Africa has 15 landlocked countries that face specific challenges. Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Chad, Central Africa Republic, Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe have no direct coastal access to the sea and thus also to maritime trade and therefore face very specific challenges. The lack of territorial access to the sea, remoteness and isolation from world markets and high transit costs continue to impose serious constraints on the overall socio-economic development of landlocked developing countries.
Landlocked developing countries are generally among the poorest of the developing countries. Moreover, out of 30 of the world landlocked developing countries 16 are classified as least developed. ECA Research finds that on average transport costs for these countries could be as high as 77 per cent of the value of exports. With exception of Botswana, Uganda and Swaziland, which are middle-income countries, the rest of the 15 countries are classified as least developing countries (LDC).