| High transport costs, bribery, long delays impede intra-African trade - report Walvis Bay, Namibia 26 February 2009 – It is not just h igh transport costs that impede intra-regional and external trade in the Africa sub-region; bribery and long delays on the trade corridors are also hampering factors, according to the conclusions of a trade facilitation workshop on the promotion of intra-African trade, which ended in Walvis Bay, Namibia on 26 February 2009. “We identified, among others, that poor infrastructure, numerous checkpoints associated with bribes and long delays at borders, and inefficient transport services” are other hampering factors, states a communiqué issued at the end of the workshop. The workshop was organized jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Walvis Bay Corridor Group (WBCG), to share experiences in the implementation of trade facilitation and corridor management programs across the Eastern and Southern Africa sub-region and assess progress in the design and implementation of trade facilitation programmes and projects within the sub-region. In a series of recommendations to address the situation, participants urged member States to harmonise road transit charges and publish such charges and fees in accordance with guidelines of SADC/COMESA/EAC. According to studies at the ECA, intra-African trade as percent of total exports is about 10 percent. Contrast this to intra-Europe export trade, which is around 70 percent, and growing. The studies also note that barriers to intra-African trade development are numerous. These barriers are mostly the consequences of the economic structure of the countries; institutional policies, weak infrastructure; weak financial and capital markets and failure to implement trade protocols. That is why the meeting was held in Walvis Bay to tackle some of the constraints intra-African trade. Participants also called on SADC/COMESA/EAC to ensure that aid for the trade initiative is leveraged in implementing trade facilitation activities at the level of member states' corridor management institutions and the regional economic communities (RECs). They agreed that, in the long-term, member States and RECs would need to implement measures aimed at improving border management, and that these should include harmonizing and increasing working hours at adjacent border post as well as operationalizing and expanding one-stop border posts initiatives. In addition, corridor management institutions should endeavour to put in place mechanism for monitoring corridor performance to ensure continued efficiency. Of late, there have been several initiatives aimed at addressing the challenges of trade facilitation. Efforts have been deployed in the context of programmes of African Regional Economic Communities, of various transport corridors in Africa such as the Walvis Bay Corridor Group, as well as at the global level, through the Almaty Program of Action. Regional approaches and strategic partnerships to address problems of trade facilitation are increasingly being recognized; since international and intra-African trade involves the use of infrastructure and services of at least two countries. This is especially true for landlocked countries with key transit facilities lying outside their territorial boundaries. A regional approach is thought to be an efficient means of coordinating actions, setting priorities, reviewing progress, mobilizing resources, allocating funds, and monitoring contribution levels, with regard to solving common problems.
Issued by the ECA Information and Communication Service Tel: 251 11 5445098
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