Rail will determine future of ports serving southern Africa

Massive

investment

in the ports

serving

southern Africa has raised

the physical capacity to

move containers, bulk and

breakbulk between vessels

and the quayside, but landside

connections remain a

challenge.

This has shifted the

focus to rail – with the

consensus being that the

most competitive port in the

region will be the one with

the best multi-modal and

bulk rail connections.

According to the Southern

African Development

Community (SADC)

website, member states have

around 64 maritime and

inland waterway transport

projects in development.

Dar es Salaam in

Tanzania and Walvis Bay in

Namibia are singled out.

“Regional rail master

planning needs to be linked

to new and expanded

port development — a

major departure from the

existing approach to rail

planning,” according to a

study commissioned for the

African Development Bankfunded

Programme for

Infrastructure Development

in Africa (PIDA).

“Regional traffic along

various corridors to and

from landlocked countries

is forecast to reach volumes

that could justify the

building of new, modern

railway lines to link these

landlocked

countries

to the sea,

assuming

that the

development

of the

additional

port

capacities are

concentrated

in a few

efficient

locations,” it

adds.

In southern Africa the

“few efficient locations”

would include Dar es

Salaam, Beira, Maputo, the

South African commercial

ports and Walvis Bay.

Construction of a new

container terminal and a

bulk SADC port is under

way in Walvis Bay, and

in January this year the

World Bank agreed to give

Tanzania a $305-million

loan to expand the port of

Dar es Salaam.

A 2014 World Bank report

estimated that inefficiencies

at the port

were costing

Tanzania and

its neighbours

up to US$2.6

billion a year.

The bank

has allocated

a further

US$300

million for an

intermodal

and rail

development

project for the

Dar es Salaam-Isaka link.

It will help finance the

upgrading of the entire

Central Corridor railway

from the port of Dar es

Salaam to the inland Lake

Victoria (at Mwanza)

and Lake Tanganyika (at

Kigoma).

Elsewhere talk still has to

be turned into action.

The importance of rail

was emphasised during the

recent celebrations to mark

the dredging of the Maputo

channel to 14 metres.

“We urge that there

be speed in the reform

of the rail system to

accommodate the volumes

of cargo that the Port of

Maputo is able to handle,”

Mozambican transport and

communications minister

Carlos Mesquita said at the

ceremony.

On the west coast,

the “Masterplan for

development of an

international logistics hub

for SADC countries in

the Republic of Namibia”

emphasises the importance

of rail.

It sets the target of 2020

for the upgrading of existing

sections of rail and the

purchase and refurbishment

of rolling stock. This

will be around two years

after the new Walvis Bay

container terminal becomes

operational.

In South Africa the focus

of Transnet Freight Rail is

on moving bulk, with some

of its projects being moved

to the slow lane.

The 2016 Transnet

Integrated Report states:

“In light of muted economic

growth – and the uncertain

timing and rate of global

economic recovery – Freight

Rail has to revise the timing

of strategic investments in

rail”.

However, it adds: “Freight

Rail remains steadfast in

its goal of becoming a ‘Top

5’ rail operator globally.

The migration of the rail

business to an integrated

logistics solutions provider

is key to achieving this goal.”

For South African ports to

remain the main gateways

for trade in the region, TFR

will have to move faster to

exploit the opportunities

it has identified in the

container and automotive

sectors.

INSERT

Regional rail master

planning needs to

be linked to new

and expanded port

development

– PIDA