Transport for Sustainable Development – The case of Inland Transport
This section contains a brief overview of GDP, and the evolution of unemployment and rail and road freight transport volume in the member States of the five United Nations regional commissions. Table A2 in annex II to this report provides a more detailed basis for correlation analysis relevant to sustainable transport. UNECA region (excluding UNESCWA member States)
Africa has benefited from unprecedented growth while a large part of its population remains trapped in economic poverty, facing rampant unemployment and inequality. The continent has averaged 5 per cent annual growth over the last decade, with some countries returning more than 7 per cent. Leading the growth were Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Angola and Chad, with 10 per cent average annual growth between 2002 and 2012, while the most lagging behind country during that period was Zimbabwe, losing over a fifth of the value of its economy. Underpinning this growth were relatively high commodity prices, increased domestic demand (due especially to increased private investment in infrastructure and energy) and improved economic governance and management (UNECA and AU, 2014). In most UNECA member States, according to International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates, unemployment has been steady during the past decade, regardless of the actual rate. In 2012, thirty-nine African countries had unemployment rates at lower than 10 per cent, while only six were below 5 per cent. South Africa has suffered consistently high unemployment at 25 per cent during much of the past decade, while Algeria showed the most progress, cutting unemployment from 29.8 per cent in 2000 to 9.8 per cent in 2012. The global unemployment rate in the continent was estimated at 6.0 per cent in 2013, and unemployment numbers are set to rise from 202 million in 2013 to 205 million in 2014 (UNECA, 2014). Most of Africa’s railway lines and roads are in bad condition and need huge investments, while the proportion of paved roads on the continent today is five times less than those in developed countries. As a result, transport costs alone are 63 per cent higher in Africa than in developed countries, hampering its competitiveness in the international and local markets (UNDPI, 2014). Algeria is the only country from the UNECA region with available road freight transport statistics9, while data on rail freight transport is available for only a dozen or so countries.10 In most of the countries for which data is available, there is a clear dip in rail freight transport volume between 2008 and 2010, as in the UNECE case, as a result of the economic crisis. UNECE Region
In the UNECE region, growth and development in recent years has been diverse. Although the GDP of all member States was seriously affected by the 2008–2009 financial crisis, the long-lasting economic growth and unemployment repercussions have been concentrated only in some of the member States (Figure 2.4). In 1995, more than one quarter of UNECE member States (for which data are available) had double-digit unemployment rates. This number peaked in 1999, when nearly half of these countries had an unemployment rate above 10 per cent. Following the rapid economic growth at the beginning of the twenty-first century, only seven UNECE member States had double-digit unemployment rates in 2007. The 9 10
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.ROD.GOOD.MT.K6 http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IS.RRS.GOOD.MT.K6
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