World Bank: 25 African countries most open to road freight services... Rwanda leads the way
Written by: Ayman Ragab
Rwanda tops the list for the lowest level of restrictions on land transport services in Africa.
25 countries record levels of openness exceeding the continental average in the World Bank index
World Bank: Wide regulatory disparities among African countries hinder the integration of trade corridors
Morocco, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria are among the economies most open to land transport services.
A recent map published by the World Bank reveals the reality of trade corridors in Africa, highlighting regulatory bottlenecks that impose a high cost on the continent's economic integration efforts.
Behind every truck crossing African borders lie complex regulatory challenges stemming from the varying laws and regulations governing the movement of goods. A recent World Bank analysis, based on the Trade Restrictions in Services (STRI) indicator for road freight services, reveals significant disparities in regulatory openness among African countries.
Despite this disparity, 25 African countries stand out as the most open to road transport services trade, an indicator reflecting a clear trend toward facilitating the movement of trade and services rather than restricting it. This ranking is based on official data published by the World Bank.
The STRI index, developed by the World Bank in collaboration with the World Trade Organization, is a tool for measuring the level of regulatory restrictions imposed on trade in services, with scores ranging from 0 for the most open countries to 100 for the most restrictive countries.
The index methodology assesses regulatory policies across six levels of restrictions, ranging from the absence of any restrictions (0.00) to a complete ban on providing services (1.00). It also employs "composite measures" to assess the cumulative impact of a range of restrictions that, taken together, could effectively close the market to investors or service providers.
After compiling and weighting these indicators, each economy is given a score that reflects its level of openness. The ranking included 53 African economies for which data was available.
The continental median of the index is 60.5 points, while all 25 of the most open countries came in below this level, with scores ranging between 21 and 42.5 points.
Rwanda topped the list with a score of 21, making it the least restrictive country for overland freight transport services in Africa, followed by Guinea-Bissau with 25.4, then Comoros with 25.6, and Benin with 25.7.
The next centers included Cape Verde with 27.4, Burundi with 28, Namibia with 28.2, and Kenya with 30.4, all of which scored less than 31 points, reflecting a high level of regulatory openness.
In the next ranks came Zimbabwe and Liberia tied at 33.8, followed by Gambia at 34.5, Sierra Leone and South Africa at 36.1 each, Senegal at 36.4, Chad at 37.1, Malawi at 37.5, Burkina Faso at 37.6, and Seychelles at 37.7.
The list also included Mauritius with 38.6, Nigeria with 38.7, Eswatini and Morocco with 39.5 each, Djibouti with 39.8, the Democratic Republic of Congo with 42.3, and Equatorial Guinea with 42.5.
The World Bank emphasizes that the STRI index is not merely a ranking of countries, but rather a reflection of policy and regulatory decisions made by governments. A score below 30 signifies the removal of most major restrictions, such as bans on commercial presence and de facto monopolies, along with more transparent procedures, reflecting a clear approach to supporting the business environment and facilitating trade.
