Regional port system – is privatisation the answer?

On Africa’s east coast the port of Djibouti has embraced privatisation, with DP World taking over the operation of the port and establishing a successful regional container hub. Further south the port of Mombasa in Kenya, which is one of those that turned its back on privatisation, has embarked on a programme of dredging and a Japanese loan of US$200 million has secured the construction of a second container terminal. Mombasa has endured periods of chronic congestion, worsened by political upheaval that disrupted the movement of cargo from the port to neighbouring Uganda. Mombasa’s second container terminal is expected to be completed by 2013 and will have capacity for 1.2 million TEUs. The existing terminal handled 615 000 TEUs and the port a total of 16.5mt of cargo during 2008. Tanzania’s principal port of Dar es Salaam recently cancelled an exclusivity concession clause with container terminal operator Tanzania International Container Services (TICTS). The new agreement enables Tanzania to bring in other terminal operators or revert to running the remainder of the port as a state-owned entity once again and stems from widespread dissatisfaction over the progress of privatisation at the port. Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania’s flirtation with rail privatisation quickly hit rocky ground with indications that Kenya and Uganda clearly wanted the rail concession held by Rift Valley Railway cancelled, while in Tanzania the concessionaire Rites of India has been forced to defend its performance despite being less than two years in operation and having inherited a broken, rundown railway operation. In Mozambique the ports of Maputo and Nacala experienced similar pressure from government and other national bodies amidst an underlying opposition to the principle of state-owned corporations being left in the hands of foreign operators. The American concession holder for the Nacala railway and port company, itself under stress, sold out to local interests, while in Maputo the Britishcontrolled operator of Maputo Port Development Company, also under pressure from government, sold out to South Africa’s Grindrod Group. Grindrod subsequently entered into an operating agreement with international terminal operator DP World. Only at the port of Beira, operated by Dutch-controlled Cornelder, does it seem that there has been an acceptance of private operation although not a great amount of progress is apparent with regard to increasing the capacity and performance of the port. With the refurbishment of the former Sena railway and the advent of large-scale coal exports from the Moatize district through the port of Beira from 2010, efforts are now turning to dredging the port to more acceptable levels. In Namibia Walvis Bay continues to be a success story with improved efficiencies and a huge step forward in ship repair, although efforts to attract increased shipping and meaningful volumes of trade along the respective transport corridors into Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the DRC have been marginally successful – but it’s still early days. Angola’s ports remain problematic Angola’s ports remain hugely problematic in terms of delays and congestion. Of the country’s four main ports – Luanda, Lobito, Namibe and Malongo – Luanda has been described as one of the world’s most congested ports, despite in excess of US$100 million being spent on upgrades aimed at reducing delays. Angola’s northern neighbour the DRC is unique in that despite having over 9 000km of common border, it has a mere 40km of coastline. Matadi is the country’s principal port. Although fairly well equipped, the port has a restrictive draught of 6.4m. The Congo’s (Brazzaville) main port is Pointe Noire, approximately 150km north of the Congo River, and is served by an operating railway into the interior. This is one of the few deepwater ports in West Africa with a draught up to 13.2m and is also one of the better equipped ports with nearly 5km of quayside. About three million tonnes of cargo is worked annually. Construction is due to commence early in 2010 on a new container terminal which will be managed by the French Bolloré Group on a 27-year concession. Douala in Cameroon is central Africa’s busiest port. The port is connected to the capital Yaoundé by rail and road. Interconnecting highways linking Cameroon, Congo, DRC, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Central African Republic are planned in an effort to strengthen regional integration in central Africa.