# 2 Surface transport

Surface transport of goods in Africa is much slower and costlier than elsewhere in the developing world. Across the developing world, freight can typically be moved around at rates of between $0.01 and $0.04 per tonne-kilometer (tonne-km). A recent study of road transport costs and prices across Africa found rates of between $0.05 and $0.13 per tonne-km—well above the global benchmark. It also found that despite the relatively good condition of the road corridors, freight movements were astonishingly slow when all delays were taken into account. At an effective speed of 6–12 kilometers per hour, they did not move much faster than a horse and buggy (table 2.1).

**Table 2.1 Relative performance of transport corridors in Africa**

|Corridor|Length<br>(kms)|Road in good<br>condition (%)|Trade density (US$ millions per km)|Implicit velocity<sup>*</sup><br>(kmph)|Freight tariff<br>(US$ per tonne-km)|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Western|2,050|72|8.2|6.0|0.08|
|Central|3,280|49|4.2|6.1|0.13|
|Eastern|2,845|82|5.7|8.1|0.07|
|**Southern**|**5,000**|**100**|**27.9**|**11.6**|**0.05**|

_Source:_ Teravaninthorn and Raballand 2009.

_Note:_<sup>*</sup> Implicit velocity is the total distance divided by the total time taken to make the trip, including time spent stationary at ports, border crossings, and other stops.

The volume of goods carried on southern African corridors per kilometer is significantly higher than all other parts of Africa—as much as three times higher than West Africa, the region with the secondlargest traffic volumes. This suggests that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region benefits from scale economies in regional road freight transportation to a greater extent than is possible in other parts of Africa.

Transit corridors in southern Africa perform significantly better than in other parts of Africa. Road freight tariffs, at 5 cents per tonne-km in southern Africa, are the lowest in the continent; meanwhile, an effective velocity of 11.6 miles per hour allows goods to move faster than in other parts of the continent. On select corridors in the SADC, such as from Durban to Lusaka, price and performance levels approach those of regions outside Africa. Yet, as will be discussed below, transit times leave much to be desired.

The 2010 Logistics Performance Index (LPI) confirms that the costs associated with overall logistics in southern Africa are lower than those in East and West Africa but marginally higher than those of the average lower-middle-income country in the world.<sup>2</sup> Within southern Africa one finds variation at the country level. South Africa has logistics systems that are comparable with those of Europe, but other countries, by virtue of being island states or landlocked, have very low connectivity. Namibia and Angola are among the worst performers globally. Logistics in southern Africa also suffer from high import costs, the second highest in the world after West Africa (World Bank 2010a; 2010b).

> 2 LPI is an annual survey of international freight forwarders. The survey aggregates the perception of survey respondents into an index that integrates several factors—transport, warehousing, border clearance, and so on—in order to rank them, and rates global logistics for trade.