3.3c - Sahel CASE STUDY SPEC RELATED POINTS Flashcards
State two physical reasons for Mali being switched off
- Arid conditions / desertification
- The only possible integration is likely to be very shallow – e.g. food aid for subsistence farmers, or perhaps cash crops at the very most, e.g. cotton producers in Mali
State it is pointless investing in infrastructure in mali/sahel countries in general
The cost of providing infrastructure e.g. railways / ICT networks, where poverty has meant there is limited market potential to begin with
Why do TNC’s tend to avoid investment in the Sahel countries like Mali and build consumer networks there
Wages will be low, = negligible spending power = they’re not even viable market = they don’t bother investing in creating consumer networks.
State 4 sahel countries
Chad / Mali / Burkina Faso / Sudan
(The world’s LDCs)
Briefly state 3 reasons why Chad is switched off
- Chad lacks a coastline
- corrupt gov: 99 per cent of cash earmarked by the govt for spending on health had disappeared before it even reached hospitals (went to military)
- Systems setup to track aid money based on priority caused the government to officially change its policy to ‘security’
Outline 8 reasons for mali being switched off (culmination of physical, enviro, econ and political)
- Physical isolation
- landlocked countries
- Basic education levels
- lack of access to clean water
- lack of tech/infrastructure
- political isolation
- commodity exports only
Why is physical isolation a reason for being switched off?
Sahel - extreme climates and low population densities make infrastructure development unprofitable - places lack transport connections.
Why are landlocked countries a reason for being switched off
Chad, Uganda, Bolivia are difficult to access and have to rely on agreements with other countries for import / export trade; this may incur additional costs or disruption risks deterring investors.
State why unprofitable intenret infrastructure is a reason for being switched off
Unprofitable global internet infrastructure, e.g. fibre optic cables, is only just reaching some locations, e.g. East Africa’s EASSy cable; bandwidth is low and costs are still high.
State why political isolation is a reason for being switched off
deliberate policy of closing off connections to the outside world so the country remains isolated; there are partial ‘closures’ in Cuba, Russia and China due to restricted access to the internet / media.
State why a lack of infrastructure is a reason for being switched off
reduces opportunities for travel / trade / information exchange
State why a lack of access to clean water is a reason for being switched off
limits quality of health/success of business.
Poor health - not ‘attractive’ workforce for TNCs
State why a basic level education/literacy is a reason for being switched off
- population may have limited skills to attract investment from TNCs.
- Poverty / unemployment limit ability to contribute to trade (spending power is low)
State why limited trade is reason for being switched off
Trade restrictions in low incomes countries- just commodity export, e.g. Zambian copper, oil from Sudan - complex trade networks fail to develop leading to a ‘shallow version’ of globalisation.
