Fesarta's closure puts the brakes on further regional harmonisation

14 Apr 2015 - by Liesl Venter

First TradeMark Southern
Africa (TMSA) closed
its doors – and then the
Federation of
East and Southern
African Road
Transport
Associations
(Fesarta)
followed suit
almost a year to
the day later.
Be it funding or politics at play,
the reasons for the closure of these
two fundamental organisations
remain unclear. Suffice it to say
that the closing down of TMSA
already compromised the progress
made in transport efficiency in
southern Africa. Fesarta’s closure is
set to compound this even further.
Fesarta has for the past decade
or more played a critical role
in the heavy
vehicle transport industry across
southern and East Africa. Currently
there is real uncertainty across
the industry as to how the current
Comesa/EAC/SADC tripartite
programmes and projects will
proceed without the role of Fesarta.
“Harmonisation of road
transport regulations is a critical
lever for promoting economic
growth on the continent by
reducing costs and optimising the
smooth flow of goods
and services between
countries,” says Paul
Nordengen, research
group leader: network
asset management
systems for the CSIR
Built Environment.
“Minimising delays
at border posts is
another critical
issue. Unfortunately
many countries in the region
tend to be introspective, focusing
primarily on domestic issues.
Fesarta has been a significant voice
in making regional issues more
prominent by sharing information
and being vocal at relevant regional
conferences, workshops and
committee meetings. They have
facilitated bridging the gap between
industry (primarily transport
operators) and governments on
numerous road transport-related
issues. The sharing of information
regarding regional initiatives and
developments in road transport has,
in my mind, been most beneficial
for a wide range of government
and industry stakeholders, helping
them to take into consideration
developments in other parts of the
continent when dealing with their
own local issues.”
Barbara Mommen, CEO of
the Maputo Corridor Logistics
Initiative (MCLI), agrees, saying
that organisations such as MCLI
have depended on Fesarta’s
insights into various initiatives
that affect trade and transport in
the region.
“It allowed us to spot
immediately any regulations or
similar things that would have a
negative impact on the industry
and we could react timeously,” she
says.
The Regional Economic
Communities (RECs) – SADC,
Comesa and EAC – primarily
represent the governments
of member
states. Fesarta
represented
primarily the road
freight industry in
the region.
“This was a
healthy situation,
ensuring that
both perspectives of
important regional issues
relating to road transport were
highlighted and addressed. It
is thus unlikely that the RECs
or the Tripartite on their own
could fulfil the role of Fesarta. A
more industry-representative
body is required. It is thus most
unfortunate that Fesarta has
ceased operating,” says Nordengen.
According to Brenda Horne
Ferreira, CEO of the Southern
Africa Shippers Transport and
Logistics Council, there remains a
real disconnect between countries
and the regions that have to
implement policy and programmes
as per the Tripartite. “Fesarta
– and really Barney Curtis who
headed up the organisation –
played a major technical role in
the harmonisation drive that was
facilitated across the Tripartite.
The question is who is going to do it
now?”
This, the experts agree, is the big
question. What now?
Says Mommen: “I really don’t
know what the answer is, and I
am always averse to forming new
institutions when existing ones
could be beefed
up and used
effectively. But,
I do think that
SADC should try
to find funding to
support Fesarta
and to ensure
its continuity,
as they have
been a pillar
of support to
SADC’s transport
initiatives.”
Horne Ferreira agrees saying
allowing one organisation to close to
just start up another is pointless.
“It is maybe time to rethink what
we need as regions from both a
public and private sector perspective,
what policies have to be implemented
and what is the best platform to
drive it with.”
Nordengen says as a matter of
urgency stakeholders in the region,
including both government and
industry, are going to have to sit
down to discuss the way forward
– be it through the establishment
of a follow-on organisation or the
resuscitation of Fesarta so that its
valuable contribution to the road
transport sector in Africa is not lost.
Gavin Kelly,
technical
director of the
Road Freight
Association, says
it is essential to
have someone
monitoring policy
and programmes
from a regional
perspective.
“The RFA
won’t sit idly by
and watch decisions being made
at regional level that negatively
affect our operators, and we will get
involved. Already there have been
one or two issues that have had to
be taken up that would usually have
been handled by Fesarta,” he told
FTW. “In the interim the road freight
organisations in the various countries
can work together to address issues
as and when they come up, but it’s
not a feasible long- term solution.”