Port efficiencies will have to be prioritised if South Africa wants to retain its position as the preferred hub for the everdeveloping network of corridors spanning the Southern African Development Community (SADC), says the Nepad Business Foundation (NBF). Kudzanayi Bangure, an infrastructural project manager for the foundation whose flagship concern is overseeing maintenance and management of the North South Corridor (NSC) between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Durban, sketched a detailed picture of how “game-changing corridor developments” could affect freight going south. Dar es Salaam, Lobito, and even Nacala are all currently increasing the heat from their respective countries – Tanzania, Angola and Mozambique – to compete with South Africa for growing market share. But the fiercest competition, says Bangure, is currently coming from Walvis Bay, Namibia’s primary port that will see the commissioning of extensive infrastructural upgrades in August. “Port efficiencies come first, thereafter corridors - and what’s currently happening in Walvis Bay is a direct result of longstanding issues experienced in Durban, especially in relation to congestion. It’s been building up for some time and to some extent port authorities have dealt with it but perhaps not sufficiently.” Demand from landlocked countries with concentrated commodity economies like the DRC, Zambia and Botswana
is exactly why there is such an intensified focus on corridor development, says Bangure. Apart from the Walvis Bay corridor that goes north-west through Zambezia, formerly known as the Caprivi, there are several other corridor and linkage developments that have created the impression of fewer loads on the NSC. Add current concerns, such as incidents of truck burning on the N3 to Durban and the Department of Transport’s plans to possibly restrict the height of cargo transporting vehicles to 4.3m, and it’s little wonder that shippers and transporters are beginning to look at alternatives for getting cargo in and out of SADC.
An interesting corridor development that Bangure touched on is the upgrades under way on the route from the Port of Beira to Harare via Mutare and Machipanda on Mozambique’s border with Zimbabwe. Not that Beira can compete with Durban – it’s not deep or big enough – but the fact that it’s growing its hinterland linkage is significant nonetheless, says Bangure. But it’s the Kazangula bridge on Zambia’s southern border, currently nearing completion, that’s of particular importance to the NBF executive. “It’s going to be a massive game changer for two reasons: it’s going to place tremendous pressure on the existing road network into Botswana and it’s going to create alternatives for customers.” Having access to alternative options, says Bangure, is exactly why Gaborone is also toying with the idea of building a railway line of at least 1500 kilometres from its coal fields on its eastern border with South Africa, through the interior to its western border with Namibia where it will link up with an existing line from Gobabis to Walvis Bay. The bottom line is that unless the Port of Durban improves efficiencies it can expect to lose more cargo because of the diversification of business options through port and corridor developments elsewhere in SADC.
CAPTON:
Dar es Salaam, Lobito, and even Nacala are all currently increasing the heat from their respective countries. – Kudzanayi Bangure
