Rail and cross- border road corridors critical in Africa’s regional economic integration

In this article, we shall focus on transport links between countries on the African continent. Travel by air to countries outside the Anglophone area can be problematic for Botswana nationals. At present, one can fly from Johannesburg to all Anglophone countries in SADC and also Accra and Lagos in West Africa. But there are no direct flights from South Africa to Francophone countries such as Chad, Niger, Mali, Central African Republic, Mauritania, Togo, Benin and Guinea. And there is only one flight from Johannesburg to Arabic- speaking North Africa – to Cairo in Egypt.

Since 2007, I have visited Algeria four times. But in order to travel to Algiers, the Algerian capital, I first had to take a flight from Johannesburg to London, UK, and then take another flight from there the following day to Algiers. And I have since found out that it is much easier to fly from Algeria to cities in the former colonial power, France, than it is to fly from Algeria to other African countries. In fact, one can easily fly direct from a number of cities in Algeria ( Algiers, Oran, Annaba, Tamanrasset) to not just the French capital, Paris, but also to many other French cities such as Marseilles, Bordeaux, Lyons and Toulouse. The same would be true if one wanted to fly from Kenya to the

UK – the former colonial power. This route is served each day by two airlines – British Airways and Kenya Airways. But to fly from Nairobi to Algeria, Libya or Gabon would be much more difficult and time- consuming.

Recently, I undertook two trips to Chad. On both occasions, I took an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Here I had to spend the night and take another flight to Chad the following day. In fact, this airline is one of the few that connect cities in West Africa with those in East Africa.

Rail and road networks across Africa will also have to be upgraded and expanded to facilitate intra Africa trade and movement of people. In this article, we will focus first on the African railway network.

In Botswana, the construction of the Mosetse- Kazungula railway needs to be constructed without due delay. But much more needs to be done further afield. Since independence, railways in many African countries have been neglected and services suspended. For example, Sudan in colonial days had a well- developed and maintained railway network, but today it’s a shadow of its former self. The same is true for the international rail service between Dakar, Senegal, and Bamako in Mali.

Trains on existing railways in Africa run infrequently and are usually overcrowded with poor catering facilities. And they often break down! Railways are also usually narrow gauge with a track gauge of only 1067mm ( track gauge refers to the spacing between the two rails on a railway track). This means that trains cannot travel at high speed and derailments are all too common. I remember once travelling on the Chinese built Tanzam railway from Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania – a journey of some 36 hours, if the timetables are to be believed. The train was due to start off at 10pm but was still in the station the following morning by which time all the food had already finished in the catering car. In fact, it was not until 3pm that the train finally left Kapiri Mposhi and we were told that the delay was due to a derailment further up the line. And the train finally pulled into Dar es Salaam some 24 hours late! Most railways are also usually single track which leads to further delays since trains will have to wait in sidings to allow others coming in the opposite direction to pass.

In contrast, most European countries have, in recent decades, invested heavily in their railways with new high- speed lines having been built. And all these lines are standard gauge and are built at a wider track gauge of 1435mm; this, together with the fact that they are also electrified, allows for higher speeds than diesel traction. Nowadays, high speed trains travel from London, UK, to European destinations in other countries such as Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Frankfurt. Yet in Africa there are very few high- speed trains – only in Algeria, between Tangiers and Casablanca in Morocco, and the Gautrain that runs between Pretoria and Johannesburg in South Africa. But none of these lines crosses international borders. Now think of the difference that high- speed trains would make across Africa – Francistown to Gaborone in just two hours or so, in contrast to at least eight hours at present!

During the colonial era, railways were few and far between and most lines in the colonies were constructed linking the interior and the coast in order to facilitate the export of raw materials to the colonial powers. This also means that African governments must invest much more on new lines that cross international borders. In West Africa, most lines run in a north- south direction and hence there is a need for the construction of east- west lines that cross the region; for example, from Dakar, Senegal, across the Sahel towards the Sudan. And perhaps one day a line could connect Cape Town in South Africa with countries as far north as Cameroon! And even here in Botswana we cannot travel by train to any of our neighbouring countries! And yet back in the 1970s, one could travel from Bulawayo through Botswana to Mafikeng in South Africa; also, there were direct services from Bulawayo to Johannesburg. I remember once travelling at the time from Francistown straight through to Cape Town without changing carriages!