Features
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Feature article -
01 February 2008
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The status of GIS in Africa
01 February 2008
GIS Development
Dr Derek Clarke, Chief Directorate, Surveys & Mapping, South Africa
The developmental needs of Africa are well-known as it battles to achieve the Millenium Development Goals, despite the numerous efforts by national and international development programmes.
It has also been shown that geo-spatial information plays a significant role in development planning (Clarke, 2007). If this is the case then what is the contribution of geo-spatial information and the geo-spatial technologies towards the development programmes in Africa? In an attempt to answer this question a perspective on the status of GIS in Africa is provided.
It is often said that Africa is poorly mapped, that is, there is a paucity of geo-spatial information. To determine whether or not Africa is indeed poorly mapped two projects in the Mapping Africa for Africa (MAFA) initiative have recently been completed through the auspices of the Committee for Development Information's Subcommittee on Geo-information (CODI-Geo) - a structure of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The first project determined, through a user needs analysis, what geo-spatial data constitutes the fundamental geo-spatial datasets for Africa. The second project followed the first to then catalogue the available fundamental geo-spatial datasets in Africa - both in country and external data holdings.
 The geo-spatial datasets mentioned in Table 1 have been determined as the fundamental geo-spatial datasets required to support development in Africa, excluding any socio-economic datasets such as demographic data.
The results of the catalogue of available fundamental geo-spatial datasets in Africa has in part confirmed the fact that Africa is poorly mapped, but has also shown that in part there is a lot of this data available. Much of the data is unreliable in that it is either out of date, having being collected and mapped by the colonial powers prior to the country gaining independence, or is inaccurate. There is also an imbalance in the availability of different datasets, with some datasets, such as main roads and railways, being completed and for others being very poorly represented.
A summary of the extent of available fundamental geo-spatial datasets for African countries is given for a selected number of datasets in Table 2. Of the 54 African countries no contact could be established in the project for two countries, namely Angola and Western Sahara. For a further seven countries only external data sources were indicated, biasing the reports for those countries.
This project highlighted what is probably the biggest challenge in the utilization of geo-spatial data, namely the difficulty in knowing what data exists and how to access it. A lot of time and effort is wasted due to not having the knowledge of the existence of these datasets. The savings that can result from eliminating duplication of data collection can be put to better use.
Human resources capable of making a difference for an African country in its Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) activities are a major challenge. There are a number of individuals who have the necessary expertise and who are championing the cause of geo-spatial information and the power of the geo-spatial technologies, but to be effective there must be a critical mass of expertise in GIS in African countries.
National Mapping Organisations (NMOs) are traditionally regarded as the organisation responsible for the collection and maintenance of the fundamental geo-spatial information, through the traditional mapping programmes, and it is taken for granted that these organisations will be responsible for the National SDI (NSDI). This could be a valid argument. However, many NMOs in Africa are ill-equipped to take the lead role in establishing the NSDI.
Without geo-spatial information there can be no effective development. It is time for African governments to recognise the fact that fundamental geo-spatial information is part of the national asset, underpinning its development programmes. This information must be turned into knowledge, using GIS and other geo-spatial technologies, for the betterment of Africa.
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