NIGER’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE Niger’s capacity to efficiently move goods and connect manufacturers and consumers with international markets is 3 above the regional average. When asked to 2.5 give feedback on Niger’s logistics 2 ―friendliness,‖ operators (global freight forwarders and express carriers) gave it an 1.5 LPI ranking of 2.54, above the West 1 African average of 2.42 (figure 5). 0.5 Senegal, Benin, Guinea, and Togo—all 0 coastal countries—received a higher LPI. But Niger’s LPI is higher than Mali’s and Burkina’s, despite the fact that it is farther from the coast than these countries. _Source:_ Zooming in on the components of the LPI _Note:_ in Niger, operators gave the lowest scores to (i) the efficiency of the clearance process (that is, the speed, simplicity, and predictability of formalities) a border control agencies, and (ii) the quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure (for example, ports, railroads, roads, information technology).

**Figure 5. Niger’s Logistics Performance Index ranking  and that of other West African landlocked countries**

<!-- Start of picture text --> 3<br>2.5<br>2<br>1.5<br>1<br>0.5<br>0<br>Logistics Performance Index<br>Senegal Benin Guinea Togo Nigeria Niger Cote d'Ivoire Gambia, The Ghana Liberia Mali Burkina Faso Guinea-Bissau Sierra Leone SSA<br><!-- End of picture text --> _Source:_ World Bank 2010d.

_Note:_ The Logistics Performance Index is based on a worldwide survey of operators on the ground (global freight forwarders and express carriers), providing feedback on the logistics ―friendliness‖ of the countries in which they operate and those with which they trade. Such operators combine in-depth knowledge of the countries in which they operate with informed qualitative assessments of other countries with which they trade, and experience of a global logistics environment.

SSA = Sub-Saharan Africa.

Niger’s _costs_ and _time_ to trade across borders are among the highest in the region in spite of its relatively high efficiency in moving goods across borders. The cost of exporting from and importing to Niger is the highest among West African countries and more than 70 percent higher than the average of Sub-Saharan Africa (table 2). Around 40 percent of the firms identified transport in Niger as a major business constraint, a level higher that the average in LICs (32 percent) and MICs (18 percent).<sup>4</sup> The time needed to comply with all procedures required to export goods from Niger is 59 days, versus 34 days in the average West African country. It takes 64 days to import goods to Niger, which is above the regional average of 39 days.

The _costs_ of trading to and from Niger are driven up by inefficiencies in the Port of Cotonou. High costs in this port account for the bulk of the cost (55 percent) of importing goods using the CotonouNiamey corridor (the highest share among the various gateways in West Africa), and surface transport accounts for 35 percent of the cost. Surface transport and port costs each account for about 40 percent of the cost of moving imports to Niger using the Lomé-Niamey corridor (figure 6a). The handling charges in the Port of Cotonou and Lomé are among the highest in West Africa (table 3), where services cost twice as much as those in other global ports.

> 4 World Bank–International Finance Corporation (IFC) Enterprise Surveys on 32 Sub-Saharan African countries.

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