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

Republic depends almost exclusively on its road network for internal transport. This road
system, however, with only 450 km of paved roads centered around Bangui (ITDN 2001) is
wholly inadequate for reaching much of the country. In fact, the northern and eastern parts of
the country remain largely inaccessible for several months each year during the wet season.
Rail
The Central African Republic has no rail system. It depends on the Cameroonian railway for
much of its trade passing through Douala. This railway is considered to be in good condition
and is operating below capacity. There are, however, delays associated with inadequate
transshipment facilities.
Ports/Waterways
The Oubangui River, which has traditionally played a vital role in the CAR’s trade, was
recently rendered impassable by the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. River
transport is also severely limited by the season, only being possible during the wettest
months of the year. Even when the river is passable, river transit is extremely slow with the
journey from Point Noire to Bangui normally taking 2.5 months. With peace hopefully
returning to the DRC, allowing passage on the Oubangui River, the Lake Chad Basin
Commission has begun discussed damming the river in order to make it passable year round.
River transport in the Central African Republic also suffers from poorly equipped river ports
(i.e. Belabo and Bangui). Now that river transport has reopened, however, plans are
underway to develop Bangui’s port.
The Douala port has facilities for general cargo, container terminals, and specialized berths
for minerals and fruit, but suffers from extensive delays and limitations on access to larger
vessels in the access channel, which need to be loaded lightly in order to access the port. Port
and customs clearance can take as many as 30 days.
POLITICAL RELATIONS
The Central African Republic, like many of its Western African neighbors, has suffered from
a decade of political instability, border disputes, and neighboring crises. With only two
corridors to the sea, Central African Republic’s trade and economy have been particularly
vulnerable to such situations.
The recent political crisis in the DRC has had a dramatic effect on Central African Republic
trade as the DRC closed its border with the CAR in order to prevent the cross-border flow of
arms and to hinder the CAR’s involvement in the war. Not only had the DRC provided one
of the major transport corridors for Central African Republic, but it had also served as one of
the CAR’s major export destinations in Africa (IMF DOTS 2002). The crisis in the DRC also
resulted in a fuel shortage in 2000, further hampering the CAR economy (ITDN 2001).
Meanwhile, the CAR has witnessed increasing tensions with Chad over accusations in both
directions of supporting rebel groups. The CAR government has also accused Chad of trying
to annex the northern part of the CAR for its rich oil reserves (EIU 2002).
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