18th Road Governance report Road Governance initiative October 1 – December 31, 2011

The objective of IRTG is to promote good road transport governance on primary trade corridors: Tema-Ouagadougou, Ouagadougou-Bamako, Lomé-Ouagadougou, Bamako-Dakar, Abidjan-Ouagadougou and Abidjan-Bamako. The IRTG initiative focuses on reducing road harassment, including bribes and delays, along these corridors. The initiative has made significant progress in reducing bribery, with a 19% drop in bribery compared to the previous quarter's report. However, bribery remains largely excessive, with the driver of a legal truck paying an average of 35,000 FCFA on each trip. The number of controls has increased by 10% compared to the previous quarter's report, while delays have dropped slightly by 2%. Mali remains the country with the highest density of checkpoints, with all uniformed services significantly contributing. Côte d'Ivoire takes second place, with the progressive replacement of FRCI-operated checkpoints by other uniformed services. Ghana follows due to Police and Customs checkpoints. The Abidjan-Bamako corridor has the highest density of controls, with about 2.6 per 100 km, or about 31 stops per trip on average. The IRTG initiative has also made progress in reducing delays and bribes in some countries. In Togo, road harassment has continued to decline over the last four quarters, thanks to political will, particularly that of the Minister of Security. In Senegal, delays and bribes have been reduced to levels seen at the beginning of the year. However, in Ghana, the decrease in bribery was minimal, and the number of checkpoints and delays is as high as in 2008. The IRTG initiative has identified several areas for improvement, including the increasing number of police checkpoints along the route in Ghana. The initiative has also highlighted the need for stakeholders to reinvigorate efforts to address the issues, particularly concerning the increasing number of police checkpoints along the route. The IRTG initiative will continue to work towards reducing road harassment and improving road transport governance in West Africa. The IRTG initiative has made significant progress in reducing bribery and improving road transport governance in West Africa. However, there is still much work to be done to address the issues of road harassment and improve the efficiency of trade corridors. The initiative will continue to work towards its objectives, with the support of the USAID West Africa Trade Hub and other stakeholders. The IRTG initiative has identified several key indicators to measure its progress, including the number of controls, bribes, and delays. The initiative has also established a data collection system to track these indicators and monitor progress. The data collected from drivers this quarter reveal no change in the areas having the highest density of controls compared to the previous report, although there are renewed controls in Côte d'Ivoire. The IRTG initiative has also made progress in reducing delays and bribes in some countries. In Côte d'Ivoire, the end of the political crisis last year also ended extremely high levels of bribery and harassment along the country's national highway. Beginning in mid-2011, bribery and delays declined significantly, and by the end of the year, the proportion of bribes paid to different services radically changed. The FRCI are no longer the only agents at checkpoints, but are accompanied by other services.