African Unification Front
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TRANSPORT IN THE AFRICAN UNION
Part of the railroad system in the African Union
Road transport plays an important role in African Union's regional, national and international economy. The paved road network length averages 13km for every million US dollars of GNP. The length of main roads averages 4km for every million dollars of GNP.
The African Union is sparcely populated, and state governments are not able to expand road networks to serve the vast rural areas where 80% of the people live. Lack of access to equitable transport facilities is a major cause of poverty, and improving the transport infrastructure will reduce poverty. Demand for infrastructure service in the African Union is low because of poor economic performance. In the last 15 years, the total vehicle fleet in Central Africa (UDEAC) increased by 20,000 units to less than 400,000 vehicles. This corresponds with a vehicle density of 68 vehicles per 10,000 persons. In 1997 the 8 states of the UDEAC (Union Douaniere et Economic de l'Afrique) spent US$65 million as recureent costs for road maintenance. The expenditure was only a fraction of the $260 million required to keep the roads in working condition.
Historically State jurisdictions have had distinct laws and procedures regulating road transport, a situation which has led to inefficiency and which is costing Africans millions of dollars annually. UDEACs maintenance requirement of $260 divided by the number of vehicles in the region (389,978) gives an average burden of US$667 per vehicle owner per year. The replacement value of the main roads network alone is $6.5 billion, and requires annual expenditure for periodic maintenance of mainroads is about $243 million.
Seasonal Road Surface
Consequently, road transport reform is a critical component of economic stability, which will deliver substantial benefits to the industry and to the road users. The public transport system and infrastructure remains unchanged essentially unchanged from the colonial occupation. In order to run a healthy road network, the African Union has to standardise transportation regulations, most especially with regard to Heavy Vehicles that are essential for the transport of freight and trasAfrican mass transit. For example, by equalizing charges on freight with a national charging system, this minimises the incentives for freight operators to service only the most developed regions, will reduce competition between states for freight business, and will provide the funds required to maintain the infrastructure without subsidising drivers to the tune of $600 per year as is currently the case.
If maintaining roads in one state is costly relative to other states, or if there are cumbersome regulations requiring compliance in one Union state and not others, the growth of transport service facilities will be expensive, and will disenfranchise some communities to the advantage of others (with all the attendant problems of labour migration following economic failure). So it is imperative that we satisfy the thousands of African exporters who cannot rely on getting their goods through customs at the various state frontiers because of arbitrary freight costs and an array of contradictory rules and regulations. Agreeing common procedures at a single border post manned jointly by African Union officials will ease transportation greatly. A common transport regime has huge economic potential and is of strategic value. A common Union transport policy will save costs necessitated by state borders, by facilitating easy routes directly to the nearest ports...and the increased trade volume will fund the growth of the raod network.
African Union's South-East Coast, Maputo
For example the recently opened Maputo-MPumalanga the Corridor has a highway and a single border point. It will allow for the financing of upgrades for Maputo harbour and resuscitation of the railway line from Ressano Garcia. It will also attract billions of dollars rands in tourism, mining, agriculture, and manufacturing on both sides of the Mozambique South Africa state border. Shorter and cheaper transport routes, so the argument goes, will make a host of projects viable, creating many jobs in the process. Integration and job creation in the African Union will equalize and balance economic growth of all the regions in the union.
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