‘Hesitancy to embrace cross-border partnerships’

Africa’s notoriously poor record
of running multi-country projects
has resulted in few successful
cross-border partnerships on
the continent, says Paul Runge,
managing director of Africa
Project Access.
Runge said that because too
often talk did not result in action
at ground level there was a
hesitancy across the continent
to embrace cross-border
partnerships.
“In South Africa particularly
we are losing out on what is
happening with our neighbours
because we are just not grabbing
the opportunities. If we look
at the development in Tete in
Mozambique for instance, we are
definitely not benefiting because
we just don’t have the partnerships
in place and secondly because
we are not realising our plans for
cross-border co-operation.”
Runge said a prime example
was border posts in southern
Africa. “Talk of one-stop border
posts has been ongoing for years
but we are still not seeing them
become a reality. In the DRC and
Zambia talks of such a border post
have fallen flat as the Congolese
don’t see any benefit in it for
them.”
Runge said it was time Africa
turned this tide and started
embracing cross-border projects.
“The time for rail has come in
Africa and there is no shortage of
projects across the continent, but
if we want to truly leverage the
benefits, countries are going to
have to work together to establish
a common understanding of the
issues and challenges faced, while
being committed to achieving
success.”
Runge said now more than ever
the creation of synergies in Africa
was essential to benefit from the
many projects on offer.