NAIROBI, Kenya, Sept 16 – Kenya ranks sixth in Africa for openness of road freight transport services, according to the World Bank’s Services Trade Restrictions Index (STRI).
Kenya has an STRI score of 30.3, which measures restrictions imposed by a country’s regulatory and policy framework on trade in services, including road transport.
Rwanda ranks first with a score of 21, followed by Guinea-Bissau at 25.4, Benin at 25.7, Burundi at 28 and Namibia at 28.2.
“Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and several West African economies maintain relatively open road freight services regimes, reflected in low STRIs,” the World Bank said.
The report noted that countries with different levels of openness often belong to the same regional economic communities, share borders and rely on the same transport corridors.
Libya and Lesotho recorded the highest STRI scores at 100 each, indicating the most restrictive road freight services regimes among the countries assessed.
Other countries with high scores included Cameroon at 76, Algeria and Guinea at 70.5 each, Mali at 70.4 and Zambia at 68.8.
“There can be regulatory obstacles to driving freight across Africa,” the World Bank said.
It cited restrictions on cabotage, limits on the number of days foreign drivers can stay in transit countries and, in some cases, a complete prohibition on providing road freight services.
“These regulatory barriers can vary significantly across countries,” the report said.
