Border delays constitute up to 40% of transport time

Delays at Beitbridge and
Chirundu border posts account
for 30-40% of the total transport
time of cross-border operators. If this
was not the case, truck utilisation could
be increased by 30-40 000 kilometres
per year, according to the Study of
Transport Costs and Prices in sub-
Saharan Africa conducted by Gaël
Raballand and Patricia Macchi for the
World Bank.
The region also has very high
variable costs, accounting for 85%
of the total Lusaka-Johannesburg
transport costs for instance. The most
important expense items are the cost of
fuel and tyres which account for more
than 90% of the total variable costs for
most transporters. Informal payments
(a polite terms for bribes), account for
up to 4% of total variable costs.
In terms of infrastructure, research
in East Africa has shown that if the
quality of roads was improved from
fair to good, it could save around
US$9 000 per year per truck.
In numerous landlocked countries
transport costs represent 15-20% of
import prices and these countries lose
1-1.5 points of growth per year, all
other things being equal. This once
again highlights the impact of high
transport costs on the competitiveness
of Southern African economies.
According to the researchers, the
solutions to these high costs include
the financing of road rehabilitation;
the reduction of border crossing
time; the reduction of fuel prices; and
the reduction of informal payment.
The accompanying table illustrates
the savings that could be made based on
similar data obtained from East Africa.