The Nathan-managed TCBoost project collaborated with the West Africa Trade Hub to produce a comprehensive analysis of the transport corridor between Tema, Ghana, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Our expers assessed the reliability, costs, and times associated with infrastructure components along the corridor.

We compared the corridor’s performance to international standards and the performance of comparable developing-country corridors previously analyzed, calculating logistics scores for each corridor link and node and the corridor as a whole. To account for trade direction (inbound or outbound) and cargo type (containerized or noncontainerized), we analyzed performance under three scenarios.

Our analysis of the port in Tema showed that berth throughput, occupancy, and dwell time issues were lowering productivity in an already congested port. For inbound and outbound traffic, road travel times and reliability were fair (with reliability measured by time variation in the transit process). But associated costs for inbound traffic were very high for most road segments, largely because truckers lack backhaul cargo for the return trip and run empty. We also assessed customs operations at the port of Tema, at the border posts, and at Ouagarinter, where most cargo entering Burkina Faso must be brought for customs clearance. Recommendations for improving corridor performance ranged from low-cost policy actions to major investments in port infrastructure.