‘Africa not alone in difficult business practices’

Mindful of the legislative pitfalls in South Africa and the bureaucratic minefield on the rest of the continent, DHL’s Amadou Diallo said while there were serious challenges, it was not as difficult as doing business in some other countries. Concerning the movement of goods, Diallo said each and every country found ways of making things complicated instead of laws that made business easier. While Singapore was a model example of efficiency with 95% of transactions in the logistics industry handled electronically, Russia and Vietnam were not as swift in this department. Diallo said there were more chances of goods being opened and extensive documentation having to be filled in Russia, while in Vietnam up to seven documents would have to be filled in Vietnamese or English or the language of the bearer of the goods while goods were being transported. “For Africans it is harder to travel on the continent, so it is two to three times harder to move goods on the continent, which is why intra- African trade is not growing so fast,” he said. Furthermore, the conditions at border posts are not conducive to good business, as is the scourge of corruption. “We have given corruption a red card. We are fully against anybody making gain from corruption,” he said.