Intra-regional road forum cancelled for financial reasons

Lack of sponsorship has forced the cancellation of the annual Road Transport Forum, an event that addresses the main problems faced by the road transport industry in intra-regional trade and makes a concerted effort to find solutions. Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta) executive director, Barney Curtis, has been trying to secure sponsorship from the African Development Bank (AfDB) which expressed interest at the last event, but this has not materialised. “The forum is not a normal conference where the sale of delegate seats is sufficient income to make it financially viable,” said Curtis. “It is a regional event for the whole of East and Southern Africa and its venue alternates between southern and East Africa – with the 2014 event planned for East Africa.” The East African venue would have made it difficult to financially break even without a major sponsor, said Curtis, who had no option but to cancel it. “This is a most unfortunate situation to be in, seeing as the 2013 forum held great promise for future events,” he said. “The process carried out in the forums has shown that it is something that the road transport industry really wants.” The process for solving Non-Tariff Barriers will however continue.