast and Ghana, from silk of the various moth species in
West Africa. It is sometimes used to make
dashiki and
kufi. Adire is a
type of Yoruba cloth that is starch resistant.
Raffia cloth and barkcloth are also utilized in
the region.
In Central Africa, the Kuba people developed
raffia cloth from the raffia plant fibers. It
was widely used in the region. Barkcloth was also extensively
used.
In Southern Africa one finds numerous use of animal hide and skins
for clothing. The Ndau in central mozambique and the Shona mixed
hide with barkcloth, cotton cloth. Cotton cloth was referred to as
machira. Xhosa, Tswana, Sotho, and Swazi, also made extensive use
of hides. Hides came from cattle, sheep, goat, and elephant.
Leopard skins were coveted and was a symbol of kingship in Zulu
society. Skins were tanned to form leather, dyed, and embedded with
beads.
List of countries
Only six
African countries are not geographically a part of Sub-Saharan
Africa: Algeria
, Egypt
, Libya
, Morocco
, Tunisia
, Western
Sahara
(claimed by Morocco). Together with the
Sudan, they form the UN
subregion of Northern
Africa. Mauritania
and Niger
only include
a band of the Sahel along their southern borders. All other
African countries have at least significant portions of their
territory within Sub-Saharan Africa.
[[Image:LocationCentralMiddleAfrica.png|right|thumb|300px|
]]
- ECCAS (Economic Community
of Central African States)
- CEMAC (Economic and
Monetary Community of Central Africa)
- (autonomous region of Sudan with
independence referendum in 2011)
[[Image:LocationEasternAfrica.png|right|thumb|300px|
]]
- (also in SADC)
- (also in ECCAS)
- (also in ECCAS)
[[Image:LocationSouthernAfrica.png|right|thumb|300px|
]]
- (also in ECCAS)
- (sometimes included, not part of the African continent)
[[Image:LocationWesternAfrica.png|right|thumb|300px|
]]
- ECOWAS
(Economic
Community of West African States
)
- UEMOA (West African Economic
and Monetary Union)
Science and Technology
Education
Forty percent of African scientists live in OECD countries,
predominantly western countries. This has been described as an
African brain drain. Even with the drain, Sub-saharan Africa
generates lots of growth in enrollment in higher education.
Enrollments in sub-Saharan African universities tripled between
1991 and 2005, expanding at an annual rate of 8.7 percent, which is
one of the highest regional growth rates in the world. In the last
10 to 15 years increase mobility to pursue university level degrees
abroad has increased. In some OECD countries, like the United
States, Sub-saharan Africans are the
most educated immigrant
group.
Energy and Power
50% of Africa is rural, with no access to electricity. Africa
generates 47 MW of electricity that is less than 0.6% of global
market share. Many countries are besieged by power shortages.
Because of rising prices in commodities such coal and oil, thermal
sources of energy are proving to be too expensive for power
generation in Sub-saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to
build additional hydropower generation capacity of at least 20,165
MW by 2014. The region has the potential to generate 1,750 TWh of
energy, of which only 7 per cent has been explored. African
governments are taking advantage of the readily available hydro
resources to broaden their energy mix.Hydro Turbine Markets in
Sub-Saharan Africa generated revenues of $120.0 million in 2007 and
is estimated to reach $425.0 million. Asian countries, notably
China and Japan, are playing an active role in power projects
across the African continent. The majority of these power projects
are hydro-based because of China's vast experience in the
construction of hydro-power projects and part of the Energy &
Power Growth Partnership Services programme.
With low electrification numbers, Sub-saharan Africa with access to
the Sahara and being in the tropical zones(365 days of sun) has
massive potential for solar photovoltaic(PV) electrical potential.
600 million people could be served with electricity based on its PV
potential. China is promising to train 10,000 technicians from
Africa and other developing countries in the use of solar energy
technologies over the next five years. Training African technicians
to use solar power is part of the China-Africa science and
technology cooperation agreement signed by the Chinese science
minister and African counterparts during premier Wen Jiabao's visit
to Ethiopia last December.
Media
Radio is the major source of information in Sub-saharan Africa
though that might change.
Cell phone usage in Sub-saharan has brought about a revolution. In
Sub-saharan Africa, average penetration stands at more than a third
of the population. Sub-saharan countries such as Gabon, Seychelles,
and South Africa now boast almost 100% penetration. Only five
Sub-saharan African countries -- Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea,
Ethiopia and Somalia -- still have a penetration of less than 10%.
Cellphones are used to transfer money using the SMS feature and
searching for best prices for farmer's produce. For example in
Niger delivery of the best price information for produce has
resulted in lower prices for the consumer and increased profits for
traders. Broadband penetration outside of South Africa has been
limited and where it is exorbitantly expensive.
Television is the second major source of information for most
Sub-saharan Africans.Due to power shortages, the spread of
television viewing has been limited. 1 in 13 have television in
Sub-saharan Africa a total of 62 million. But those in the
television industry view Sub-saharan Africa as an untapped green
market. Digital television and pay for service are on the
rise.
Infrastructure
Less than 40 percent of rural Africans live within two kilometers
of an all-season road, the lowest level of rural accessibility in
the developing world. Spending on roads in Sub-Saharan Africa
averages just below 2 percent of GDP with varying degree among
countries. This compares with the 1 percent of GDP that is typical
in industrialized countries, and the 2–3 percent of GDP found in
fast-growing emerging economies. Although the level of effort is
high relative to the size of Africa’s economies, it remains little
in absolute terms, with low-income countries spending an average of
about US$7 per capita per year.
See also
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External links
, Niger
and Sudan
and Ethiopia
ecosystem is located in north-western Tanzania and extends to south-western Kenya
.PNG/180px-Zulu_dance_(cropped).PNG)
Democratic
Republic of Congo
(also in SADC)
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