北部非洲

離開了冰天雪地的北歐，我們要飛到充滿沙漠風情的北部非洲囉（簡稱北非）！在聯合國的定義下，北非大致涵蓋撒哈拉沙漠以北的區域，加上主未定的西撒哈拉。過去幾十年，北非國家的發展普遍優於非洲其他地區。偷 懶的說法是因為和歐洲比較近（方便貿易），以及北非的種族和信仰較單純（大多為阿拉伯國家），不像南部國家一堆部落衝突。但當然，這只是其中幾個原因而已。 北非不是沒有困擾。埃及和蘇丹持續南下和衣索比亞就復興大壩的爭議進行磋商；利比亞內戰打不停，更進而成為四周國家和歐洲難民危機的源頭；摩洛哥和阿爾及利亞跑去介入西撒哈拉主權，兩國在不屬於自己的領土上對峙。另外近年來南非崛起，北非各國也開啟了他們的南向計畫，希望進入南非市場。北非的區域整合還未成型，南非緊追在後，是時候展開南北合作了。

After learning about the snowy Nordic countries, we are about to set foot on the desert lands of North Africa. According to the UN's definition, North Africa is a region roughly encompassing the area north of the Sahara Desert, but including the Western Sahara, an area where its sovereignty remains unresolved. In the past few decades, the development of North African countries in general is better than those in other African areas. A superficial explanation could be that this region is closer to Europe (convenient for trading) and has higher homogeneity of race and faith (mostly Arabian countries), unlike Sub-Saharan African countries which are torn by frequent tribal conflicts. But of course, there are many other factors contributing to its development. 

North Africa has its own problems. Egypt and Sudan continue to negotiate with Ethiopia in the south over the controversial Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Libya has become the root cause of the refugee crisis in neighboring countries and Europe due to its ongoing civil war. Both Morocco and Algeria are involved in Western Sahara sovereignty issues with both states in a stand-off in a territory that belongs to neither of these countries. Seeing the rise of South Africa in recent years, North African countries kicked off southbound initiatives, attempting to make inroads into the South African market. Regional integration has not yet taken form in North Africa. With South Africa closely tailing behind, it’s high time to start North-South collaboration.