Dark and lighter green: Definition of "Sub-Saharan Africa" as used in the statistics of the UN institutions.
Lighter green: However, Sudan and South Sudan are classified as North Africa by the United Nations.^[1]

Simplified climatic map of Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa consists of the Sahel and the Horn of Africa in the north (yellow), the tropical savannas (light green) and the tropical rainforests (dark green) of Equatorial Africa, and the arid Kalahari Basin (yellow) and the "Mediterranean" south coast (olive) of Southern Africa. The numbers shown correspond to the dates of all Iron Age artifacts associated with the Bantu expansion.

Sub-Saharan Africa as a geographical term refers to the area of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. A political definition of Sub-Saharan Africa, instead, covers all African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara (excluding Sudan).^[2] It contrasts with North Africa, which is considered a part of the Arab world.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

The Sahel is the transitional zone between the Sahara and the tropical savanna (the Sudan region) and forest-savanna mosaic to the south. Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros and Mauritania are geographically part of Sub-Saharan Africa, but also part of the Arab world.^{[3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11]}

Since probably the 5.9 kiloyear event,^[12][13] 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.^[14]

Etymology[link]

Historic ethnographic map depicting the Sudan region and its eastern equivalent Zanj in brown tones. The contrasting Al-Habash and Barbara regions are shown in shaded blue.

The Sub-Saharan region is often referred to as Black Africa,^[15] in reference to its numerous black populations. However, geographers historically divided the region into several distinct ethnographic sections based on each area's respective inhabitants.^[16]

Commentators in Arabic in the medieval period used the general term bilâd as-sûdân ("Land of the Blacks") for the vast Sudan region, extending from the coast of West Africa to present-day Sudan.^[17] Its equivalent in the southeast was Zanj ("Country of the Blacks"), which was situated in the vicinity of the Great Lakes region.^[17][16] Also transliterated as Zenj or Zinj, it was inhabited by Bantu-speaking peoples called the Zanj.^[18][19][16]

The geographers drew an explicit ethnographic distinction between the Sudan region and its analogue Zanj, with the area to their extreme east on the Red Sea coast in the Horn of Africa.^[16] In modern-day Ethiopia was Al-Habash or Abyssinia,^[20] which was inhabited by the Habash or Abyssinians, who were the forebears of the Habesha.^[21] In northern Somalia was Barbara or the Bilad al-Barbar ("Land of the Berbers"), which was inhabited by the Eastern Baribah or Barbaroi, as the ancestors of the Somalis were referred to by medieval Arab and ancient Greek geographers, respectively.^[16][18][22]

The terminology Black Africa and Sub-Sahara Africa is considered by some as pejorative and a vestige of colonialism, which described Africa in European terms of homogeneity.^[23] Some note that Sub-Saharan Africa neither exists linguistically (Afro-Asiatic languages), ethnically (Tuareg), politically (African Union, Arab league), in terms of religion (Islam), nor economically (CEN-SAD). The African Union also prefers to see the Sahara as a bridge, not a barrier.^{[8][24][25][26][27]}

Climate zones and ecoregions[link]

Climate zones of Africa, showing the ecological break between the desert climate of the Sahara and the Horn of Africa (red), the semi-arid Sahel (orange) and the tropical climate of Central and Western Africa (blue). Southern Africa has a transition to semi-tropical or temperate climates (green), and more desert or semi-arid regions, centered on Namibia and Botswana.

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.

• The Sahel shoots across all of Africa at a latitude of about 10° to 15° N. Countries that include parts of the Sahara proper in their northern territories and parts of the Sahel in their southern region include Mali, Niger and Chad.
• South of the Sahel, there is a belt of savanna, (Guinean forest-savanna mosaic, Northern Congolian forest-savanna mosaic) widening to include most of South Sudan and Ethiopia in the east (East Sudanian savanna).
• The Horn of Africa includes arid semi-desert along its coast, contrasting with savannah and moist broadleaf forests in the interior of Ethiopia.
• Africa's tropical rainforest stretches along the southern coast of West Africa and dominates Central Africa (the Congo) west of the African Great Lakes
• The Eastern Miombo woodlands are an ecoregion of Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique.
• The Serengeti ecosystem is located in northwestern Tanzania and extends to southwestern Kenya.
• The Kalahari Basin includes the Kalahari Desert surrounded by a belt of semi-desert.
• The Bushveld is a tropical savanna ecoregion of Southern Africa.
• The Karoo is a semi-desert in western South Africa.

History[link]

Nubia in present day Sudan and other regions south of Egypt, in Sub-Saharan Africa, was referred to as "Ethiopia" or "Aethiopia" ("land of the burnt face") by the Greeks.^[28]

Prehistory[link]

According to paleontology, early hominid skull anatomy was similar to their close cousins, the great African forest apes, gorilla and chimpanzee, but they had adopted a bipedal locomotion and freed hands giving them a crucial advantage enabling them to live in both forested areas and on the open savanna at a time when Africa was drying up, with savanna encroaching on forested areas. This occurred 10 million to 5 million years ago.^[29]

By 3 million years ago several australopithecine (southern apes) hominid species had developed throughout southern, eastern and central Africa. They were tool users, not makers of tools. About 2.3 million BCE, the next major evolutionary step occurred when primitive stone tools were used to scavenge kills made by other predators and harvest carrion for their bones and marrow. In hunting, H. habilis was probably not capable of competing with large predators and was more prey than hunter, although H. habilis probably did steal eggs from nests and may have been able to catch small game and weakened larger prey (cubs and older animals). The tools were classed as Oldowan.^[30]

Around 1.8 million years ago Homo ergaster first appeared in the fossil record in Africa. From Homo ergaster, Homo erectus (upright man) evolved 1.5 million years ago. Some of the earlier representatives of this species were small brained and used primitive stone tools, much like H. habilis. The brain later grew in size, and H. erectus eventually developed a more complex stone tool technology called the Acheulean. Possibly the first hunters, H. erectus mastered the art of making fire and were the first hominids to leave Africa, colonizing the entire Old World and perhaps later giving rise to Homo floresiensis. Although some recent writers suggest that H. georgicus, a H. habilis descendant, was the first and most primitive hominid to ever live outside Africa, many scientists consider H. georgicus to be an early and primitive member of the H. erectus species.^[31][32]

The fossil record shows Homo sapiens living in southern and eastern Africa at least 100,000 and possibly 150,000 years ago. Around 50,000 - 60,000 years ago their expansion out of Africa launched the colonization of our planet by modern human-beings. By 10,000 BCE, Homo sapiens has spread to all corners of the world Their migration is indicated by linguistic, cultural and genetic evidence.^[30][33][34]

After the Sahara became a desert, it did not present a totally impenetrable barrier for travelers between north and south because of the application of animal husbandry towards carrying water, food, and supplies across the desert. Prior to the introduction of the camel,^[35] the use of oxen, mule, and horses for desert crossing was common, and trade routes followed chains of oases that were strung across the desert. The trans-saharan trade was in full motion by 500 BCE with Carthage being a major economic force for its establishment.^[36][37][38] It is thought that the camel was first brought to Egypt after the Persian Empire conquered Egypt in 525 BCE, although large herds did not become common enough in North Africa for camels to be the pack animal of choice for the trans-saharan trade.^[39]

Eastern Africa[link]

Historical African states and empires

Sphinx of Nubian Emperor Taharqa

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. Kush and Nubia at her greatest phase is considered Sub-Saharan Africa's oldest urban civilization. Nubia was a major source of gold for the ancient world. Nubians built famous structures like the Deffufa, mud brick temples similar to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia in material and function.^[40] They built numerous pyramids. Sudan, the site of ancient Nubia, has more pyramids than anywhere in the world.^[41]

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 BCE, it rose to prominence by the 1st century AD. It was succeeded by the Zagwe dynasty in the 10th century. Aksumites carved, constructed monolithic stelaes to cover the graves of their kings like King Ezana's Stele and churches out of solid rock, like Church of St. George at Lalibela.

In ancient Somalia, city-states flourished such as Opone, Mosyllon and Malao that competed with the Sabaeans, Parthians and Axumites for the wealthy Indo-Greco-Roman trade.^[42]

Stone city of Gondershe, Somalia.

In the Middle Ages, several powerful Somali empires dominated the regional trade including the Ajuuraan State, which excelled in hydraulic engineering and fortress building,^[43] the Sultanate of Adal, whose General Ahmed Gurey was the first African commander in history to use cannon warfare on the continent during Adal's conquest of the Ethiopian Empire,^[44] and the Gobroon Dynasty, whose military dominance forced governors of the Omani empire north of the city of Lamu to pay tribute to the Somali Sultan Ahmed Yusuf.^[45] In the late 19th century after the Berlin conference had ended, European empires sailed with their armies to the Horn of Africa. The imperial armies in Somalia alarmed the Dervish leader Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, who gathered Somali soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and began one of the longest colonial resistance wars ever.

Fasilides Castle, Ethiopia.

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 helped birth of Swahili culture. Developed from an outgrowth of indigenous Bantu settlements,^[46] the Swahili Coast of Kenya, Tanzania and northern Mozambique was part of the east African region which traded with Persia, China, the Arab world, and India especially for ivory and slaves.

In 1498, Vasco da Gama became the first European to reach the East African coast, and by 1525, the Portuguese had subdued the entire Swahili seaboard. Portuguese control lasted until the early 18th century when Arabs from Oman established a foothold in the region. Assisted by Somalis, Ottomans and Omani Arabs,^[47] the indigenous coastal dwellers succeeded in driving the Portuguese from the area north of the Ruvuma River by the early 18th century.

Western Africa[link]

Nok sculpture, terracotta, Louvre

The Bantu expansion is a major migration movement originating in West Africa around 2500 BCE, reaching East and Central Africa by 1000 BCE 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 BCE and AD 200.

There were a number of medieval empires 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.^[48] They built stone structures like in Tichit but mainly built in adobe. The Great Mosque of Djenne is most reflective of Sahelian architecture and is the largest adobe building in the world.

In the forest zone, several states and empires emerged. The Ashanti Empire arose in the 16th century in modern day Ghana and Ivory Coast. The oldest kingdom in Nigeria, the Kingdom of Nri, was established by the Igbo in the 11th century. Nri was famous for having a priest-king who wielded no military power. Nri was a rare African state as it never dealt in the trade of slaves. All slaves and outcasts who sought refuge in their territory were freed. Other major states included the kingdoms of Ifẹ and Oyo in the western block of Nigeria which 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 being Sungbo's Eredo. Another prominent kingdom in southwestern Nigeria was the Kingdom of Benin 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 is the largest man-made structure in the world.

In the 18th century, the Oyo and the Aro confederacy were responsible for most of the slaves exported from Nigeria, with Great Britain, France and Portugal shipping the majority of the slaves.^[51] 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[link]

Nzinga Mbande, queen of the Ndongo and Matamba.

During the 14th century, the Luba Kingdom in southeast Congo came about under a king whose political authority came from religious spiritual legitimacy. The kingdom controlled agriculture and trade in the region of salt and iron from the north and copper from the Zambian/Congo copper belt.^[52] Rival kingship factions which 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 16th century. 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 received legitimacy by claiming descent from the Lunda dynasties.^[52]

The Kingdom of Kongo existed from the Atlantic west to the Kwango river to the east. During the 15th century, the Bakongo farming community was united with the capital at Mbanza Kongo, under the king title, Manikongo.^[52] 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[link]

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 displacing and absorbing the original Khoisan 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.

Great Zimbabwe: Tower in the Great Enclosure.

Monomotapa was a medieval kingdom (c. 1250–1629) that used to exist between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers of Southern Africa, in the territory of modern-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Famous are 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 prevent it from falling into the hands of the French but also 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 southeastern 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.^[53]

Demographics[link]

Life expectancy has fallen drastically in Southern Africa since the 1990s as a result of HIV.

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 caused by 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.^[54]

The population of Sub-Saharan Africa was 800 million in 2007.^[55] The current growth rate is 2.3%. The UN predicts for the region a population of nearly 1.5 billion in 2050.^[56]

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.^[57]

Sub-Saharan Africa has a very high child mortality rate. While in 2002, 17% of children died before the age of five,^[58] by 2007 this rate had declined to 15%.^[59] The leading cause of death was malaria infection.^[54]

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Africa has grown at an average of 146% annually over the last 22 years to reach US$36 billion in 2007, while trade between Africa and the rest of the world (particularly Asia) has been steadily increasing. Bilateral trade between China and Africa jumped 45% in 2008 to reach US$107 billion, the bulk of which went to Sub-Saharan Africa.

Country	Population	Area	Literacy(M/F)[60]	GDP per Capita[60]	Trans(Rank/Score)[61]	Life(Exp.)[60]	HDI	EODBR/SAB[62]	PFI(RANK/MARK)
Angola	12,799,293	1,246,700	NA	1070	162/1.9	42.4	0.486	169/165	119/36,50
Burundi	8,988,091	27,830	67.3%/52.2%	101	168/1.8	49	0.316	176/130	103/29,00
Democratic Republic of the Congo	68,692,542	2,345,410	80.9%/54.1%	91	162/11.9	46.1	0.286	182/152	146/53,50
Rwanda	10,473,282	26,338	71.4%/59.8%	263	89/3.3	46.8	0.429	67/11	157/64,67
São Tomé and Príncipe	212,679	1,001	92.2%/77.9%	N/A	111/2.8	65.2	0.509	180/140	NA
Cameroon	18,879,301	475,440	77%/59.8%	687	146/2.2	50.3	0.482	171/174	109/30,50
Central African Republic	4,511,488	622,984	64.8%/33.5%	22	158/2.8	44.4	0.343	183/159	80/17,75
Chad	10,329,208	1,284,000	40.8%/12.8%	266	175/1.6	50.6	0.328	178/182	132/44,50
Republic of the Congo	3,700,000	342,000	90.5%/ 79.0%	1,145	162/1.9	54.8	0.533	N/A	116/34,25
Equatorial Guinea	633,441	28,051	93.4%/80.3%	7,470	168/1.8	51.1	0.537	170/178	158/65,50
Gabon	1,514,993	267,667	88.5%/79.7%	4,263	106/2.9	56.7	0.674	158/152	129/43,50
Kenya	39,002,772	582,650	77.7%/70.2	440	146/2.2	53.4	0.509	95/124	96/25,00
Tanzania	41,048,532	945,087	77.5%/62.2%	339	126/2.6	51.9	0.466	131/120	NA/15,50
Uganda	32,369,558	236,040	76.8%/57.7	274	130/2.5	50.7	0.446	112/129	86/21,50
Sudan	31,894,000	1,886,068	71.1%/51.8%	489	176/1.5	58.1	0.408	154/118	148/54,00
South Sudan	8,260,490	619,745
Djibouti	516,055	23,000	N/A	817	111/2.8	54.5	0.430	163/177	110/31,00
Eritrea	5,647,168	121,320	N/A	160	126/2.6	57.3	0.349	175/181	175/115,50
Ethiopia	85,237,338	1,127,127	50%/28.8%	161	120/2.7	52.5	0.363	107/93	140/49,00
Somalia	9,832,017	637,657	N/A	N/A	180/1.1	47.7	N/A	N/A	164/77,50
Botswana	1,990,876	600,370	80.4%/81.8%	4,511	37/5.6	49.8	0.633	45/83	62/15,50
Comoros	752,438	2,170	N/A	382	143/2.3	63.2	0.433	162/168	82/19,00
Lesotho	2,130,819	30,355	73.7%/90.3%	528	89/3.3	42.9	0.450	130/131	99/27,50
Madagascar	19,625,000	587,041	76.5%/65.3%	238	99/3.0	59	0.480	134/12	134/45,83
Malawi	14,268,711	118,480	N/A	145	89/3.3	47.6	0.400	132/128	62/15,50
Mauritius	1,284,264	2,040	88.2%/80.5%	4,522	42/5.4	73.2	0.728	17/10	51/14,00
Mozambique	21,669,278	801,590	N/A	330	130/2.5	42.5	0.322	135/96	82/19,00
Namibia	2,108,665	825,418	86.8%/83.6%	2166	56/4.5	52.5	0.625	66/123	35/9,00
22x20px Seychelles	87,476	455	91.4%/92.3%	7,005	54/4.8	72.2	0.773	111/81	72/16,00
South Africa	49,052,489	1,219,912	N/A	3,562	55/4.7	50.7	0.619	34/67	33/8,50
Swaziland	1,123,913	17,363	80.9%/78.3%	1,297	79/3.6	40.8	0.522	115/158	144/52,50
Zambia	11,862,740	752,614	N/A	371	99/3.0	41.7	0.430	90/94	97/26,75
Zimbabwe	11,392,629	390,580	92.7%/86.2%	N/A	146/2.2	42.7	0.376	159/155	136/46,50
Benin	8,791,832	112,620	47.9%/42.3%	323	106/2.9	56.2	0.427	172/155	97/26,75
Mali	12,666,987	1,240,000	32.7%/15.9%	290	111/2.8	53.8	0.359	156/139	38/8,00
Burkina Faso	15,730,977	274,200	25.3%	1,360	79/3.6	51	0.331	150/116	N/A
Cape Verde
Côte d'Ivoire
Gambia
Ghana
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo

GDP Per Capital (2006 in dollars($)), Life(Exp.) (Life Expectancy 2006), Literacy(Male/Female 2006), Trans (Transparency 2009), HDI (Human Development Index), EODBR (Ease of Doing Business Rank June 2008 through May 2009), SAB (Starting a Business June 2008 through May 2009), PFI (Press Freedom Index 2009)

Economy[link]

Energy and power[link]

Fifty percent of Africa is rural with no access to electricity. Africa generates 47 GW of electricity, less than 0.6% of global market share. Many countries are besieged by power shortages.^[63]

Because of rising prices in commodities such as coal and oil, thermal sources of energy are proving to be too expensive for power generation. 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% has been explored. The failure to exploit its full energy potential is largely due to significant underinvestment, as at least 4 times as much (approximately $23 billion a year) and what is currently spent is invested in operating highcost power systems and not on expanding the infrastructure.^[64]

African governments are taking advantage of the readily available water 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, India 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.^[65][66]

With electrification numbers, Sub-Saharan Africa with access to the Sahara and being in the tropical zones has massive potential for solar photovoltaic electrical potential.^[67] Six hundred million people could be served with electricity based on its photovoltaic potential.^[68] 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 in December 2003.^[69]

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is developing an integrated, continent-wide energy strategy.^[64] This has been funded by, amongst others, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund.^[64] These projects must be:^[64]

• sustainable
• involve a cross-border dimension and/or have a regional impact
• involve public and private capital
• contribute to poverty alleviation and economic development
• involve at least one country in sub-Saharan Africa.

Media[link]

Radio is the major source of information in Sub-Saharan Africa.^[70] Cell phone usage in Sub-saharan has brought about a revolution. Average coverage stands at more than a third of the population. Countries such as Gabon, Seychelles, and South Africa boast almost 100% penetration. Only five countries—Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia—still have a penetration of less than 10%. Broadband penetration outside of South Africa has been limited where it is exorbitantly expensive.^[71][72] Access to the internet via cell phones is on the rise.^[73]

Television is the second major source of information.^[70] Because of power shortages, the spread of television viewing has been limited. Eight percent have television, a total of 62 million. But those in the television industry view the region as an untapped green market. Digital television and pay for service are on the rise.^[74]

Infrastructure[link]

According to researchers at the Overseas Development Institute, the lack of infrastructure in many developing countries represents one of the most significant limitations to economic growth and achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).^[64] Less than 40% 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 averages just below 2% of GDP with varying degree among countries. This compares with 1% of GDP that is typical in industrialized countries, and 2–3% 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.^[75] Infrastructure investments and maintenance can be very expensive, especially in such as areas as landlocked, rural and sparsely populated countries in Africa.^[64]

It has been argued that infrastructure investments contributed to more than half of Africa's improved growth performance between 1990 and 2005 and increased investment is necessary to maintain growth and tackle poverty.^[64] The returns to investment in infrastructure are very significant, with on average 30-40% returns for telecommunications (ICT) investments, over 40% for electricity generation and 80% for roads.^[64]

In Africa, it is argued that in order to meet the MDGs by 2015 infrastructure investments would need to reach about 15%t of GDP (around $93 billion a year).^[64] Currently, the source of financing varies significantly across sectors.^[64] Some sectors are dominated by state spending, others by overseas development aid (ODA) and yet others by private investors.^[64] In sub-Saharan Africa, the state spends around $9.4 billion out of a total of $24.9 billion.^[64] In irrigation, SSA states represent almost all spending; in transport and energy a majority of investment is state spending; in ICT and water supply and sanitation, the private sector represents the majority of capital expenditure.^[64] Overall, aid, the private sector and non-OECD financiers between them exceed state spending.^[64] The private sector spending alone equals state capital expenditure, though the majority is focused on ICT infrastructure investments.^[64] External financing increased from $7 billion (2002) to $27 billion (2009). China, in particular, has emerged as an important investor.^[64]

Oil and minerals[link]

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^[76] as well as Chromium. About 42% of world reserves and about 75% of the world reserve base of chromium are located in South Africa.^[77] South Africa is the largest producer of platinum, with 80% of the total world's annual mine production and 88% of the world's platinum reserve.^[78] Sub-saharan Africa produces 33% of the world's bauxite with Guinea as the major supplier.^[79] Zambia is a major producer of copper.^[80] Democratic Republic of Congo is a major source of coltan. Production from Congo is very small but has 80% of proven reserves.^[81] Sub-saharan Africa is a major producer of gold, producing up to 30% of global production. Major suppliers are South Africa, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Guinea, and Mali. South Africa had been first in the world in terms of gold production since 1905, but in 2007 it moved to second place, according to GFMS, the precious metals consultancy.^[82] Uranium is major commodity from the region. Significant suppliers are Niger, Namibia, and South Africa. Namibia was the number one supplier from Sub-Saharan Africa in 2008.^[83] The region produces 49% of the world's diamonds.

By 2015, it is estimated that 25% of North American oil will be from Sub-Saharan Africa, ahead of the Middle East. Sub-Saharan Africa has been the focus of an intense race for oil by the West and China, India, and other emerging economies, even having only 10% of proven oil reserves, less than the Middle East. This race has been referred to as the second Scramble for Africa. The reasons are all economic. Most Sub-Saharan oil is off the coast of host countries. Transportation cost is low. No pipelines has to be laid as in Central Asia. If political turmoil hits host country, production does not stop since operation is off-shore. Sub-Saharan oil is viscous and has very low sulfur content. This requires less refining and is less costly. New sources of oil are being located in Sub-Saharan Africa more frequently than anywhere else. Of all new sources of oil, 1/3 are in Sub-Saharan Africa.^[84]

Agriculture[link]

Sub-Saharan Africa has more variety of grains than anywhere in the world. Between 13,000 and 11,000 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.^[85]

Numerous crops have been domesticated in the region and spread to other parts of the world. These crops included sorghum, castor beans, coffee, cotton^[86] 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.^[85][87]

Domesticated animals include the guinea fowl and the donkey.

Agriculture represents 20% to 30% of GDP and 50% of exports. In some cases, 60% to 90% of the labor force are employed in agriculture.^[88] Most agricultural activity 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 is a strong advocate and donor to this cause. Biotechnology and GM crops have met resistance both by natives and environmental groups.^[89]

Cash crops include cotton, coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, and tobacco.^[90]

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.^[91] There is such international interest in Sub-Saharan agriculture, that the World Bank increased its financing of African agricultural programs to $1.3 billion in the 2011 fiscal year.^[92] Recently, there has been a trend to purchase large tracts of land in Sub-Sahara for agricultural use by developing countries. Early in 2009, 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.^[93]

Education[link]

Forty percent of African scientists live in OECD countries, predominately in Europe, the United States and Canada.^[94] This has been described as an African brain drain. Even with the drain, enrollments in Sub-Saharan African universities tripled between 1991 and 2005, expanding at an annual rate of 8.7%, which is one of the highest regional growth rates in the world. In the last 10 to 15 years interest in pursuing university level degrees abroad has increased. In some OECD countries, like the United States, Sub-Saharan Africans are the most educated immigrant group.^[94]

Sub-Saharan African countries spent an average of 0.3% of their GDP on science and technology on in 2007. This represents an increase from US$1.8 billion in 2002 to US$2.8 billion in 2007, a 50% increase in spending.^[95][96]

Health care[link]

Map of Africa indicating Human Development Index (2004). All 22 countries ranking below 0.5 in the report on 2005 were in Sub-Saharan Africa. The highest value is that of Gabon at 0.677.

In 1987, the Bamako Initiative conference organized by the World Health Organization was held in Bamako, the capital of Mali, and helped reshape the health policy of Sub-Saharan Africa.^[97] 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.^[98][99]

As of October 2006, many governments face difficulties in implementing policies aimed at tackling the effects of the AIDS pandemic despite a number of mitigating measures.^[100]

Languages and ethnic groups[link]

Linguistically, sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by the Niger–Congo phylum (distribution shown in yellow), with pockets of Khoi-San in Southern Africa, Nilo-Saharan in Central and East Africa, and Afro-Asiatic in the Horn of Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa displays the most linguistic diversity of any region in the world. This is apparent in the number of languages spoken. The region contains over 1,000 languages, which is 1/6 of the world's total.^[90]

With the exception of extinct Sumerian, the Afro-Asiatic has the longest documented history of any language phyla in the world. Egyptian was recorded as early as 3200 BCE. The Semitic branch was recorded as early as 2500 BCE.^[101] The distribution of the Afro-Asiatic languages within Africa is principally concentrated in North Africa and the Horn of Africa. The Chadic branch is distributed in Central and West Africa.^[102] Hausa is a lingua franca in West Africa (Niger, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Cameroon, and Chad).^[103] The Semitic branch of the phylum also has a notable presence in Western Asia, making Afro-Asiatic the only language family spoken in Africa that is also attested outside of the continent. In addition to languages now spoken, Afro-Asiatic includes several ancient languages, such as Ancient Egyptian, Biblical Hebrew and Akkadian.

The Khoi-San languages represent the oldest language family in the world.^[104] They include languages indigenous to Southern and Eastern Africa, though some, such as the Khoi languages, appear to have moved to their current locations not long before the Bantu expansion.^[105] In Southern Africa, their speakers are the Khoi and Bushmen (San), in East Africa, the Sandawe and Hadza.

A San tribesman.

The Niger–Congo phylum is the largest language family in the world in terms of the number of languages (1,436) it contains.^[106] The vast majority of languages of this family are tonal such as Yoruba, Fulani and Igbo. A major branch of Niger–Congo languages is the Bantu family, which covers a greater geographic area than the rest of the family put together. Bantu speakers represent the majority of inhabitants in southern, central and southeastern Africa, though Pygmy, Khoisan (Bushmen), and Nilotic groups, respectively, can also be found in those regions. Bantu-speakers can also be found in parts of Central Africa such as the Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and southern Cameroon. 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 southeastern Africa. 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 evince unique physical traits, and are the indigenous people of southern Africa. Pygmies are the pre-Bantu indigenous peoples of central Africa.

The Nilo-Saharan languages are concentrated in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers. They are principally spoken by Nilotic peoples and are also spoken in Sudan among the Fur, Masalit, Nubian and Zaghawa peoples and in West and Central Africa among the Songhai and Kanuri. The Old Nubian language is also a member of this phylum.

Afrikaner Trekboers in the Karoo of South 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:

Eastern Africa

Tigre women.

Maasai women and children.

• Afro-Asiatic
  • Amharic: 35–42
  • Oromo: 30-35
  • Somali: 15-18
  • Tigrinya: 7
  • Gurage: 2