AFRIGOS has investigated the 'respacing' of Africa associated with a drive towards regional and continental integration, on one hand, and the re-casting of Africa's engagement with the global economy, on the other. This has been accompanied by unprecedented levels of investment in road, rail and port infrastructure along designated transport corridors. Eradicating the obstacles to the free flow of people and goods is the stated priority of governments, Regional Economic Communities, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the EU and China.
Objective 1 was to understand the provenance and reproduction of orthodoxies concerning the nexus between infrastructural development, trade, mobility and border management that converge on the busiest transport corridors in East, West and Southern Africa. By examining the interplay between the competing agendas of actors operating at different scales, we can make sense of the slippage between planning and implementation. Objective 2 was to understand how everyday users of the corridors encounter ‘respacing’ in practice. AFRIGOS has been concerned not merely with the effortless flows that are posited in policy documents, but also with the reality of blockages and stoppages. Objective 3 was to understand the implications for the vitality of port cities, border towns and hubs where livelihoods are deeply rooted in mobility and informality.
The project was pursued through five cross-cutting thematic streams.
Stream 1, Agenda-Setting addressed Objective 1
Stream 2, Peripheral Urbanism, addressing Objective 3, explored why so many of Africa’s fastest growing urban centres are located on or very close to borders, and set out to understand dynamics within port cities.
Stream 3, Border Workers, investigated how livelihoods and work patterns have been reshaped by new infrastructure, IT and spatial configurations such as One-Stop Border Posts. Addressing Objective 2, AFRIGOS considered how border workers seek to increase their margin for manoeuvre
Stream 4, Connective Infrastructure, was concerned with the Objectives 1 and 3, and investigated the financing, construction and operation of corridor infrastructure.
Stream 5, People and Goods in Motion, spoke to Objectives 2 and 3, as it captured the nuances of mobility and stoppage. It targeted the truckers and transport companies that ply the long-distance routes, the petty traders who shuttle across the border, and passengers.
