SUDAN’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE rainy season, are often unavailable. Relying on other forms of transport does not solve the problem: river transport services are not well developed, ports are inadequate, and commercial vessels are old. Freight that has to move via river takes six days longer than if it were to travel only by road (table 3). Services are limited between Juba and Kosti, and are used mainly for transporting goods arriving by train in Port Sudan.

The cost of moving freight in Sudan is almost twice what it is on other continents, though it compares with the average for Africa. The average freight tariff between Khartoum and Port Sudan is about $0.08 per tonne-kilometer (tonne-km), and between Khartoum and Kosti is slightly higher, an average of $0.10 per tonne-km. These prices are comparable to that of East Africa but much higher than the global standard of around $0.04 per tonne-km.

The middle-of-the-range costs of moving freight—relative to the African average—are driven by the competitiveness of the trucking industry and access to lower-priced petroleum. In Sudan the trucking industry appears competitive, with few barriers to entry. Growth in the trucking fleet was steady during 2004–06: 10 percent annually for lorries, 20 percent for tank trucks, and over 40 percent for dry-cargo heavy trucks. Additionally, the trucking sector is not cartelized as it is in West and Central Africa. Absence of cartels keeps profit margins reasonable without significant markups. Further, the low cost of petroleum, oil, and lubricants in Sudan—50 percent lower than the regional aggregate—helps maintain reasonable prices.

Trucks travelling to South Sudan, however, may encounter various transport bottlenecks that increase costs. For example, one truck transporting sacks of onions from Kassala to Malakal was subject to taxes and fee payments at about 20 different locations, totaling 2,000 SDG ($800) (Yoshino 2009). Similar payments have not been reported while travelling within Sudan.

Moving freight in Sudan is constrained by inadequate infrastructure and high costs. Comparing the competitiveness of Sudan’s main trading artery (Port Sudan to Kosti) with Africa’s best-performing corridor (the North-South corridor) reveals that there are significantly more costs and longer delays associated with moving along Sudan’s arteries (figures 6 and 7). Moving freight within Sudan takes longer than moving imports from Durban to Lusaka—a route across three countries that is 800 km longer.

**Figure 6. Moving freight within Sudan vs. moving imports from Durban to Lusaka**

<!-- Start of picture text --> 1000<br>800<br>600<br>400<br>200<br>0<br>Port Sudan- Kosti Durban-Lusaka<br>Port Road transport Border Administrative<br>Source: AICD calculations based on Nathan (2010); UNLJC and FAO (2005),<br>and Yoshino (2010).<br>freight<br>Time required to move<br><!-- End of picture text --> Transit times can be broken down into four components: the travel times of moving goods, that is, the time of travel based on the effective velocity along each corridor; administrative time spent importing goods to a country; port time, that is, the time taken to clear goods at ports; and border time, that is, the delays incurred in crossing borders. Transport costs are based on unit costs of moving freight along

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