Perhaps more than any other Pan-African political or economic unification, I would think that a canal network linking the Congo, Zambezi and (maybe) Nile Rivers would be the biggest economic coup for the African continent.
Inland canals are perhaps one of the biggest reasons for the ridiculous amount of power of the United States. The Eastern portion of the United States is technically an island surrounded by ocean and sea on one side, rivers and canals on the other.
So linking the Congo to the Zambezi would essentially make southern Africa an island separate from the rest of the continent. Same for eastern Africa from Egypt to northern Mozambique if the Congo is linked to the Nile.
But if it is ever built, I have questions:
- what inland cities would grow from this waterway? (DR Congo has quite a few inland port cities)
- what environmental impact would likely happen?
- how much traffic would it divert from the Suez Canal, or around the Cape of Good Hope, for those ships which want to cross into the Indian from the Atlantic?
- how would this impact agriculture?
- how would this impact mining?
- how would this impact hydroelectric power, especially with Kariba Dam?
I’ve found some articles on the subject:
- Maritime Executive
- 2019 BusinessLive article on a proposal from Zambia
I’ve also had fantasy/scifi ideas about what Africa would look like with more islands (and maybe archipelagos) like East and Southeast Asia. Maybe this is the closest that we can possibly get to that idea.
For the Southern portion, I would call it “SADC Island”, after the Southern African Development Community, of which all the countries touching the – Angola, DR Congo, Zambia
