Working together to promote economic growth and enhance Africa’s competitiveness is at the heart of a cooperative agreement signed recently between the Switzerland-headquartered International Road Transport Union (IRU) and the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta). According to Fesarta executive director Barney Curtis, this agreement will see Fesarta and the IRU – through its Regional Committee for Africa (Cripa) – liaise on a more regular basis. Cripa, the IRU’s African arm, has 28 members in 22 West and North African countries. It will now represent through Fesarta the interests of 16 additional African countries. “Fesarta has always wanted to have a close working relationship with the IRU since they are considered to be one of the most respected international road transport associations and we can learn a great deal from them,” said Curtis. He said through the agreement the two organisations would now optimise their respective strengths to jointly contribute to promoting economic growth and enhancing Africa’s competitiveness. This would improve access to international markets and contribute to economic integration by facilitating movement of goods and services. According to Curtis, while it is unlikely that there will be many direct benefits to Fesarta, a lot can be learnt taking into account the IRU’s years of experience and expertise in facilitating trade, tourism and international road transport.
