Non‐physical barriers to traffic flow and the PTA programme of action: problems and prospects

A lot of resources have .been committed to the provision of transport infrastructure in Eastern and Southern Africa. Some of these resources have been borrowed from outside and have to be repaid. Hence the need to maximize their use. However, this is being minimized by non‐infrastructural bottlenecks to traffic flow. These range from macro‐economic constraints with implications for passenger (bus) transport such as the non‐availability or acute shortage of foreign exchange to slow, cumbersome documentation procedures particularly for cross‐border traffic.

The Preferential Trade Area (PTA) for Eastern and Southern Africa is geared to the reduction and eventual elimination of actual and potential non‐physical barriers to traffic flow, for which it has instituted a number of schemes. After introductory remarks on the sub‐regional economy, its transport sector and avenues for sub‐regional cooperation and the implementation of these schemes is assessed and other non‐physical barriers yet to be addressed by the PTA are examined before conclusions are drawn.