It is published periodically by the Africa Technical Department on behalf of the Region. The World Bank's approach to sector and structural adjustment operations have tended to largely ignore the crucial role of transport in improving a country's economic performance and the well-being of its population. It is necessary, in order to design appropriate policy interventions, to understand the way in which transport interacts with the economy. It helps SSA governments to define much-needed policy reform and assists in their implementation.
Transport helps an economy in two basic ways.
On a national level, improved transport may increase trade and competition from imports, which in turn may lead to improved production efficiency, putting downward pressure on consumer prices and reducing seasonal fluctuations in price. In urban areas, the price and quality of transportation and other types of infrastructure significantly affect firms' decisions about where to locate and ultimately affect firms' output. In Kinshasa,Zaire, for example,which has expanded fourfold physically since independence, a deteriorating infrastructure forces people living in districts developed after 1960 to walk long distances to reach a bus or their workplace. This affects the productivity of workers and the wages they are likely to demand. Transportation costs are a significant part of total costs, affecting the survival of small firms and the entry of new firms into an industry or market.