Our readers have been kept abreast by Freight News of what I see as the most significant development in southern African logistics since I was given the privilege of travelling to neighbouring countries to meet with logistics leaders and government decision-makers from 2008.Neighbouring countries have reduced their dependence on South African ports and, therefore, the supporting road, rail and warehouse infrastructure.Readers of FTW, and now Freight News, will have been given the heads-up about momentous developments such as the building of what is essentially a new container port at Walvis Bay, the revitalisation of Beira, the redevelopment of the Port of Maputo and significant improvements at Dar es Salaam.Perceptions of these ports are often clouded by past experiences.Up to around five years ago, “we don’t use Beira/Walvis Bay/Dar es Salaam because 10 years ago we had cargo stuck there for months” would be a typical comment from a forwarder in Zambia or Zimbabwe.Our response would be to hand them a copy of the last feature on the port and country in question.We had been there and seen the progress first-hand.Few logistics operators in neighbouring countries have a good word to say about Durban, and security once the truck crosses the border into South Africa has become a deal-breaker.At least one large haulier specialising in the Durban-Democratic Republic of Congo route has folded because they kept all their eggs in what is a broken basket.More agile companies have developed alternatives, such as running their own trains between Ndola and Dar es Salaam, pioneering the trucking route from the DRC to Walvis Bay, and building on the historic linkages between the Copperbelt and Beira.Maputo and Matola, which are the nearest ports to Mpumalanga and Limpopo, have attracted significant volumes of commodities away from Richards Bay and Durban.Investment in reefer stacks, rail and the container yard have seen DP World attract citrus exports, which came to an end in 2015, largely because there was a shift from breakbulk to containerised shipping.When this writer first went to Maputo, the port consisted of a string of warehouses packed with fruit.Those warehouses have been demolished to make way for commodities.The capacity of the two river ports of Maputo and Beira has grown exponentially through private sector-led investments. Both ports are managed through public-private partnerships.A new partnership in the port of Walvis Bay will have a further impact on the f low of cargo.To page 27
