SUDAN’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE

# **against African aggregates for regional corridors**

Around 22 percent of firms indicated that transport is a major obstacle to business activity, with challenges more acute in some areas than others. A sizable share of establishments in Sudan used their own transport facilities. The average share of own-transport use ranged from 35 percent of the total value of production-related transport activities within the country in Khartoum to 17 percent in North Kordofan. Nyala Red Sea (with 26 percent) and Gezira (with 25 percent) also registered a high rate of owntransport use. Transport in Nyala (Darfur region), meanwhile, was cited as a constraint on doing business by around 60 percent of the firms based there.

|Corridor|Road in good<br>condition (%)|Implicit<br>velocity (km<br>per hour)|Freight tariff<br>(US cents per<br>tonne-km)|
|---|---|---|---|
|Western|72|6|8|
|Central|49|6.1|13|
|Eastern|82|8.1|7|
|Southern|100|11.6|5|
|Sudan|26|8.5–13.5|8–10|
|South Sudan|0|6.4|20|

_Source:_ Teravaninthorn and Raballand 2009; Nathan 2010; UNLJC and FAO 2005; Yoshino 2010; World Bank staff estimates _Note:_ Estimates for Sudan based on routes from Khartoum to Kosti and Khartoum to Port Sudan. For South Sudan, costs are based on varying estimates for travel between Juba to Nimule. Implicit velocity is the total distance divided by the total time taken to make the trip, including time spent stationary at ports, border crossings, <u>and other stops.</u> The main internal corridors in Sudan are well staff estimates developed and generally in good condition but do not _Note:_ Estimates for Sudan based on routes from Khartoum to Kosti and Khartoum to Port Sudan. For South extend to provide cross-border connectivity with neighbors Sudan, costs are based on varying estimates for travel (see figure 4). The trading artery in Sudan is the route that between Juba to Nimule. Implicit velocity is the total connects Kosti to Port Sudan via Khartoum. This road distance divided by the total time taken to make the trip, including time spent stationary at ports, border crossings, records the greatest traffic volumes in Sudan and boasts <u>and other stops.</u> overall good-quality roads, particularly from Khartoum to Port Sudan. Another corridor connects Sudan to the Djibouti Corridor offering connectivity to the Port of Djibouti and Addis Ababa. While systematic data on these routes are not available, traffic volumes from Sudan along this corridor are expected to be very low, and the quality of roads range from fair to poor. Connectivity with South Sudan is practically nonexistent and was never a strategic priority. The regional corridor connecting to South Sudan is in bad condition and records very low traffic volumes. During the rainy season (April/May to October/November), a majority of the roads particularly in South Sudan are impenetrable.

Sudan records average performance by African standards but poor performance when compared to global standards. Along some of the internal transport routes, surface transport moves at a pace that ranges from 8.5 kilometers per hour (kmph)<sup>2</sup> to over 13 kmph,<sup>3</sup> comparable to East Africa; in the parts less travelled and with poorer-quality roads, velocity is consistent with central African countries

**Table 3. Time and costs associated with transport within Sudan**

|Route|Mode of transport<br>Time (days)|Implicit velocity|
|---|---|---|
|Khartoum–<br>Malakal|Road and river<br>7|4.7|
||Road<br>5|6.7|
|Khartoum–<br>Juba|Road and river<br>13.5|6.3|
||Road<br>7.5|11.4|
|_Source:_AICD c<br>and FAO (2005|alculations based on data from Yoshino and oth<br>), and Keer- MISC (2007).|ers (2009), UNJLC|

(table 2). Overall, freight in Sudan moves at the pace of a horse and buggy.

Poor road transport connectivity between Sudan and South Sudan requires the use of multimodal transport during half the year and is associated with lengthy transit times. Roads, particularly during the

> 2 This is the estimated velocity of traffic between Khartoum to Kosti.

> 3 This is the estimated velocity of traffic between Khartoum and Port Sudan.

> <sup>10</sup>