Economic Geography

10/06/2020

Updated estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global development.

The long-term damage of COVID-19 will be particularly severe in economies that suffer financial crises and, in energy exporters, because of the collapse in oil prices. Dana Vorisek, a a senior economist in the Prospects Group of the Equitable Growth, Finance and Institutions Global Practice, estimates that Emerging Market Economies will suffer significantly. Over a five-year horizon, a recession combined with a financial crisis could lower potential output by almost 8 to 11 percent.

Even with policy support, the economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic are expected to be long-lasting.

21/06/2019

The Indonesian capital Jakarta has one of the largest public bus systems in the world. Every year, 200 million people use public transport. The city is characterized by high air pollution and numerous traffic jams. The city administration is now forced to rethink traffic within the city.

The Transjakarta Bus Rapid Transit System is now testing electric buses on selected routes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and switch to green traffic. Jakarta joins a long list of cities already using e-buses for public transport. It is estimated that by 2040 more than 80% of global urban transport will be by electric buses.

The World Economic Forum has written an interesting article about this topic.

Electric buses could help reduce air pollution in Jakarta, home to the world’s largest public bus system.

19/06/2019

The Yaba area, near the Yaba College of Technology and the University of Lagos, is an emerging technology ecosystem in Nigeria's largest city.
In 2013, only 10 startups were in the technology cluster. Today, there are more than 60 technology companies in this neighborhood. The cluster is so successful that international corporations like Facebook and Google are already interested in its developments.

The fading facades of century-old buildings in a neighborhood of the Nigerian megacity of Lagos house a vibrant technology cluster that’s caught the eye of Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

07/06/2019

In Kenya's capital private companies are taking over entire bus routes. The Development and Collaboration magazine (DandC) interviewed the managing director of one of these companies about the market environment and the importance of high-quality vocational training for young women.

In Nairobi, the bus lines are run by private-sector companies. Citi Hoppa is one of them. Chief executive Judy Thuo emphasises quality service. She told Hans Dembowski why vocational training is important, and why it is particularly important to provide job opportunities to young women.

31/05/2019

The Indian economy is growing some 7 to 8 percent a year, rivaling or exceeding China in the coming years. Unemployment is at an all-time low. But how precise are these numbers? The New York Times explores the question how trustworthy these economic statistics are.

Jobs data has been delayed, and economists are skeptical about how the Modi government has calculated growth. Small businesses may be hurting.

29/05/2019

Many experts recommend it is vital for an economy to focus on enhancing the primary education system to strengthening a counties overall education system. Antara Sengupta, a Research Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in Mumbai explores the struggle of countries like Malawi in its effort to restructure its primary and secondary education system. There is a lot to learn from India’s past experiences to nurture towards positive growth.

It is time for Africa, and not just Malawi, to move beyond just fee-free education and adopt targeted solutions to improve quality, accessibility and learning in schools – in not just primary, but secondary levels as well.

24/05/2019

South Africa is a multilingual and multicultural space with 11 official languages, while English is mostly the dominant lingua. Universities are becoming increasingly aware that they have an important role to play in ensuring that students do more than just graduate. They introduce many vocation specific language courses to form a new cultural landscape.
Zakeera Docrat, Doctoral Student in African Language at Rhodes University wrote an interesting article about this new development at universities in South Africa.

Vocation specific language courses have been introduced at a number of universities in South Africa.

28/02/2017

Haley J. Swedlund, an Assistant Professor of the Centre for International Conflict Analysis and Management at the Radboud University (Netherlands) wrote an interesting article about Chinese investments in African countries and if they are displacing traditional aid donors. His evidence suggests no, but his results show an increasing presence of China in African economies.

The pervasive new argument is that China is upending the dominance of traditional Africa aid donors from the West. But a new study shows that while China is making inroads, the West is staying put.

23/02/2017

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in southern Guangdong province has proven to be remarkably resilient in its economic development. Many times when some critics were casting doubts on its future, the region is making a strong comeback. In terms of GDP, the PRD would rank as the 15th or 16th largest national economy in the world, on a par with Mexico and larger than Indonesia.
Dr. Thomas Chan, President of the Maritime Silk Road Association based in Macao wrote an interesting article about the past, present and future of the PRD.

The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in southern Guangdong province has proven to be remarkably resilient in its economic development in the last few decades. In the early reform years of 1980s, the region transformed itself from a largely rural and sparsely populated area into a global production bas...

22/02/2017

While Africa's economies face more difficult external conditions in 2017, many of the policies that have contributed to weaker economic growth during the last years were home-grown. The good news is that average regional growth should recover in 2017. It seems that Economic Growth is still a vital Trend to Watch in Africa.

In 2016, real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to have been the weakest since the 2008/9 global financial crisis. This was largely because of the weak performance in its two largest economies - South Africa and Nigeria - which together make up about half of sub-...

20/01/2017

A look at the United States’s bridges, electrical grid, pipelines, railroads, airports and waterways

02/12/2016

In the course of the growth of economic centers in their size and economic performance, the definition of boundaries becomes more important. To solve this geographic problem, Garrett Nelson of the Dartmouth College and Alasdair Rae of the University of Sheffield used census data from more than four million commuter paths to develop a visual interpretation of the economic centers and their commuter regions for the U.S.A.

As economic centers grow in size and importance, determining their boundaries has become more crucial. Where do you fall on the map?