There are several reasons
why rail container
volumes have continued
to decline in Botswana.
According to Modise
Koofhethile, CEO of the
Gaborone Container Terminal
(Gabcon), the ongoing decline
in container volumes has been
worrying and major efforts have
been made to reverse the trend.
“It is not always easy as more
often than not it is factors beyond
our control,” he told FTW. “One
of the biggest reasons why we
have seen volumes drop even
more has been the fact that
the second-hand car market
in Botswana has significantly
declined. This has been due to
the market being saturated. It
directly affected our figures.”
He said another reason was
that a number of investors
remained uncertain about the
environment in which they were
operating and therefore reduced
their orders, which saw fewer
imports. “The landscape around
permits and licences has not been
very clear and in these uncertain
times investors are being
cautious,” said Koofhethile. “At
the same time major construction
projects have been declined or
placed on hold.”
He said another major
challenge had been the transit
times between the Port of
Durban and Gaborone via
rail. “Customers have been
highlighting the inconsistency
of the services and the lack of
urgency for cargo on rail and
have moved to road.”
Koofhethile said with
the groundbreaking of the
Kazungula Bridge project there
was hope that volumes would
grow in the near future.
“Other projects such as that of
the coal mine and power plant in
Mmamabula, along with some
construction projects, are all
good news for our business and
could potentially return volumes
to rail.”
He said in this regard
improved service delivery by the
service providers was important
as it would build confidence
with customers and in turn some
cargo would move back to rail.
“We have to ensure we have
a reliable service and so the
lack of consistency, especially
between Durban and Mafikeng,
has to be improved. Because
of this inconsistency we are
seeing customers moving to road
transport.”
He said working on improving
their own service and terminals
was just as important.
“Currently we are looking at
developing our smaller terminal,
PALCON, which is in the central
part of the country.”
CAPTION
Gaborone Container Terminal … projects like the coal mine
and power plant in Mmamabula, along with some construction
projects, could potentially return volumes to rail.
