A 2011 study of infrastructure within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region found that road freight across the West African region moves at an average of 1.6 km per hour, almost double the average velocity in southern Africa. The study, which was done by the World Bank's Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project that examines physical infrastructure in Africa, also found surface transport to be more expensive than in the rest of Africa and other developing countries. It costs $0.08 per kilometre to move one tonne of freight, twice the average cost in the rest of the developing world.
The projected regional railroad network is expected to speed up transit times for freight and reduce the prices of consumer goods for landlocked Sahelian countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger because most imported goods will be shipped by train. Those countries are also expecting the regional railroad network to boost their exports of natural resources.
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