Cross-Border Road Corridors - Expanding Market Access in Africa and Nurturing Continental Integration

Roads are the main mode of transport on the continent, carrying 80 percent of goods and 90 percent of passenger traffic. However, Africa has significant road infrastructure deficit leading to increased transaction costs and low level of Intra-Africa trade which sit at just 18% of total goods traded in the continent.

Promoting regional integration has been part of the Bank’s mandate since its creation in 1963 and remains one of its top 5 priorities.  Regional integration of the continent’s weak, small and disparate economies. requires at very least a complete network of road corridors linking production centers and gateway ports to consumption centers.

This report documents the Bank Group’s commitment to supporting regional member countries to expand road infrastructure especially cross-border transport corridors. Through its financing and investments, the Bank is helping remove infrastructure bottlenecks, reducing barriers to cross-border trade and achieving regional integration. Between 2004 and 2022, the Bank provided over USD 13 billion to finance regional road corridor projects. As a result, close to 18,022 kilometer of climate resilient, regional highways have been built on 25 road corridors, along with 27 one-stop border post facilities and 18 bridges.  Some of these corridors were built as part of the Trans-African Highway network under various continental and regional infrastructure development programs including the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).

The Bank remains determined to promote regional integration, as foundations for Africa’s accelerated growth and structural transformation.