‘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.