Search

Africa's oil trade plays a vital role in the global oil market, but it is more vulnerable compared to other regions due to its resource dependency. This study examines the evolution of African countries' oil trade in the context of the changing global oil market, aiming to shed light on the characteristics of resource-dependent oil trade in these areas. By utilizing global oil trade data, an oil trade network of African countries is constructed for the period from 2000 to 2020. The findings reveal that the comparative advantages of most African countries are primarily determined by their abundant resources, with the Gulf of Guinea and North Africa exhibiting greater revealed comparative advantages. However, the over-reliance on primary product exports leaves African countries susceptible to unpredictable changes in the global oil market. Furthermore, due to their single industrial structure, the control over resource flows within the trade network is significantly low for African oil-producing nations. The oil trade of African countries has formed distinct trade communities, including the Gulf of Guinea and North America, North Africa and European countries, and Angola, Sudan, and East Asian countries. These communities exhibit relative independence and self-reinforcement, influenced by factors such as the timing of market entry, international economic trends, energy demand and transformations in consumer countries, and geopolitical risks. • The resources determine most African countries' advantages. • African countries have different preferences in selecting trade partners. • African countries' trade communities are independent and self-reinforcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Africa has been undergoing a rapid urbanization process, which is critical to the achievement of the 11th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG11). Using population density data from LandScan, we proposed a population density-based thresholding method to generate urban land and urban population data in Africa from 2001 to 2019, which were further applied to detect the spatiotemporal characteristics of Africa's urbanization. The results showed that urban land and urban population have both grown rapidly in Africa, which increased by about 5.92% and 4.91%, respectively. The top three countries with the most intense urbanization process in Africa are Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia. The coupling relationship index of urban land expansion and population growth was 0.76 in Africa during 2001–2019. Meanwhile, the total proportion of uncoordinated development types at the provincial level was getting higher, which indicated an uncoordinated relationship between urban land expansion and population growth in Africa. Cropland, grassland, rural land, and forests were the most land-use types occupied by urban expansion. The proportion of cropland, grassland, and forests occupied was getting higher and higher from 2001 to 2019. The extensive urban land use may have an impact on the environmental and economic benefits brought by urbanization, which needs further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]