The main routes of the BRICS: numbers and maps

Currently, the total cargo turnover of the BRICS countries is more than 7 trillion tkm, or twothirds of the world’s cargo turnover. Therefore, the BRICS transport framework plays a key role in the global economy, contributing to global economic growth and the development of transit regions. The promotion of mutual trade and integration between the countries entails the need to improve the quality of the existing transport infrastructure, organize new routes for the delivery of goods, and coordinate an approach to all logistical obstacles through the creation of transport corridors.

An International Transport Corridor (ITC) is a set of agreements between countries aimed at changing the speed and direction of trade flows in a certain area. The rules governing the transportation and transit of goods along a certain route are supported by an agreement signed by the participating countries.

Modern ITCs are integrated systems of transport routes and related infrastructure facilities, designed for the efficient movement of goods and passengers between different countries and regions. ITCs include railways and roads, sea and river routes, as well as air routes and logistics hubs such as ports, terminals and warehouses. ITCs are designed to overcome objective physical, economic and political constraints on the movement of goods by creating a predictable and transparent business environment for freight carriers and consumers of their services.

The transport infrastructure of Eurasia, which includes Russia and its neighboring countries, has traditionally developed in the direction of latitudinal routes. However, in modern conditions, meridional routes are becoming increasingly important, especially the North-South ITC, which connects with most of the latitudinal Eurasian transport routes in the East-West direction, particularly with the Eurasian transit route through Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.

International north–south transport corridor (INSTC)

This route connects the countries of Northern Europe and the South (the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, India) without the use of the infrastructure of the Suez Canal — through Russia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. This ITC is multimodal and includes railway, road, sea and river routes with a total length of 7,200 km: from the largest port in the north of Russia — St. Petersburg — to the largest port in India — Mumbai. Today, a wide range of goods is transported through this ITC, particularly grain, coal and ferrous metals. The volume of cargo traffic is growing in all directions and modes of transport. 

The North-South corridor has three recognized branches: the western one along the west coast of the Caspian Sea, the eastern one along the east coast of the sea, and the trans-Caspian branch, through the sea. All routes lead to the ports of southern Iran (Bandar Abbas, Chabahar). Goods are then shipped further on to India, the countries of the Persian Gulf or East Africa. The branching of the corridor provides a certain margin of flexibility to trade participants, but at the same time slows down the necessary infrastructure development due to the «dispersion» of resources. 

A detailed analysis of the INSTC is provided in the joint report published by the Roscongress Foundation and the ITI Research Centre ”The North — South Corridor: New Opportunities for Russia’s Foreign Trade”.

The east-west corridor and the routes of the Belt and Road initiative

The East-West ITC passes through the Eurasian continent and includes competitive routes for the supply of goods by rail between Europe and Asia.

The East-West ITC is built around the Trans-Siberian Railway, which crosses the territory of Russia, providing access to the railway networks of Korea, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan in the east, and the European countries in the west, and provides transport and economic ties between the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and European countries. The northern routes of the ITC use the Trans-Siberian Railway through the border crossings of the Far East, with access to China directly and through Mongolia (Naushki), and to the Eurasian route through Kazakhstan. A network of the most important international transport corridors in road and rail traffic passes through the territory of the member states of the Eurasian route, ensuring the flow of goods in East-West traffic. The Eurasian route is the main route for the transit of goods by rail between China and the EU.

For many centuries, the continental Silk Road was a traditional route connecting the countries of Europe and China, which lost its importance as a result of the colonial expansion of European states in modern times. When the Trans-Siberian Railway opened in 1916 with its final destination in Vladivostok, it became the main latitudinal route for the transportation of goods in Eurasia.

The One Belt, One Road project, initiated by China in 2013, involves combining land and sea trade routes to more efficiently deliver goods to countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. To do this, it is proposed to connect two projects — the “Silk Road Economic Belt,” a transcontinental corridor connecting China with Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Russia and Europe by land, and the “Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century,” which connects the coastal regions of China with Southeast Asia, South Asia, the countries of the South Pacific, the Middle East, East Africa and Europe. The program provides for attracting investment in the development of infrastructure facilities and is implemented through bilateral agreements between China and transit countries. Such agreements have already been signed by more than 150 countries, including Russia, the UAE, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa. India remains on the sidelines of participation in the initiative due to its territorial conflict with Pakistan, which joined the project. India has also criticized the Chinese project for its unilateral format and for the central role played by China.

Corridor through the Black and Mediterranean seas

This is a traditional route connecting the ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin with the countries of the Mediterranean Sea (through the Bosphorus) and giving access to the countries of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula (through the Suez Canal) and to the countries of Latin America (through Gibraltar). This ITC is limited by the capacity of the ports of the Azov-Black Sea basin. Today, it carries an average of 186 million tons per year, and there are plans to expand this to 250 million tons per year. The corridor is also limited by the capacity of the Bosphorus, one of the busiest sea straits.

International sea routes

BRICS transoceanic container lines connect the ports of Brazil (Rio de Janeiro), South Africa (Cape Town), India (Mumbai), China (Hong Kong, Shanghai) and Russia (Vostochny, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky).

Main directions of cargo flows:
• Brazil — S. Africa — India — China;
• Russia — Egypt — UAE — S. Africa;
• Russia — Egypt — Brazil.

The development of transoceanic routes is of the greatest importance for Brazil, the largest shipper in the BRICS space. Based on its geographical location and the structure of physical exports, it can be concluded that for the bulk of trade with the countries of the bloc, the priority mode of transport is by sea, due to its economy and the ability to transport large volumes of goods. Air transport is used for the high-speed delivery of valuable and perishable goods. Rail and road transport play a key role in the delivery of goods to ports and inland regions. Inland waterways facilitate the transport of bulk goods inside countries.

Trans-African routes

The Trans-African Highway Network project includes transcontinental road projects being developed by the African Union, the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in сollaboration with the regional economic communities. The total length of motorways in the network is 56,683 km.

One of the nine trans-African routes is the 10,228 km Cairo-Cape Town corridor, which connects Egypt with South Africa through Ethiopia. During British colonial rule, the road was known by names such as the Cape to Cairo Road, the Pan-African Highway, or the Great Northern Road. In the 1980s, a modified version was revived as part of the Trans-African Highway, the UNECA transcontinental road network. The route passes through the territory of nine countries — Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe,  Botswana and South Africa — and has the potential to allow travelers to cross the entire continent by car in just five days. According to the Egyptian Ministry of Transport, completion is scheduled for 2024.

The route also involves interface with already-implemented corridors, such as Addis Ababa — Nairobi — Mombasa, which allows Ethiopia to export its cargo through the port of Mombasa. As a landlocked country, Ethiopia primarily uses the port of Djibouti as a gateway for the vast majority of the goods it sells on the international market (90 to 95%). The completion of the 656-kilometer rail network linking the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to the port of Djibouti has helped optimize logistics on the country’s largest trade route, but on other routes, the bulk of cargo is transported mainly by road, significantly reducing the competitiveness of Ethiopia’s trade logistics. The further implementation of plans for the development of the railway network can change the situation. Ethiopia’s resumption of diplomatic relations with Eritrea has created the potential for expanded logistics operations through the Eritrean ports of Assab and Massawa. The Government of Eritrea has the potential to connect Assab (via the Metemma-Woreta-Weldiya-Assab railway line) to the Sudan via Weldiya (which is crossed by the Awash-Kombolcha-Mekelle railway line).