Corridors
Corridors are transport routes around roads, railways and waterways linking production zones, cities, countries and ports. They are where free trade agreements are actually implemented and offer the backbone of regional integration by connecting markets and facilitating trade between countries. They can help goods move faster – and cheaper – across borders, and are particularly important for landlocked countries that rely on access to seaports. Corridors also offer the potential to promote investment and create jobs. Currently, trade policies are often inconsistently applied along corridors, while there are increasing opportunities to apply technology to facilitate trade.
Resources on corridors
African corridors for investment, food security and climate action
This paper by the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) and ECDPM discusses the challenges and opportunities of connecting four key policy areas in relation to African food systems and an approach to addressing these to encourage investment on and around transboundary corridors.
26 May 2026
Notes from Kasumbalesa: Where 25km of trucks meet bikes on the Lobito corridor
Bruce Byiers went to the Kasumbalesa border between Zambia and the DRC to find out what trading at the crossroads of the Lobito and North-South corridors looks like. Drawing on field observations, he shows why real incentives and everyday practices at the border matter as much as grand corridors and AfCFTA ambitions.
17 February 2026
Leveraging AFCFTA for regional supply chain integration and competitiveness
By Audu Amos, Helen Yangu Shishi and Suleiman A. S. Aruwa for the International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering Management & Applied Science.
01 February 2026
Agency, extractivism, and development: the case of the Lobito Corridor
By Ricardo Reboredo for Third World Quarterly.
17 December 2025
Africa’s Development Dynamics 2025: Infrastructure, growth and transformation
By the OECD and the African Union.
01 October 2025
SADC endorses North-South economic corridor concept
By SADC.
08 August 2025
EU Global Gateway support to strengthen transport and trade between Africa and Europe
By Boyan Kavalov, Andrius Kučas, Mert Kompil, Paola Proietti, Patrizia Sulis, Antigoni Maistrali, Sergio Oliete Josa and Georgelin Lenaic, European Commission's Joint Research Centre.
01 August 2025
Revisiting the impact of trade facilitation measures in Africa: A structural gravity approach
By Mengistu Alamneh Wassie, Lukas Kornher and Chahir Zaki for The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development.
23 June 2025
A game changer in flux: recent developments and risks in the Lobito corridor
By E. D. Wala Chabala and Judy Hofmeyr for APRI.
05 May 2025
Utilising trade facilitation as an efficient means of Implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area
By Noncedo Zukiswa Vutula for the African Journal of Rhetoric.
01 May 2025
