One of the unsung heroes of cross-border trade facilitation in sub-Saharan road freight, Mike Fitzmaurice, is currently on a visit to Morocco where he’ll form part of a “Mobility, Transport and Logistics” conference in Tangier.
Fitzmaurice, who heads up the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), is a guest of the government of President Aziz Akhannouch and the African Union, and when the conference gets under way on October 23, will share speaking turns with dignitaries such as Mohammed Abdeljalil, Morocco’s Minister for Transport and Logistics, and Mohamed Shehu of Nigeria’s Federal Road Safety Corps.
As chief executive of Fesarta and its border transit assistance bureau, Transist, Fitzmaurice is one of the most dedicated public-private troubleshooting consultants for long-distance hauliers. He will be a keynote speaker on the first day of the three-day conference.
He will shed light on “Digital monitoring of the corridors, border posts, and ports in Africa”.
His participation in the Moroccan conference is widely regarded as recognition for the work he has done in assessing various problematic borders in the region, gathering and processing data, and recommending streamlining efficiencies in line with modern, one-stop-border post dynamics.
Interviewed by about three local television stations on the eve of the conference, Fitzmaurice said he had been asked whether he would “collaborate with Morocco on an ongoing basis to cement relationships on the supply chain and logistics platform”, the latter presumably referring to the success Transist has had in supporting road freight service providers.
