Detecting the sensitive spots of the African interurban transport network

Abstract

Transport systems are vulnerable to disruption. This is particularly true in Africa, where there are large areas with few highways and heightened risk of violence. Here we attempt to estimate the costs of violent events on African transport in order to understand the way that it may be limiting integration between regions. In the absence of detailed data on trade or migration, we quantify the cost of violence by relating observed incidents to imputed spatial interaction between cities. We produce indices representing the expected intensity of violent events $μ$ and the expected strength of interaction $ν$ between cities in the African interurban network. We estimate the intensity of conflict in a city and, considering the network of all highways on the continent, use a gravity model to generate flows between pairs of cities. We systematically compare $μ$ to $ν$ and classify areas according to their combined impact and intensity. Results show that certain cities and roads in the network contain outsize risk to Africa's transportation infrastructure. These cities have a high propensity for subsequent violence against civilians, and given their role in the network, they also substantially affect regional connectivity and thus economic integration. According to our model, removing just ten edges due to conflict would require rerouting 32$\%$ of trips. The top 100 edges where violence is likely to happen account for 17$\%$ of all trips. We find that cities with the highest $μ-ν$ risk are typically small and medium size with large degree, meaning they act as hubs. Vulnerable areas tend to be characterised by the presence of terrorist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria or Al Shabaab in Somalia.