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.