Good management demands PPP teamwork

The public and private sectors must share the wheel if southern Africa’s trade corridors are to deliver on their promise of growth and integration. According to transport corridor consultant Lovemore Bingandadi, corridor management institutions built on genuine public– private partnership (PPP) are also non-negotiable. “For a regional trade corridor to operate efficiently, you need more than roads, rails and ports,” he told Freight News. “You need a legal framework, harmonised rules and a dedicated corridor management institution where governments and the private sector sit together, make decisions together and are accountable together.” Bingandadi says three principles must be embedded in these institutions. “First, member states must delegate real responsibility to the corridor body and empower it to make decisions on design, construction, operations and removal of NTBs. Second, it must be a PPP. Third, governments must cede some of their powers to this entity.” He points to the Dakar– Lagos corridor in West Africa, where the management body has supra-national powers to act on behalf of five states, as a leading example. Closer to home, the Walvis Bay Corridors are probably the strongest performers at present. “Where this model is in place, governments can justify funding the corridor body and industry has a proper platform to drive efficiency, digitalisation and the removal of non-tariff barriers,” he said. LV