During the 5th Africa Business Forum organized on 7 February 2022 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the findings of a report titled “Implications of the African continental free trade area for demand for transport infrastructure and services” were revealed. The report, now available online, argues that the implementation of the Agreement will lead to an increase of the demand for freight transport services in the continent by about 50 times. To accommodate such an increase, it will be necessary to upgrade and expand logistics infrastructures in Africa, but also transport services. If these two conditions will not materialize, the realization of AfCFTA’s benefits will be compromised.

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Ease of moving goods is critical in the choices of transport companies. And in Africa, the shorter road is not always the less expensive road. This video from the Brenthurst Foundation documents the case of a shipment of copper cathodes via road from Solwezi, in Zambia, provincial capital of the mineral-rich North-Western Province, to the port of Walvis Bay, in Namibia, for a total distance of about 2,300 Km. It describes the challenges, and the costs of moving a 34-tonnes load along the poor roads connecting the Zambian mining centre to the Namibian port, including the “soft infrastructure” costs, i.e.; costs associated to crossing borders and waiting time at the port during which the truck remains idle awaiting a return cargo to transport back to Zambia.

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