The COVID-19 pandemic has shown its brutal impact particularly on Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), as these countries are particularly vulnerable to cross-border restrictions and border closures, given their dependency on transit transport to access international markets. Even in normal times, functioning and efficient transport networks and transit procedures are particularly critical in increasing connectivity and integration of the LLDCs into world markets. During the COVID-19 crisis, there is an even more urgent need to ensure smooth transport of goods to and from these countries, by ensuring the delivery of much-needed medical equipment and basic goods, and in the long-term perspective, in order to facilitate trade and access to global markets, spurring economic pick-up post COVID-19.

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The African Union Commission (AUC) in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the AU’s development agency, AUDA-NEPAD, has launched the process aimed at identifying the priority projects of continental interest for the period 2021-2030 that will be included in the new Priority Action Plan (PAP2) of the Programme for infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), the AU’s strategic framework for the development of regional infrastructure in Africa in the 1) Transport, 2) Energy, 3) Transboundary Water, and 4) Telecommunication/ICT sectors until 2040.

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