‘1600 documents needed for Zambia’

Inefficiencies and red tape
that “paralyse the daily
operations of ordinary
producers and traders”
have to be tackled if
African trade is to realise
its potential, says Marcelo
Giugale, director of the
World Bank’s economic
policy and poverty reduction
programme for Africa.
Writing the foreword for
a World Bank-sponsored
study “De-fragmenting
Africa. Deepening Regional
Trade Integration in Goods
and Services,” Giugale
outlines the steps that need
to be taken in order to
eliminate problems that see
trucks of companies like
Shoprite needing up to 1
600 documents in order to
clear cargo into Zambia.
Improving transport flows
is one of the steps.
The report points out that
the World Bank’s Logistics
Performance Index based
on a worldwide survey of
global freight forwarders
and express carriers found
that African countries
lagged significantly
behind other regions in
key areas such as customs
infrastructure.