I nvestment in cross-border corridor infrastructure and systems measurably boosts the economies of the countries it links, according to Amadou Oumarou, director of the African Development Bank (AFDB) infrastructure and urban development department Writing in the foreword to a 2019 report on cross-border corridors, Oumarou says the bank has financed regional transport projects to the tune of around US$8 billion over the past 12 years. This has involved building close to 13 000 km of regional highways on 17 road corridors, along with 26 one-stop border post facilities. “Enabled by the corridors, new trading routes have emerged, and positive development outcomes have been recorded along the way,” he writes. In West Africa, for example, 10 years after the bank financed the Bamako-Dakar highway to the tune of US$400 million, the route now carries more than 50% of Mali’s import and export goods from and to the port of Dakar. Logistics costs have been reduced by more than 20% and international trade has grown by 10%. For the Nacala Corridor which connects Zambia and Malawi to the Mozambican port of Nacala, the bank made US$420 million available to finance approximately half of the total 1 900-km corridor between Lusaka and Nacala. At the same time the bank supported a “Doing Business” reform programme in Malawi and Zambia, which involves improvements in the trading process and upgrading of the customs information system and implementation of a national single window. According to Oumarou this helped reduce vehicle operating costs by 36% in Mozambique and 20% Malawi. In East Africa, the Mombasa – Nairobi -Addis Ababa corridor has received more than US$1 billion from the Bank. The road now allows Ethiopia to trade at least 20% of its freight more competitively through the port of Mombasa. Bilateral trade between Ethiopia and Kenya has increased by 400%, he writes. Another example not mentioned by Oumarou is the Walvis Bay corridors. The AFDB financed the building of a new container terminal in the port of Walvis Bay. This has provided shippers in the region with another deep-sea port to use for imports and exports. Namibia has positioned itself as the trade gateway for neighbouring Southern African Development Community nations, and has been investing heavily in roads and bridges in order to facilitate the movement of cargo along the corridors it created. Volumes on the corridors have started growing since the opening of the new terminal.