Africa’s Expensive Borders

By Rod Hunter (The New York Times)

WASHINGTON — The world's finance ministers, gathered here this week for the annual World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, will rightly lament the collapse of global trade talks and Africa's halting development progress.

But what Africa needs far more urgently than a trade deal is to clear the customs red-tape, corruption, transport monopolies and the like that keep the continent disconnected and destitute.