Borderless Bulletin - January 2012

January 2012

B u l l e t i n

BORDERLESS ALLIANCE is launched in the sub-region Drivers ямБnd much needed help at new BORDER INFORMATION CENTER 16th IRTG Report reveals REGIONAL DROPS IN ROAD HARASSMENT

I n c r e a s i n g Tr a d e i n W e s t A f r i c a

improving competitiveness

Borderless Borderless is a vision for competitive trade in West Africa – of eliminating barriers to trade.

Streamlining procedures, attacking corruption and facilitating the movement of people and goods will lower costs. Consequently, businesses will expand, create jobs and generate more revenue for government and more income for people.

Borderless is hardly new. It’s the foundation of ECOWAS. Working with partners across the region – in the public and private sector, in civil society, in development agencies and nongovernmental organizations – the Trade Hub has led a partnership to develop Borderless to catalyze change.

Win a Prize

name the borderless newsletter Do you have a good idea for the name of this new Borderless newsletter? We want to hear it – and you could win a prize. The best idea, as determined by the Borderless Alliance executive committee, will win its proposer a Borderless T-Shirt and Hat! Send us your ideas at info@borderlesswa.com

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January 2012

IN BRIEF Borderless Alliance

newly launched Transport stakeholders from across West Africa have launched the Borderless Alliance to spearhead advocacy efforts to increase trade across West Africa. The new alliance includes transport and logistics companies and leading importers and exporters. To join the alliance, visit www.borderlesswa.com.

published

Mali Truck Drivers Guide

LI

ide du tier le guducteur rou con

MA

Practical information on the rules and regulations on trucking in Mali are now available in a handy easy-to-carry guide published by the USAID West Africa Trade Hub. Request a copy by sending an email to info@borderlesswa.com or download it from the Borderless website!

a.com

ssw

orderle

www.b

New Border Information Center BORD INFORER ATION CENTEM R

HELPIN G CROSS TRADERS TH HASSLE E BORDER -FREE

Visit a cen tre for mo re informa

Ghana Author Shipper’s ity (GSA) Tel: 181 79 for MTN

(toll-free

customers)

www.b

tion :

much needed change The new Border Information Centers at the Ghana-Togo border have assisted more than two dozen traders and truck drivers in moving goods across the border, reducing harassment and delays. The new centers – hosted by the Ghana Shippers’ Authority in Aflao, Ghana and by the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Organization in Kodjoviakope, Togo – were launched in August.

Abidjan Organiz -Lagos Coorido ation (AL r CO) Tel: +22 8 940 43 orderle 59 sswa.co m

Roadshow Summaries

now online

The Borderless website blog now includes summaries of issues discussed during stakeholder meetings across the region. Go to www.borderlesswa.com/news to see what issues people are working on.

Follow us on twitter @borderlesswa

Borderless Bulletin

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January 2012

2011

***

* **

Data from trucks with all legally required documents Data from all trucks carrying livestock, maize, millet/sorghum, onion/shallot or rice Data from trucks with and without all legally required documents

Others: Immigration, Unions, Water and Forest Services, Health Service, Municipalities (ALCO)

Others: Unions, Water and Forest Services, Health Service, Forces Nouvelles, Municipalities (Trade Hub & ATP)

CONTROLS Police Customs Gendarmerie Immigration (Trade Hub & ATP)

ALCO data remains unchanged from May-July 2010

km

SIERRA LEONE

GUINEA

2.9 controls $9.32 USD bribes 31 minutes of delay 5.3 controls $12.91 USD bribes 12 minute of delay

SENEGAL per 100 km

SENEGAL

APRIL 1st – JUNE 30th

CORRIDORS Trade Hub* ATP** ALCO***

GUINEA BISSAU

THE GAMBIA

Dakar

LIBERIA

border crossing times

4.5 hours Kodjoviakopé (transit) 8.6 hours Sanvee Condji (transit)

5.0 hours Elubo (transit) 33.0 hours Aflao (transit) 14.6 hours Noe (transit)

TOGO

é

op

Sanvee Condji

Parakou

BENIN

Kantchari

Niamey

45.0 hours Hilllacondji (transit) 1.3 hours Krake (transit)

border crossing times

BENIN

border crossing times

s

17.1 controls $54.01 USD bribes 55 minutes of delay

NIGERIA per 100 km

42.1 hours Seme (transit)

NIGERIA

La go

Porto-Novo

1.3 controls $2.54 USD bribes 12 minutes of delay 5.7 controls $25.62 USD bribes 147 minutes of delay

TOGO per 100 km

NIGERIA

Madaoua

NIGER

2.2 controls $70.60 USD bribes 4 minute of delay 4.4 controls $95.03 USD bribes 66 minutes of delay

BENIN per 100 km

K S H C ra em Te Ko Lom illac oton ké e Ac ma djo é on ou cra dj via i k

Aflao

GHANA

TOGO

Fada-Ngourma

border crossing times

GHANA

Elubo

Bitou

Ouagadougou

BURKINA FASO

border crossing times

COTE D’IVOIRE

an

idj

Noé

Ab

1.6 controls $1.62 USD bribes 18 minutes of delay 2.8 controls $4.86 USD bribes 9 minutes of delay 3.2 controls $7.93 USD bribes 23 minutes of delay

GHANA per 100 km

Bobo-Dioulasso

1.7 controls $5.56 USD bribes 20 minutes of delay 2.7 controls $20.04 USD bribes 19 minutes of delay

1.2 controls $14.54 USD bribes 12 minutes of delay 5.9 controls $6.97 USD bribes 106 minutes of delay

Yamoussoukro

CÔTE D’IVOIRE

MALI BURKINA FASO per 100 km

COTE D’IVOIRE per 100 km

2.4 controls $11.52 USD bribes 27 minutes of delay 3.4 controls $37.77 USD bribes 7 minute of delay

MALI per 100 km

Bamako

MAURITANIA

The big picture: checkpoints, bribes and delays in West Africa

USAID-UEMOA Road Governance Report Summary With the exception of Senegal, and to a lesser degree, Mali, the road harassment indicators saw a measured decline during the second quarter of 2011 in all of the countries covered by the USAID Trade Hub-UEMOA road governance initiative. This encouraging improvement is due in part to the decrease in harassment seen in Cote d’Ivoire. These results suggest that the increasing number of stakeholders familiar with and committed to a West Africa without borders – Borderless – is leading to a change in mentality.

Compared to the previous quarter (the 15th road governance report), bribery decreased by 6% while declines in the number of checkpoints and the delays drivers experienced dropped by 27% and 22%, respectively. Bribes remain excessive : a truck that is roadworthy and completely legal is compelled to pay 42,000 FCFA (about USD 93) on average per trip.

progress

Togo

During a caravan organized by the road governance initiative in March 2011, customs officials in Togo announced the closure of checkpoints in Kante, North Dapaong and South Cinkanse. The current report shows that this pledge was fulfilled. Several other customs checkpoints do not inspect as many trucks, either. The road governance initiative Focal Point in Togo reports that road harassment by gendarmes and police officers has radically declined also. The 17th report may confirm these observations.

in transition

Côte d’Ivoire

This quarter’s results are mixed: a decline in the number of checkpoints and the length of delays for trucks going from Bamako to Abidjan are offset by an increase in bribes per checkpoint. It is difficult to draw conclusions this quarter because no import-carrying trips could be monitored and no data was collected on the Abidjan-Ouagadougou corridor during the previous quarter. However, the government of Cote d’Ivoire has implemented measures to reduce harassment. Specifically, it has published a list of the 33 authorized checkpoints in the country, of which only 8 are on the corridors monitored by the road governance initiative.

a set-back

Senegal

Since joining the initiative in 2009, the indicators in Senegal had improved in consecutive reports.

But this quarter all of Senegal’s indicators worsened. This is more surprising given that Senegal is the only country where indicators worsened. Specifically, road harassment increased at the customs checkpoint at Kidira and police checkpoints at Kaffrine, Tambacounda, Kaolack and Fatick ; and above all at Gendarmerie checkpoints at Missira, Diamniado, Botou, Goudiry, Kirene and Maka Kahone.

Bribes per 100 km (USD)

*Full report available at www.borderlesswa.com

Borderless Bulletin

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THE ‘BANE’ OF TRANSPORT IN WEST AFRICA IS STEADILY BEING DEFEATED Checkpoints are the bane of the transport industry in West Africa – delaying the movement of vehicles carrying goods and people and frustrating drivers, passengers and traders with unscrupulous officers seeking “something to eat.”

Five years after USAID and UEMOA, with support from ECOWAS, launched an initiative to monitor and report on the problem, improvements have been slow coming. But come they have, stakeholders agreed during the initiative’s annual steering committee meeting in Lome, Togo, in September.

Bribes and delays have dropped – by 36% and 17%, respectively – on the three corridors where the road governance initiative started in 2006. Quarterly reports have reflected the improvements, bit by bit.

Meanwhile, monitoring on the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, the busiest trade route in the region, has seen similar improvements. The AbidjanLagos Corridor Organization (ALCO) supported by the World Bank and ECOWAS, which collects data on delays and bribes on that stretch, has measured an intense concentration of checkpoints between Lagos and the Benin border – with one checkpoint on average every four kilometers, it may be the most densely checked route in the world.

“Today everyone recognizes the extent of the problem,” said Dr. Justin Koffi, the ALCO Executive Secretary. “Now, thanks to the monitoring and reporting efforts, many more people are acting. It is in that context that ALCO and Trade Hub are collaborating closely to address the issues of delays and harassment at the borders and on the roads.”

The reporting has led to a change in addressing the problem. First, the scope has broadened: The number of countries with corridors being monitored has since doubled. More importantly, dissemination and advocacy has grown more 6

January 2012

annual review

emphatic and sophisticated: The Borderless advocacy campaign launched last March 2010 has recently been complemented by a private sector led Borderless Alliance to turn inspiration into action.

“Senegal became a part of the road governance initiative in 2009,” noted Drame Seck, Director of Road Transport in the Ministry of Transport.

“The dysfunctional practices related to the numerous checkpoints – delays and bribes – are being addressed.”

“The Borderless campaign allowed people to denounce the practices that had been persisting for a long time,” said Gerard Delanne, Secretary General of Niger’s Union of Merchandise Transporters.

It was a common refrain during the meeting in the Togolese capital. The last year has seen new initiatives bear fruit – caravans in Ghana and Togo led to sustained declines in harassment, stakeholders said – but the primary focus was on the evolution of the initiative: Stakeholders agreed on establishing a West African Transport Observatory, which would expand the monitoring initiative to study virtually all aspects affecting the costs of moving goods and vehicles across the region.

“Certainly, such an observatory will improve regional trade by taking into account the transporters and the ports, too,” said Seydou Traore of the Malian Shippers’ Council.

Milestones reached The launch of the Borderless initiative in March 2010, which was carried forward by a variety of awareness raising activities led by civil society organizations in five countries, was a milestone for reducing checkpoints, delays and bribes, stakeholders agreed.

The campaign established common ground for activities from Senegal all the way to Togo – and the involvement of key partners at the Abidjan-

Lagos Corridor Organization, the USAID ATP/EATP projects in Ghana, and leading private sector transport and logistics companies, gave the message greater reach.

Ghana

Since 2006

Mail Since 2006

Togo

Since 2006

Senegal

In a one-day workshop prior to the steering committee meeting, the USAID Trade Hub trained data collection agents from each country along the corridors that identify and assist truck drivers in filling out surveys that serve as the basis for the reports. The truck drivers voluntarily indicate on the forms every checkpoint where they encounter delays and/or harassment for bribes.

Since 2009

Côte d'Ivoire

-18%

-39%

-49%

DELAYS

Data collection activities strengthened

Since 2006

BRIBES

In May, the prime ministers of Mali and Senegal met under the Borderless banner to discuss trade between their countries. Ghana’s Minister of Trade and other government officials across the region have also participated in the campaign.

Burkina Faso

CHECKPOINTS

“The concept of Borderless has been widely accepted and is a part of many discussions with authorities,” said Seck of Senegal. “The principal goal of all of the UEMOA and ECOWAS regulatory protocols related to trade, transport and trade facilitation is trade without borders in West Africa.”

ROAD HARASSMENT TRENDS IN WEST AFRICA

-30%

-64%

-14%

-48%

-57%

-28%

-13%

-29%

-25%

-22%

-3%

+40%

-49%

-23%

-49%

Since 2010

take me

The Borderless Quiz How well do you know the realities facing transport stakeholders in West Africa? Take this short quiz to test your knowledge! Answers will be posted on the Borderless website on Nov. 30, 2011 at www.borderlesswa.com/quiz.

www.facebook.com/Borderlesswa Borderless Bulletin

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COMPLAINTS ARE KEY TO REDUCING HARASSMENT Uniformed services have set up hotlines that drivers can call to report road harassment. Complaints are one important way drivers can help the uniformed services weed out officers who use their positions for personal gain.

Drivers who feel a uniformed official has harassed them can call the following numbers to report the incident:

BENIN

SENEGAL

To report offenses by customs officials dial +229 81 00 00 01 or +229 81 00 00 02.

BURKINA FASO To report offenses by any uniformed officer dial 1010.

To report offenses by police officers dial 17 or +221 33 84 22 874.

To report offenses by customs officials dial 800 80 44 44.

To report offenses by gendarmes dial 800 00 20 20.

TOGO

COTE D’IVOIRE To report offenses by police officers dial 100.

To report offenses by gendarmes dial 172.

To report offenses by police officers dial 161 or 117.

GHANA To report offenses by police officers dial +233 (0) 30 277 6435.

Drivers can also call commandant Gbadagou at +228 90 05 25 67 to report offenses by either the police or gendarmes.

To report offenses by customs officials dial +233 (0) 28 953 3990.

To report offenses by immigration officers dial +233 (0)28 955 6000.

MALI To report offenses by gendarmes dial +223 66 71 17 12.

To report offenses by customs dial +223 79 03 20 33.

NIGER To report offenses by any uniformed officer dial 08 00 11 11.

www.borderlesswa.com Transport

ALLOMAN

ATP and E-ATP