Niger and Algeria
Hello
everyone!
This trip
is going so fast! We’re already at our second stop: Niger and Algeria. Let me tell you something about the economy
in Niger. It’s absolutely unbelievable how much farming they do over here. And
with much I mean about 90% of the workforce! They farm a lot of cowpeas,
peanuts, millet (a group of highly variable small-seeded grasses)
, sorghum (a sort of grain) and rice. But also cattle is raised such as camels,
donkeys, sheep, goats..
The thing
that makes it very difficult to do trade with Niger is the very limited
transportation network. I mean it’s crazy, they don’t even have a railroad over
there. Even worse they have poor access to the sea. So in my opinion that’s
very bad for the economy in Niger.
Therefore
the annual cost of its imports are usually higher than its exports. The main
imports are food, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum and cereals. The
main exports are uranium ore, livestock products, cowpeas, onions and cotton.
The principal trade partners are France, The US and Nigeria.
Algeria
has, on the contrary of Niger, a very good road network! It is the most dense
road network of the African continent. The length of its highway is approximately
180,000 km long. It also has an East-West Highway which is a highway connecting
the city Annaba and Tlemcen.
Bus and
public taxis are the most common ways for Algerians to transport inside the
cities. The bus stations are always in the big cities so if you want to go
somewhere you have to go to the nearest big city to go to your destination. They
were also very cleaver to integrate a taxi station next to the bus station. So
if there’s no bus connection you can always go with a taxi. Since the bus has
its own fix schedule and you can take the taxi whenever you want to, I prefer
going by taxi. Like that, you know you’ll be on time for every meeting!
Sources:
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw all the cattle! I knew African countries such as Niger were known for its camels, but I don't think I will ever see so much camels again!
ReplyDeleteAnd just Imagine how traumatised we were by the latest camel incident...
And like you said, it is very hard to do trade with Niger, I was happy we had a guide with a car! I couldn't imagine a country without railway, until today..
So much experiences in so little time, what's up next?!