Bridging the Development Gap: Case Studies

• population of approximately 31 million (2008), equivalent land space of the UK and good resources of copper, cobalt and hydro-electric power are all factors that should make Uganda a wealthy country- but it's not 
• GDP per capita £1454 compared to UK's $33,238- because it's economy is almost entirely based on exports of cash crops that aren't very expensive because of low tax

life expectation & health:- 

• infant mortality rates for the poorest 20% in Uganda is 106 per 1000 births & skilled health workers only attend 20% of the births
• 24% of Ugandan families are undernourished
• average life expectancy is 49 years compared with the Uk's 79 years- only 60% of the population have access to clean water 

education:- 

• only 17% of girls attend secondary school, only 1 university place for every 30,000 students, families that can afford school fees usually only send boys
• girls normally married by 15 and have a high fertility rate of 6.8 children per woman

• Africa's wealthiest country, largest reserves of gold and diamonds & is popular with tourists
• has some of the worst social problems in Africa- protests (aimed at the African National Congress- ANC, which has been in power for 9 yrs) to do with unemployment and lack of housing despite government promises
• statistics from the government show that disparities between the rich and poor are still mainly on racial terms rich (mostly white) and poor (mostly black)
• increase in crime rate- 18,000 murders per year & also and increase in other serious crimes such as car jacking at gunpoint
• when the ANC came into power they concentrated on encouraging investment into the area wich has succeeded and caused a large amount of economic growth- however, it caused a lot of capital-intensive industries to expand, not creating many jobs for the public | also companies have cut back on labour costs to increase their profits- contributing to unemployment rates 

apartheid:- afrikaan word for segregation- between the whit and black population from (legally from) 1948- 1994

apartheid dates back to colonialism under the Dutch Africaners and the British- the idea that the white people and in particular white Europeans were superior, led to the two Boer Wars in the late 19th and early 20th century

white minority continued to rule S.Africa and continued deny rights to the black people:

• banned black people from skilled jobs and forced them to live in African 'reserves' where land quality and mineral wealth was poorer than the land owned by the whites
• whites lived separately- enjoyed a high quality of life and attended separate clubs, churches and schools
• in 1948 marriages between white and black people were banned byt the Afrikaner National Party
• 1950 Population Registration Act racially classified all South Africans as black, white or coloured and then used this to restrict the movement of the black population

ANC under Nelson Mandela led to the end of the apartheid- imprisoned for 27 years- called for free elections which Mandela and his ANC party won 

there are still major inequalities in S.Africa;

• liberalisation (privatising)of the economy has given the wealthy white minority the means to increase their wealth 
• poor are getting poorer because during the economic transition capital-intensive industry caused higher unemployment rates- doubled and now at 30%
• 50% of Africa's population is under 18 and the economy can't absorb hundreds of thousands school leavers every year 
• exposure to the global market has effected food prices (previously subsidised)- greatest impacts on the poor
• widening differences within ethnic groups- growth of a black middle class & poorer whites have lost state benefits
• cuts in health spending have worsened the impacts of HIV/AIDS

however there have been some major successes:

• ANC has provided housing and water for the poor
• now the whole population has access to clean water- women no longer have to spend hours a day walking to fetch water 

• Bangalore is the centre of new technology, banking, finance and the knowledge economy
• Indian government liberalised the economy in the early 90's which encouraged overseas TNCs to invest e.g. British Airways- out-sourcing- wages in India are 10% of those in London
• operations include: call centres, techical development & support
• highly educated and skilled workers- good quality universities provide graduates ready for the tech industry
• Bangalore has set up designated areas such as 'Electronic city'- attractive due to their low tax and cheap labour
• this growth in the knowledge economy has provided lots of jobs- in the new Knowledge city it is estimated that 8 million jobs will be created 

impacts of growth:- Bangalore has the highest average incomes in India, displaying several indicators of increasing affluence e.g. new shopping malls, new luxury car showrooms, new bars and cafes, need for workers, taxi firms booming 

future challenges:- building affordable housing- too expensive to live in Bangalore for many, trasnport systems need to be improved, energy insecurity (synoptic link) & should the international airport be enlarged?