In this post, we will provide a comparative review of the cost of road transport in Ethiopia. A study from the World Bank shows the cost per kilometer of land transport along major port lines in Africa (SATN: Comparative Transit Transport Cost Analysis):
Corridor
|
Distance
(KM)
|
Cost
(USD)
|
Cost
Per KM
|
Djibouti-Addis
Ababa
|
844
|
1511
|
1.74
|
Mombasa-Kampala
|
1440
|
3250
|
2.28
|
Dares
Salaam - Kigali
|
1650
|
4980
|
3.02
|
Walvis
Bay - Harare
|
2409
|
3585
|
1.49
|
Maputo-Johannesburg
|
581
|
775
|
1.38
|
Nacala-Lusaka
|
1774
|
2735
|
1.54
|
Average
in USA
|
1.1
|
Another study of the total cost of import from China to Addis Ababa finds that the sea freight unit cost applied for 20TEU
containers from Chinese ports of Tianjin and Shanghai to Djibouti port was USD 1,500 and USD 1,315
respectively. And for the inland road transportation, the freight rates from Djibouti port to Modjo dry port
ranges from 1,734 to 1,854 USD per 20TEU container. This means it costs more to truck a container from
Djibouti to Addis Ababa, than to ship the same container from China to Djibouti. (Nathaniel C. 2015)
In general, the cost of transport on the Djibouti corridor is comparatively reasonable compared to other African corridors. However, distribution to other parts of the country remains quite high, and the total cost of import is very high as well. Since Ethiopia incurs port costs significantly higher than countries that have their own port, it is important to optimize the cost of domestic transportation.
This is one of the reasons the EthioTrack GPS Fleet Management System is an important addition to the road transportation sector in Ethiopia, and aims to help companies and individuals save money in their logistics and transportation expenses.
