African ports face volume overload

Major traffic growth is one of several fundamental challenges facing the African port system in the years ahead, said Jerome Ntibarekerwa, the secretary general of the Port Management Association of Eastern & Southern Africa (PMAESA). Speaking at the Africa Ports and Harbour Congress in Sandton last week, Ntibarekerwa said port container traffic demand was expected to quadruple by 2020 and had already triggered the need for more than US$9.5 billion (about R60 billion) in terminal developments. “The rapid growth in traffic is already putting pressure on the ports system. Shipping lines have serious concerns about the condition, capability and future reliability of ports, road and rail services and infrastructure,” he said. Furthermore, port customers want competitive service and prices. “Strong competition exists among global supply chains to attract customers, and transportation is increasingly important in buying decisions,” he said. Ntibarekerwa pointed out that ports were pivotal to economic growth but ensuring they provided the desired benefits required a real political will, good governance and transparency in adjudication criteria and in decision-making in case of concession and privatisation processes. “Removal of bottlenecks relating to policy, regulatory, bureaucracy and the introduction of fiscal and nonfiscal incentives will increase connectivity and cop-operation between African ports,” he added.