Southern Africa is awash with policies, research studies and conferences – but not nearly enough action, according to respondents to an FTW online survey on the state of logistics on the continent. “Sub-Saharan Africa has to adapt to the innovation and technological challenges in the supply chain industry to stay ahead of the competition and to become and remain part of the global playing field,” said one respondent, who preferred to remain anonymous. Cobus Lubbe, owner of Supply Chain Dinamix, believes that both the private and public sectors need to modernise. “Supply chain companies need to implement integrated supply chains and adapt to new innovation and technology to become leaders in their field and be competitive in the global arena." Logistics specialist Terence Fry believes that there should be greater cooperation between the players in the industry and government. “Trade logistics committees should be set up to create a think tank to identify all issues and bottlenecks and brainstorm solutions,” he said. “Brainstorming” should, however, be followed by action. Neill Thompson, managing member of Basenji Transport Services, called for “logical, bigpicture, fact-based discussion and agreement on one or two key issues, then make them work, and build on that success”. “Less talk, more action,” wrote one of the industry leaders who preferred to remain anonymous. There is little doubt among logistics executives whose companies are operating in the region about what needs to be done. First on the list is customs and corruption – mainly mentioned in the same sentence. “Politics and corruption still stifle trade development,” was one comment that sums up the feeling of many of the respondents, who came from countries throughout SADC. “Fluid border posts without corruption” would reduce the cost of doing business, said Andy Connell, lead consultant at A Bar C Services. There was consensus that much of the action should be focused on the modernisation and integration of the continent’s customs systems – with most respondents focused on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Christian Roeder, chief commercial officer of J&J Africa, called for “a proper approach to SADC where the countries work together to establish efficient corridors”. “African countries need to sign bilateral agreements to work together and allow companies to expand and operate cross border covering the whole of the subSaharan region,” wrote Lubbe. Another anonymous manager who has clearly been mulling over the challenges for some time wrote: “First and foremost, there is a need for a change in the mindset of those entrusted with the responsibility of administering regulations. “The tendency of all law enforcement units/organisations is to categorise all traders, importers and exporters into a category of fraudsters. “The result is the application of what I term an ‘Adam's sin syndrome’ to each and every trader, despite the volumes and nature of the business such a trader is undertaking. “The same treatment is extended to goods destined to government ministries and departments. “Discussions around trade facilitation measures need to take place at grassroots (operational) level of each law enforcement unit/ organisation to fast-track and accelerate the implementation of such measures. “Secondly, there is a need for improved communication between law enforcement units manning entry/exit posts. “In my view, all law enforcement units’ mandates are directed to a common purpose, despite the different roles that are accorded to each unit. Therefore, information sharing within regulating units is vital as a tool of trade facilitation.” For the private sector opportunities exist for companies to upgrade ancillary services, such as truck ports and service and repair stations along the routes. “Safety is a major area of concern, particularly in Gauteng, Democratic Republic of Congo and other high pilferage areas. Publicprivate partnerships need to be set in place for this,” as one respondent put it.
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