SOUTH SUDAN’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE the Juba Bridge preclude trucks from carrying any more than 45 tonnes. The poor-quality infrastructure in the south also makes travel times much longer. For example, poor roads between Yei and Kaya (South Sudan’s border with Uganda) prolong the travel time of the 90 km journey between the two cities to 24 hours (at an average velocity of 4 kmph), increasing the actual and opportunity costs of travel.

The price differential between South Sudan’s freight tariffs and neighboring countries is also explained by the asymmetry of trading patterns between South Sudan and the East African neighbors who are its largest trading partners. The trucking companies that operate in South Sudan are mainly Kenyan or Ugandan companies. These trucks return empty from South Sudan to Uganda, increasing the costs for transport services significantly and creating a de facto barrier to trade. These costs are then transferred to the customer (Yoshino 2010).

Red tape also adds to the costs. Trucks encounter many transit bottlenecks that require formal or informal payments to clear. By way of example, a truck transporting sacks of onions from Kassala to Malakal was subject to tax and fee payments at about 20 different locations, totaling 2,000 SDG ($800) (Yoshino 2009).

In sum, transport costs are genuinely high and passed through to customers, making South Sudan an expensive place to trade. Around 16 percent of the total cost of production in the food-and-beverage sector can be directly attributed to transport (World Bank 2009b)

# **Logistics**

Poor infrastructure, coupled with high costs, contributes to the long times and costs associated with moving freight within and outside South Sudan. Comparing the competitiveness of the key (and potential) trading arteries—Mombasa or Port Sudan to Juba—suggests that Mombasa is the more competitive option for inbound goods to South Sudan, based on times and costs associated with moving along these arteries. Transit times can be broken down into four components: the travel times of moving goods, determined by time of travel based on effective velocity along each corridor; the administrative time spent importing goods to a country; port time, based on the time taken to clear goods at ports; and border time, or the delays incurred when crossing borders. Transport costs are based on unit costs of moving freight along specific corridors, whereas administrative costs are based on costs involved in transporting imports into a country. Port and border delays are quantified into costs based on the assumption that delays cost $5 per day per tonne of imports.

On average, importing freight to South Sudan takes between 30 and 60 days from the coastal gateways of Mombasa or Port Sudan. Mombasa emerges as the best trading route for imports from overseas destinations to South Sudan (figure 6). Two reasons underscore the differences in transit times for imports. First, the inefficiency of port services—particularly the long dwell times at Port Sudan— significantly prolong travel times. And port-related charges increase the total cost of moving transport by as much as 25 percent (figure 7). Second, the road transport network between Juba and Port Sudan is available for only half the year since roads are impenetrable during the rainy season. Freight that has to move via river takes six days longer than if it were to travel only by road.

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