Transport costs in Africa
are on average 11.4% of the
value of imports compared
to the world average of 9%,
according to the Unctad Review of
Maritime Transport 2015.
Average costs were calculated for
the decade 2005-2014.
The region with the next-highest
costs is Oceania (9.6%) against an
average of only 6.8% for developed
countries.
Unctad has identified seven what
it calls “fundamental reasons” for the
high costs of transport in Africa.
First is that many countries in
Africa are landlocked, depending not
only on the procedures of their own
customs and other border agencies,
but also on those of neighbouring
transit countries.
Second, ports in Africa are served
by smaller and/or older vessels, which
have higher operating costs than the
newer and larger vessels serving the
lower-cost routes.
Third is distance from market.
While countries such as Egypt,
Mauritius and Morocco have
been able to benefit from their
geographical position and offer
transhipment services, most other
African countries, however, are
relatively far from the major eastwest
shipping routes, according to
the report. South African ports are
not mentioned as transhipment hubs.
Fourth is that a number of African
economies provide relatively small
markets. As a result, shippers may
be confronted with oligopolistic
markets, where low levels of
competition may lead to higher
prices.
Fifth is that the types of
manufactured goods imported into
African developing countries tend to
be of relatively lower value – that is,
on average the cars, clothes or tools
imported into Africa are of lower perunit
value than those imported into
Europe or North America. Hence,
the cost of transport increases as a
percentage share.
Sixth is that many African
developing countries are confronted
with transport infrastructure
bottlenecks. The largest ships that
can be accommodated are far smaller
than those that call at ports in other
regions.
Finally, most countries in Africa
have a merchandise trade deficit. As
a consequence, ships are more likely
to arrive fully loaded and have spare
capacity when returning to China,
Japan or Europe.
Freight rates for imports will
thus be higher than freight rates for
exports.
.PNG)
