Road Network Upgrading And Overland Trade Expansion In Sub-Saharan Africa

Recent research suggests that isolation from regional and international markets has contributed significantly to poverty in many Sub-Saharan African countries. Numerous empirical studies identify poor transport infrastructure and border restrictions as significant deterrents to trade expansion. In r...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Buys, Piet
Other Authors: Wheeler, David, Deichmann, Uwe
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C The World Bank 2006
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: World Bank E-Library Archive - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
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653 |a High Transport 
653 |a Road Network 
653 |a Bridge 
653 |a Transport Economics, Policy and Planning 
653 |a Infrastructure Planning 
653 |a Journey 
653 |a Road Transport 
653 |a Infrastructure Development 
653 |a Costs 
653 |a Heavy Trucks 
653 |a Highway 
653 |a Transport 
653 |a Road 
653 |a Initiatives 
700 1 |a Wheeler, David 
700 1 |a Buys, Piet 
700 1 |a Deichmann, Uwe 
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520 |a Recent research suggests that isolation from regional and international markets has contributed significantly to poverty in many Sub-Saharan African countries. Numerous empirical studies identify poor transport infrastructure and border restrictions as significant deterrents to trade expansion. In response, the African Development Bank has proposed an integrated network of functional roads for the subcontinent. Drawing on new econometric results, the authors quantify the trade-expansion potential and costs of such a network. They use spatial network analysis techniques to identify a network of primary roads connecting all Sub-Saharan capitals and other cities with populations over 500,000. The authors estimate current overland trade flows in the network using econometrically-estimated gravity model parameters, road transport quality indicators, actual road distances, and estimates of economic scale for cities in the network. Then they simulate the effect of feasible continental upgrading by setting network transport quality at a level that is functional, but less highly developed than existing roads in countries like South Africa and Botswana. The authors assess the costs of upgrading with econometric evidence from a large World Bank database of road project costs in Africa. Using a standard approach to forecast error estimation, they derive a range of potential benefits and costs. Their baseline results indicate that continental network upgrading would expand overland trade by about