the challenges facing landlocked developing countries: a case study ...

Burundi’s internal road network is in good condition. The trunk roads to the Rwanda and
Tanzania border have both recently undergone improvements, including the construction of a
modern parking facility at the Kobero (Tanzania) crossing.
Rail
Burundi has no internal rail system but depends on the Tanzanian rail from Kigoma
(Tanzania) on Lake Tanganyika to Dar es Salaam for much of its transport. The Tanzanian
railway is considered to be unreliable and in poor condition. In June 2002, the Tanzania
Railways Corporation suffered one of the deadliest train crashes in the continent’s history
when one of its trains lost power and rolled backwards down a slope crashing into a freight
train and reportedly killing over 200 people.
Burundi also uses the Ugandan railway from Kampala to Mombasa, although this corridor is
dominated by road transport. While this line has the potential to reduce the burden of transit
freight on the Kampala-Mombasa highway, its dilapidated condition and undependability
prevent it from doing so to any significant extent. As mentioned in the Uganda section of this
report, it is estimated that an average trip from Kampala to Mombasa takes 21 days. The
unreliability of the rail arrivals often make it impossible to book ships ahead of time at the
port of Mombasa, causing further delays (EIU 2002).
Ports/Waterways
Most of Burundi’s goods eventually pass through the port at Dar es Salaam, while a smaller
percent use the port at Mombasa. Handling charges at the port of Dar es Salaam are cheaper
than those at Mombasa: charges for a 20ft container at Dar es Salaam are about $1,470,
compared to $1,870 at Mombasa. Both ports have benefited from recent infrastructural
improvements, including the construction of a grain handling facility at the port of Mombasa.
Many of the recent improvements undertaken by these ports can be seen as a product of the
direct competition of these ports for East Africa’s landlocked countries’ trade.
The inland port of Bujumbura on Lake Tanganyika plays a major role in Burundi’s
international flow of goods. Approximately 80% of Burundi’s external trade passes through
this port on its way to Kigoma and ultimately Dar es Salaam. The port is operating at undercapacity,
and is not considered to require additional capacity in the near future (UNCTAD
1999a).
POLITICAL RELATIONS
For the last decade and much of its history Burundi has been marked by violent civil wars
and unstable relations with its neighbors. The 1993 assassination of its first democratically
president, Melchior Ndadaye, sparked a bloody war that has continued for over a decade
between the minority Tutsi-dominated army and ethnic Hutu rebels. Destruction of
infrastructure, regional economic sanctions, and aggravated tensions with neighbors due to
increasing spillovers of violence and refugee migrations have all compounded Burundi’s
position as a landlocked country. While a tenuous and long-sought cease fire was signed in
December 2002, both sides accused each other of breaking the agreement only days later.
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