8th IRTG Report: Improved Road Transport Governance Results for the Period April 1-June 30, 2009

The objective of IRTG is good governance along primary trade corridors in West Africa, with decreasing road harassment as its primary objective. IRTG reports on practices that impede the movement of road traffic on three corridors: Tema-Ouagadougou, Ouagadougou-Bamako, and Lomé-Ouagadougou. In 2009, the reporting will cover three new corridors: Bamako-Dakar, Niamey-Cotonou, and Ouagadougou-Abidjan. A new feature that debuts with this 8th report is the presentation of data collected on the "onion trade corridor" that connects Madaoua (Niger) to Bitou (Burkina Faso). The global economic crisis is visible in West Africa's ports and landlocked countries as commercial activity has declined and transport prices have increased. As a result, there has been a fall in transport activities on both the Tema-Ouagadougou and Lomé-Ouagadougou corridors compared to the previous quarter. Road harassment increased in the second quarter of 2009, with surveys indicating a jump in the number of checkpoints, bribes, and delays on the IRTG corridors. The number of checkpoints has increased, ranging from 2 per 100 km in Togo, Burkina Faso, and Ghana to 7 per 100 km in Mali. Delays rose, too, during the quarter, ranging from 7 minutes in Burkina Faso on the Ouagadougou-Bamako corridor and 65 minutes in Burkina on the Tema-Ouagadougou corridor. Bribes have increased on two of the three corridors due to the recent axle-load restrictions that have been implemented, where trucks found to be overloaded are fined and then pay without being given a receipt. The Ouagadougou-Bamako corridor suffers a disturbing level of bad road governance practices, particularly demonstrated by its number of checkpoints. There were 36 reported per voyage, with a ratio of four (4) per 100 km. This average is reached mainly due to the number that occurs on the Malian section of the corridor, which reached 28 per voyage compared to 8 along the Burkina segment of the corridor. The Lomé-Ouagadougou corridor shows the least checkpoints this quarter, with 22, or 2 per 100 km. The level of bribery saw a new record by reaching US$130.29 per voyage this quarter on the Ouagadougou-Bamako corridor. This level is mainly due to bribery paid along the Mali segment of the corridor, which is US$108.34 per voyage, beating the sad record of the highest level of bribes paid along a corridor during a voyage. The Lomé-Ouagadougou corridor showed the lowest level of bribery, with US$43.93 per trip. Delays along the corridors during the reporting period are as follows: Tema-Ouagadougou (1,057 km): 301 minutes, or 29 minutes per 100 km; Bamako-Ouagadougou (920 km): 148 minutes, or 16 minutes per 100 km; and Lomé-Ouagadougou (1,020 km): 86 minutes, or 8 minutes per 100 km. The longest delays occur on the Tema-Ouagadougou corridor, with an average 29 minutes per 100 km per voyage. The results of this quarter's surveys reveal a worrying worsening in road governance that calls for appropriate corrective measures to be taken. The number of checkpoints per voyage has increased on all corridors, with the Ouagadougou-Bamako corridor showing the highest number of checkpoints per 100 km. The level of bribery has also increased, with the Ouagadougou-Bamako corridor showing the highest level of bribery per voyage. Delays have also increased, with the Tema-Ouagadougou corridor showing the longest delays per 100 km.