Beyond Distance: Understanding the Trade Disadvantage of the Sub-Saharan African Landlocked Countries

Abstract: This paper analyses the magnitude of exports of the landlocked countries of Sub-Saharan Africa to the European Union and attempts to find an explanation for the low trade flows of the region. Understanding the cause of the limited trade of landlocked countries in the region is important to enable successful implementation of trade enhancing policies and reforms. The study first estimates the magnitude of the exports of landlocked countries compared with the coastal economies in the region. Secondly, the study estimates the effects of two of the most commonly explained reasons for the limitations for the trade of landlocked countries, the distance to ports and the time it takes to complete the border measures needed when accessing a foreign countries territory for accessing seaborne trade. A log-linearised Gravity model is used for the estimation during two different time frames for the respective regressions 2000-2018 and 2015-2018. The results of the study found that the landlocked countries of the region exported 53.7 percent less to the European Union than the countries with coastal location. The impact of the variables relating to the distance to ports and the time it takes to complete border measures remains unanswered in the study due to a lack of significant results.