numbers. There are other factors that play a role in how easy it is to travel from one city to Juba, such as the amount of formal and informal tolls needed to pay at checkpoints, as well as the number of checkpoints in given routes. Unfortunately, the systematic data required to add this element into the analysis are not available. However, an informative discussion is presented in Box .

Table 4: Transport-Related <u>Conditions by State Capital</u>

||**State’s**<br>**Road**<br>**Length**|**Road**<br>**Grade**|**Road**<br>**Area**|**Road**<br>**Density**|**Distance**<br>**to Juba**|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|**Aweil**|1487|0.310|0.049|0.0021|794|
|**Bentiu**|1029|0.359|0.027|0.0018|736|
|**Bor**|3058|0.448|0.025|0.0023|199|
|**Kajok**|1527|0.319|0.034|0.0016|713|
|**Malakal**|2280|0.322|0.030|0.0024|588|
|**Rumbek**|1416|0.324|0.032|0.0020|418|
|**Wau**|1497|0.310|0.016|0.0045|643|

Note: Road length indicates the total length of roads in kilometers within each state; road grade is the fraction of primary roads in all roads. Road area is the density of roads per square kilometer in the state; road density is the density of kilometers of roads per capita in the state. Available data are constant for the period 2008-2013. Distance is the road distance from the indicated state capital to Juba.

Source: Authors’ calculations based on World Bank 2014a

# **<u>Box 1: Checkpoints in South Sudanese Routes</u>**

Price differences across food products across a country are not only driven by fuel prices, distances, quality of networks, and demand and supply conditions, but also by a variety of restrictions to trade and transit along routes, which are often difficult to quantify systematically.

A survey implemented in November-December 2010 and commissioned by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of South Sudan quantified the time and monetary costs of authorized and unauthorized check-points along the major trade routes in South Sudan. To do this, authors made 147 journeys in commercial vehicles along major roads in South Sudan and collected detailed information on the number and location of check-points, payment and time waited, and officials present. A summary of the main results is presented here.

There are many check-points along major trade routes through South Sudan, both authorized and unauthorized. These check-points are justified on grounds of ensuring security of citizens, among other reasons. However, unauthorized payments and time consuming stops along trade routes can inflate prices for consumers. In addition time consuming processes at the road blocks adds to the delivery time of products and further raises the costs incurred by final consumers. The survey provides detailed information on the location of checkpoints along major routes, as well as time spent waiting at checkpoints and charges paid.

Over all routes surveyed, there was an average of more than two hours waiting per 100km and for most routes payment per 100km exceeded 200 SDG. Small check-points tend to affect low-value cargoes more, since payment does not vary significantly with the value of cargo. These checkpoints are detrimental to the development of industry and internal markets in South Sudan, and ultimately on consumers’ welfare and poverty reduction possibilities.

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