Congestion hampers aid cargo

Congestion at points of entry
is one of the single biggest
obstacles to the smooth flow
of health and humanitarian
supplies into Africa.
Speaking at the recent
Gordon Institute of
Business Science (Gibs)
Health and Humanitarian
Logistics conference held in
Johannesburg last month,
supply chain consultant Anke
Schaffranek suggested that
African governments should
take the lead and arrange for
pre-clearance of health and
humanitarian supplies.
“The ports are incredibly
congested and medicines and
related humanitarian products
can take up to a month to clear,”
according to a representative of
the United Nations Children’s
Fund (Unicef) in Nigeria.
“Private aid companies,
and their logistics partners,
should work more closely with
governments to ensure they
understand their needs better.
And they should also look at
creating synergies with each
other and utilising each other’s
existing structures to fast-track
the movement and clearance of
goods,” said Schaffranek.