Zambia transhipment rules add to the messy mix
ALAN PEAT
THE TRANSPORT into Africa market poses major challenges from a logistics perspective, according to Alwyn Nel, one of the owners of clearing and forwarding and road transport company, Kingfisher Freight.
The operation deals with overborder countries as far north as Kenya, but Nel highlights the problems starting with two immediate neighbours - and the main transit countries to destinations further north.
The Beitbridge border post into Zimbabwe is bedeviled by two main problems, Nel told FTW - renovations in the Zimbabwe customs yard causing serious delays, and an inability amongst importers to pay for duties and freight.
“If the Zimbabwe post parking is full,” he said, “you can’t get trucks across from SA, and you can see the amount that truckers lose sitting waiting for a couple of days.
“Added to that, there are other customs delays - computers down or strikes.”
Zambia, meantime, is no longer allowing transhipment of transit cargoes, but demands that the same truck and load moves in-and-out of the country.
“They are also demanding duty up-front,” said Nel, “and are not geared up for duty-paid loads - so every driver has to carry money.
“It’s becoming a logistics nightmare.”
If companies don’t have the necessary infrastructure to meet the demands, they are facing financial ruin, he added.
Kingfisher is now in its 11th year of operation, and has everything in place to meet the requirements.
“But,” said Nel, “we are still dictated to by things that are out of our control.
“The customs infrastructure and facilities are just not enough to cope with the volume, and they have never allowed for the growth that is now facing them.”
