‘Maputo corridor a lesson in collaboration’

The Maputo
Development Corridor
(MDC) is possibly one
of the most successful
regional interconnection
initiatives in sub-Saharan
Africa and proof of what can
be achieved when stakeholders
collaborate.
That’s the view of consultant
Brenda Scrooby who told
delegates at the recent
Intermodal Africa conference
in Cape Town that a great
deal had been achieved on
this corridor in a reasonably
short time, recalling how in
2003, while living in Nelspruit,
she was told that moving a
container through the Port of
Maputo would simply not be
practical.
“I wanted to move
containers through Maputo
as it was closer and was told
that it would not work,” she
said. “It had been tried and
tested several times and had
failed, with the containers
disappearing for months on
end only
to finally
arrive back
in Nelspruit
never having
left the
continent.”
This was
despite the
transport
corridor
having been
planned as far
back as 1994
and officially launched in 1996.
“There were elements that
were just not working. But in
logistics anything is possible,”
said Scrooby who attributes the
success of the corridor to the
collaborative approach taken
through the ongoing work of
the Maputo Corridor Logistics
Initiative (MCLI).
Volumes on the corridor
have grown steadily.
In 2003
the total
throughput at
the Maputo
Port was in the
region of 4.8
million tonnes.
In 2014 the
port handled
19.1 million
tonnes of cargo.
“Stakeholder
collaboration
across all
levels, however, is crucial for
a successful corridor. Just
as important is a strong
institutional framework that
is underpinned by sustainable
funding.”
INSERT AND CAPTION
Volumes on the
corridor have grown
steadily over the
years. 
– Brenda Scrooby