UNCTAD/LDC/115 20 July 2001
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
UNCTAD/LDC/115 20 July 2001 ENGLISH ONLY TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT BOARD Fifth Meeting of Governmental Experts from Land-locked and Transit Developing Countries and Representatives of Donor Countries and Financial and Development Institutions New York, 30 July - 3 August 2001 REVIEW OF PROGRESS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSIT TRANSPORT SYSTEMS IN EASTERN AND SOUTHERN AFRICA Report prepared by InfraAfrica (Pty) Ltd UNCTAD consultant * / _________________ * / The views expressed in this study are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the UNCTAD secretariat or of any official administration. The designations employed and the presentation of the material do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 3-4 I. Objectives and scope of report..................................................................................... 4-5 II. Approach and methodology........................................................................................... 5-6 III. Layout of report.................................................................................................................6 IV. Inventory of transit-transport systems and facilities.................................................... 7-10 V. Overview of capacity and conditions of transit corridors.......................................... 10-11 VI. Port capacities and throughput................................................................................... 11-12 VII. Inland waterways and lakes....................................................................................... 12-14 VIII. Railway capacities and systems................................................................................. 14-16 IX. Road network in Eastern and Southern Africa.......................................................... 16-18 X. Inland container depots and other transit facilities.................................................... 19-20 XI. Factors affecting performance................................................................................... 20-25 XII. Performance of transit-transport systems................................................................... 25-32 XIII. Roads infrastructure and management....................................................................... 32-37 XIV. Issues and developments............................................................................................ 37-53 XV. New initiatives and approaches ................................................................................. 53-65 XVI. Recommendations..................................................................................................... 65-77 3 INTRODUCTION 1. The geographical regions of Eastern and Southern Africa have three major economic groupings. These are: § The East African Community (EAC); § The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA); and the § Southern African Development Community (SADC). 2. All the three regional bodies and the respective countries they represent have a common objective, that of attaining faster economic growth with a view to reducing and, in the long term, eradicating poverty. However, in order to do so, they must increase trade, especially external trade. This demands that their exports must be competitive in the world market and that their imports, especially inputs to their productive sectors, must be obtained at the lowest possible prices. Efficient transport is critical to achieving these objectives. 3. Among the major contributors to the cost of inputs and consumer goods, as well as the price of traded goods, is the cost of transport. For Eastern and Southern Africa, this cost is still very high, with estimates in the region of four to five times of those in the developed countries and for some landlocked countries as high as between 30 – 40 per cent of the price of goods. It is obvious that, without a drastic reduction in transport costs, the objectives stated above of competitiveness, poverty alleviation and development will remain difficult to attain. 4. The importance of efficient transit transport systems for East and Southern Africa cannot be over-emphasized. Transportation and transaction costs are key determinants of the competitive and comparative advantages that impact on the economies of the countries of these regions. When these costs are high, as is the case for East and Southern Africa, they not only suppress international trade, but also impact adversely on the general economic competitiveness of these countries. This factor, in turn, frustrates the socio-economic growth and development of these regions. 5. There is sufficient evidence to suggest that low levels of intra-regional trade in Africa are explained less by such issues as tariff barriers and more by structural factors such as low incomes and weak transport and communications infrastructure. Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Harvard states that by being landlocked, economic growth of rates of landlocked countries are reduced by between 0.7% and 1.0%.1 The Eastern and Southern Africa regions have ten landlocked countries, namely Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (East Africa) and Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Southern Africa). 6. The African Development Bank (AfDB), in its African Development Report 2000 states: “Domestic regional and international transport and communication costs are comparatively greater for African businesses than their international competitors, which has had the net effect of constraining economic growth. In seeking to globalize their economies, landlocked countries face 1 The Limits of Convergence – Nature, Nurture and Growth – Jeffrey Sachs – The Economist, Issue: 14-20 June, 1997 4 substantial cost disadvantages that have constrained exports and increased the cost of essential imports.”2 7. A recent report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) states that: “By reducing transaction costs and thus increasing the profitability and the productivity of investments, more efficient infrastructure facilities enhance economic growth and the quality of life….geography and location are key reasons for Africa’s dismal economic performance. The vast distances and low population density make the cost of providing efficient transport prohibitive. Such inefficiencies – in terms of management, unreliability of communications, complicated customs and documentation procedures, and other unofficial costs related to lack of security and abuses – make conducting business very expensive. Regionalism and harmonised infrastructure policies are especially important for landlocked countries that have to rely on physical infrastructure provided by neighbours, whose policies they do not control.”3 8. While efficient transport and reduced transport costs are important for all countries in the two regions, they are particularly important for land-locked countries. This means, therefore, that land-locked countries need special consideration in proposing measures to address the transit transport situation of East and Southern Africa. I. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF REPORT 9. Against the above background, UNCTAD has commissioned a review of the current transit situation in East and Southern Africa. In accordance with the terms of reference, the main objective of the assignment is to review the state of performance of transit transport systems and to propose measures to improve and foster strengthened transit collaboration in the Eastern and Southern African regions. This has involved: (a) an inventory of the transit infrastructure facilities and services (rail, roads, ports, transit storage capacity and trans-shipment facilities as well as clearing and freight forwarding and transit insurance services); transport systems and facilities; (b) an assessment of the legal and administrative cooperative arrangements between the Eastern and Southern African land-locked countries and their neighbours to regulate transit operations; (c) identification of the operational constraints and bottlenecks and deficiencies within the transit system and actions taken to alleviate them. Preparation of proposals to improve the transit systems, including identification of priority areas for donor intervention and measures to strengthen transit cooperation in the Eastern and Southern African region. 2 African Development Report 2000 – Regional Integration in Africa – African Development Bank (AfDB) 3 Regional Integration Experience in the Eastern African Region – Andrea Goldstein and Njuguna S. Ndung’u – Technical Papers No. 171, New Forms of Co-operation and Integration in Emerging Africa – Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Centre 5 10. The primary focus of this report is on the land-locked countries of Eastern and Southern Africa as well as their maritime neighbours who serve these countries. The report covers the following countries: East Africa - Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (land-locked countries) Kenya, Tanzania (maritime countries) Southern Africa - Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe (land-locked countries) Angola,