Africa's Transport Infrastructure

Ken Gwilliam

Description

This book presents and analyzes the results of a comprehensive collection of data on the extent and condition of transport infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa, identifies the reasons for poor performance, and estimates future financing needs.
The transport facilities of Sub-Saharan Africa were built primarily for the colonial exploitation of mineral and agricultural resources. The chief goal of road and rail networks was to link mines, plantations, and other sites for the exploitation and transformation on natural resources to ports, rather than to provide general connectivity within the region. The road network of 1.75 million kilometers exhibits a low density with respect to population. Its average spatial density is very low by world standards. The network carries low average traffic levels. Even so, because most African countries have a low GDP, the fiscal burden of the network is the highest among world regions, maintenance is underfinanced, and road conditions are on average poor, while road accident rates are very high. Attempts to improve the financing of maintenance through "second generation road funds" have met with some success, but there remain serious weaknesses in implementation. Road freight transport is fragmented, but cartelized, with high rates and high profits.
Railways were also built mainly as for the exportation of minerals and crops. With the exception of two or three very specialized bulk mineral lines, the traffic volumes are low, and the railways have been in financial decline since the 1960s. Concessioning of the lines to private operators has improved performance, but governments often impose unachievable requirements on the companies, and investment remains inadequate for long-term sustainability.
Most of the 260 airports that provide year-round commercial service in Sub-Saharan Africa have adequate runway capacity, though some of the larger airports suffer from a shortage of terminal capacity. More than a quarter of the runways are in marginal or poor condition, and air traffic control and navigation facilities are below international standards. Though airport charges are high, few airports are truly financially sustainable. Three national carriers are quite successful, but most are small and barely sustainable. Protection persists in the domestic and intercontinental markets, but the international market in the region has been effectively liberalized. The safety record is poor.
Most ports are small by international standards. Many are still publicly owned and suffer from inadequate equipment and poor productivity. Only a few highly specialized ports, including private ports integrated with the extraction companies, meet the highest international standards Costs and charges are high. But there is a trend toward concessioning of facilities to large groups specializing in international container terminals and port operations. Fortunately the shipping market is now deregulated.
Urban transport suffers from some infrastructure deficiencies, particularly in the condition of urban roads. But the main problems of the sector are associated with the fragmented and poorly regulated nature of most urban bus markets. Finance for large buses is very difficult to obtain. In all modes the situation is made worse by failures of governance in both the provision and regulation of infrastructure.
The overall deficit in financing for infrastructure is estimated using a model based on the application of hypothesized standards of connectivity for all modal networks and facilities. Once the amount of infrastructure needed to meet those standards was calculated, these "requirements" were compared with existing stocks and the costs of making the transition over a ten-year period were calculated. A "base" scenario used standards similar to those pertaining in developed regions, while a "pragmatic" scenario applied lower standards. In a separate exercise, the actual average expenditures on transport infrastructure from all sources were researched. This allowed the funding gap to be deduced by subtraction. The results showed that, excluding official development assistance, no country spent enough to meet the base standard, and that even with aid there remained substantial deficits in maintenance funding in many countries, with the worst situations found in the low-income, politically fragile group of countries.

Sujets

• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Governance
• Institutions
• Transport

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 11 mars 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 32
• EAN13: 9780821386057
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 6 Mo

Extrait

DIRECTIONS IN DEVELOPMENT
Infrastructure
Africa’s Transport Infrastructure
Mainstreaming Maintenance
and Management
Ken GwilliamAfrica’s Transport InfrastructureAfrica’s Transport
Infrastructure
Mainstreaming Maintenance
and Management
Kenneth Gwilliam
with Heinrich Bofinger, Richard Bullock, Robin Carruthers,
Ajay Kumar, Mike Mundy, Alberto Nogales, and Kavita Sethi
Vivien Foster and Cecilia Briceño-Garmendia,
Series Editors© 2011 The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
1818 H Street NW
Washington DC 20433
Telephone: [phone]
Internet: www.worldbank.org
All rights reserved
1 2 3 4 14 13 12 11
This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development / The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this
volume do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the
governments they represent.
The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The bound-
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any judgement on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the
endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
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ISBN: 978-0-8213-8456-5
eISBN: 978-0-8213-8605-7
DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-8456-5
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gwilliam, K. M.
Africa’s transport infrastructure / Kenneth Gwilliam.
p. cm. — (Africa development forum series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8213-8456-5 — ISBN 978-0-8213-8605-7 (electronic)
1. Transportation—Africa. 2. Infrastructure (Economics)—Africa. I. Title.
HE282.A2G87 2011
388.096—dc22
2010047211
Cover photo: Arne Hoel, World Bank
Cover design: Debra Naylor, Washington, D.C.Contents
About the AICD xix
Series Foreword xxi
About the Authors xxiii
Acknowledgments xxv
Abbreviations xxix
Chapter 1 The Legacy of History 1
Political History: Colonialism and
Independence 1
A Consequence of History: A Distorted
Transport Sector 3
The Outcome: High Costs, Poor Service,
and Reduced Trade 6
Country Diversity and Uneven
Economic Performance 10
A New-Millennium Renaissance 14
Notes 15
References 15
vvi Contents
Chapter 2 Roads: The Burden of Maintenance 17
The Road Network 18
Road Infrastructure Performance 29
Institutions: Ongoing Reforms 37
Road Spending: A Problem of Execution 47
Freight Transport: Too Expensive 71
The Way Forward 77
Notes 79
References 80
Chapter 3 Railways: Not Pulling Their Weight 83
Africa’s Rail History: Opening Up
the Continent 83
A Sparse and Disconnected Network 85
Investment and Maintenance 89
The Market 91
Freight Tariffs: Increasingly Competitive 101
Why Are Railways Uncompetitive? 104
Institutional Arrangements 106
Operational Performance 115
Financial P 125
The Way Forward 132
Notes 134
References 137
Chapter 4 Airports and Air Transport: Policies
for Growth 139
Airport Infrastructure 139
Operations 152
The Way Forward 176
Notes 177
References 179
Chapter 5 Ports and Shipping: Moving toward Modern
Management Structures 181
Coping with Rapidly Changing
Trade Patterns 181
The Institutional and Regulatory
Framework 195
Infrastructure Development 206Contents vii
Performance, Cost, and Quality 212
The Way Forward 219
Notes 222
References 223
Chapter 6 Urban Transport: Struggling with Growth 225
Infrastructure: Roads 227
Infr Rails 231
Institutions 232
Services 236
Fares 250
Financing and Subsidies 256
Regulation 260
The Way Forward 265
Notes 267
References 269
Chapter 7 Spending to Improve Connectivity 271
The Expenditure Model in Brief 272
A Detailed Look at the Model’s Inputs 275
Applying the Model 284
Outputs of the Model 293
Insights from the Connectivity Analysis 306
Notes 308
References 309
Chapter 8 Financing: Filling the Gaps 311
Expenditures 312
What Can Be Done about the Shortfalls? 322
The Residual Funding Gap 347
The Way Forward 350
Notes 352
References 353
Chapter 9 Governance: The Key to Progress 355
The Context of National Governance 356
Traditions and Attitudes 357
Institutions 363
Capacity 371
The Way Forward 375viii Contents
Notes 377
References 378
Chapter 10 Conclusion: An Agenda for Action 381
Critical Transport Policy Issues 382
Improving Governance 394
Expenditure Requirements 400
Notes 405
References 405
Appendix 1 Introduction 407
Appendix 1a AICD Background Documents
Relevant to the Transport Sector 407
Appendix 1b Country Typology for
Study Countries 409
Reference 409
Appendix 2 Roads 411
Appendix 2a Road Data Sources and Analysis 411
Appendix 2b Basic Country Data for the
Set of 40 Countries 416
Appendix 2c Classified Road Network Length
for 40 Countries 418
Appendix 2d Road Network Densities
for 40 Countries 420
Appendix 2e Road Network Length by Surface
Class and Network Type for 40 Countries 422
Appendix 2f Average Annual Daily Traffic by
Road Type for 40 Countries 424
Appendix 2g Distribution of Networks by
Traffic Level for 40 Countries 425
Appendix 2h Vehicle Utilization of Roads
by Surface Class and by Passenger and
Freight for 40 Countries 427
Appendix 2i Classified Road Network Condition
by Network Type for 40 Countries 428
Appendix 2j Road Accident Rates for
Countries in Africa 430
Appendix 2k Road Maintenance Initiative
Institutional Indicators, September 2007 434