HIGHWAY ACROSS AFRICA

Real World Scenario – The World Bank has just turned down a loan for a proposed highway across Africa from Tunis, Tunisia, to Cape Town, South Africa. You have been hired to submit to the World Bank a proposal for a better route for the highway. Transportation consultants will study a series of maps, data, and atlases (and other references), to explain why the first route was turned down, and create a new and improved route with reasoned support for it. China will also be proposing a competing highway project, and this could mean a major loss of power and influence in the African region if the US team fails.

Focus Question – How does the human and physical geography of Africa influence its economic interdependence?

TASK: After reading informational texts on modern African geography, write a memo to the World Bank that identifies a problem of where to build an economic superhighway and argues for a solution that brings countries together. Support your position with evidence from the research. L2 Be sure to examine competing views. L3 Give examples from past or current events or issues to illustrate and clarify your position.

The African Union has made the building of a highway across the continent a major priority. The purpose of the highway is to foster political cooperation among the African nations and to promote economic development, trade, and tourism.

The highway would be financed by the World Bank, which, with the African leaders, recently rejected an initial proposal for the highway and is now seeking alternate proposals.

Your assignment will cover a couple of weeks: You will need to draw the original proposal for the highway and list 3 reasons the proposal was rejected. Then you will need to research and map an alternate proposal and explain how it improves on the original. This will be broken into several mini-tasks for you and your team.

MINI TASK 1: DETERMINE WHERE THE FIRST HIGHWAY WAS REJECTED.

1. Map the highway route using the list of cities below. You will need to create a new map in Scribblemaps. Save it with the title “Rejected Africa Highway”.

2. Outline each country that is touched by the highway in a color (no blue). Add a name label for each of those countries in black CAPS. Only outline those touched by the route.

3. Add name labels in black CAPS for neighboring countries, but no outline.

4. Use the straight line tool to show the highway route as close as you can to reality.

5. Trace major rivers and lakes that would be bridged in blue. Add a name label in blue for each river or lake that is crossed.

6. Add a dot for each city along the route. Add a label in black, CAP first letter.

7. Set background to ESRI physical.8. Save often, and show your teacher

when ready.

Connect the Cities:“Building a Highway across Africa”

Create a map of Africa to draw the rejected route, which attempted to connect the following cities in this order:

1. Tunis, Tunisia 9. Nairobi, Kenya

2. Algiers, Algeria 10. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

3. Niamey, Niger 11. Lilongwe, Malawi

4. Abuja, Nigeria 12. Lusaka, Zambia

5. Yaounde, Cameroon 13. Harare, Zimbabwe

6. Brazzaville, Congo 14. Johannesburg, South Africa*

7. Kinshasa, Democratic 15. Port Elizabeth, South Africa* Republic of the Congo

8. Kampala, Uganda 16. Cape Town, South Africa*

***caution: the last 3 cities listed are ALL in the country of South Africa.

MINI TASK 2: RESEARCH THE COUNTRIES ALONG THE ROUTE TO DETERMINE WHY THE HIGHWAY WAS REJECTED.

1. Collect your findings with the help of your team. Each team member will be responsible for one part of the data.

2. Use the tracking sheet provided or create your own.

Excellent Web Resources for Highway Across AfricaCIA WORLD FACTBOOKhttps://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.htmlBBC NEWShttp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default.stm

Human Development Indexhttp://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/

most recent GDP (Gross Domestic Product) per capitahttp://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_gdp_percap-economy-gdp-per-capita

Current Conflict & Warswww.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/index.html

CULTUREGRAMSIf you want to read about the countries of Africa, you can use this web site.

http://online.culturegrams.com/world/index.php

username: shslibrary password: Trojans

Health & Safety issues for travelershttp://www.lonelyplanet.com/africa/practical-information/health

Flags http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/flags/flagcnty.htm

Population Pyramidshttp://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idb/pyramids.html

Recipeshttp://www.africa.upenn.edu/Cookbook/about_cb_wh.html

Political leadersinfoplease.com/world/leaders/ nameofcountry .html this website will work for looking up political leaders...just be sure to put the name of the country where it says name of country in italics.

MINI TASK 3: CONSIDER THE CRITERIA OF THE WORLD BANK TO DETERMINE WHY THE HIGHWAY WAS REJECTED.

CONSTRUCTION CRITERIAProposal for a Highway across Africa

The purpose of the highway is to foster political cooperation among the African nations and to promote economic development, trade, and tourism.

Construction costs: Terrain and climate influence the cost of road construction. Listed below are kinds of terrain ranked in order of expense for road construction that is mountains are the most expensive, savanna the least expensive.

•Mountains - most expensive $$$$•Rainforest / Jungle•Desert•Bridge over major rivers•Steppe / Chaparral•Savanna - least expensive $

Roads are more expensive to build in humid, subtropical climates than in Mediterranean climates. Your surveyors, engineers, and construction crews must have a reasonable chance to do their job safely.

Your route must do the following:

•Cover a major portion of the continent – do not ignore a region.•Connect major population centers•Cross a minimum of 13 countries and a maximum of 25•Pass through a capital city on the Atlantic Ocean and a capital city on the Indian Ocean.MINI TASK 4: REPORT AT LEAST 3 REASONS WHY THE HIGHWAY WAS REJECTED IN A MEMO TO THE BANK.

You may use the template included here to frame your memo. Be detailed - use actual place names and the language of geography. Each reason should be supported by research and be specific to the task. Discuss your sources as you go.

MEMO EXPLAINING THE REJECTION OF THE HIGHWAY ACROSS AFRICA

To: African Union Leaders and the World Bank

From : Crockett Partners Inc Research Team Members_______________________________________

Subject: Recent Proposal for “Building a Highway Across Africa”

After considering the data and the rejected highway route, our research has shown that the highway as planned will not be feasible at this time. The World Bank has asked for the highway to do several things.

Cross a major portion of the continent Connect major population centers Visit at least 13 countries, but not more than 25 Pass through at least one capital city on the Atlantic Ocean and a capital city on the Indian

Ocean Promote the economic development of Africa

We have emphasized the influence of the physical and human geographic features of the continent in researching your proposal. Keeping in mind the purpose of the highway, we submit the following three specific reasons your route was rejected. Reason #1 (Physical Geography)…

Reason #2 (Human Geography)…

Reason #3 (Team choice – Human or Physical)…

Thank you for considering our research in this important matter. We would welcome an alternate proposal for a new highway plan anytime in the future.

Respectfully,

SAMPLE How to write a great memo to the World Bank *This is just one segment

Reason #1 Physical geography concerns: Our research team has discovered that the planned Trans-Africa Highway crosses a major portion of the Sahara Desert between the cities of Niamey, Niger and

Algiers, Algeria. (This route may also include a transit through Northeastern Mali. ) Due to the high cost of constructing a highway across the shifting dunes of a desert, and that extremely dry conditions prohibit human settlement there, we feel that this portion of the highway should be rejected. It would be very difficult to obtain supplies and housing for construction crews, so that everything, including basics such as water, would have to be shipped in for the project. And since one of the goals of the highway is to promote tourism, we feel that this portion of the road would be dangerous for international travelers that might become stranded without a chance for help in such a remote and unforgiving environment. It would be necessary to station water and communication stations on this portion of the road. High winds and shifting desert sands could also cover the road, raising costs for maintaining the highway.

How to write a poor memo for the World Bank – same topic, score of a 1

Reason #1: Desert. This would be really hard to make a road through the sand b/c that would cost a bunch of mony to make a road thrugh a hot place with lots of sand and stuff and people getting lost and they would have no money and maybe get lost and need some water. Desert is kinda big and the road need to be better for the road can go around

AfricaStudent Handout Outline Map of Africa

REJECTED Africa Highway Map and Memo Rubric

MAP FEATURES Points Possible Points Comments

The Map

Shows physical features of Africa that would impact the

route

25

Rejected Map

Shows cities connected by the highway

15

Rejected map has names of all affected countries and shows

their boundaries

20

Rejected map shows context (Atlantic & Indian oceans,

Mediterranean Sea, Europe and Asia)

10

Rejected map clearly communicates our group’s 3

hazards that kept this highway from being built

30

Map is colored and labeled clearly. Shows neatness and

craftsmanship of the cartographers

10

Total 100

MEMO FEATURES Points possible Points Comments

Memo is clearly written, shows good grammar, meets all requirements

of the task, and is informative in its voice

15

Hazard #1 (physical) is explained in detail and shows mastery of the

subject matter

20

Hazard #2 (human) is explained in detail and shows mastery of the

subject matter

20

Hazard #3 (choice) is explained in detail and shows mastery of the

subject matter

20

3 reasons for rejection are geographically

accurate, specific to their country, and relate

to the goals of the highway project

25

total 100