Another source of costs is linked to various official and
informal payments levied along the transit route (Arvis
et al., 2011). For example, “In many environments the
complexity of the supply chain means that traders or their
forwarders need to spend more time and staff to get things
done, and this adds to the costs. It has been shown that in
some cases, like Western Africa, these additional costs are
on a par with the cost of trucking”. Transit chains are thus
subject to inefficiencies and “even rent-seeking activities
and corruption” (World Bank, 2013).