Strong call for African ports to collaborate

Greater collaboration between ports on the continent is crucial to address Africa’s infrastructure challenges. That’s the view of Willie Coetsee, corporate strategy manager for Transnet Port Terminals (TPT), who said that in light of limited resources and funds a structural collaborative approach was the only way that governments across Africa would be able to deliver infrastructure. “In South Africa we realise that infrastructural development is the catalyst for our own economic growth and have therefore embarked on a massive campaign to maintain and upgrade our infrastructure not only at the ports but also in terms of rail and pipelines.” He said the parastatal was, however, not working in isolation but with various organisations across the continent. “We cannot just develop and build ports where we like. We need to have hinterland connections and we need to look at a strategy that will position the continent to ensure cargo flows optimally and trade grows.” Coetsee said with containers continuing to see year on year growth, rail and road infrastructure also had to grow. “Africa’s rail offering is very limited and as a continent we should be working towards improvements. Also road infrastructure has to be upgraded throughout Africa.” It is a theme that the African Union has been pushing for some time, having called on all of its member states to work together in its infrastructure investments rather than taking a fragmented and individualised approach. Some 14 projects across Africa have been prioritised by the AU for development. “The AU has really developed the first master plan speaking to infrastructure development on the continent and countries need to embrace this and work towards achieving those goals if we really want to see trade grow,” said Coetsee. INSERT “We need to have hinterland connections and we need to look at a strategy that will position the continent to ensure cargo flows optimally and trade grows. – Willie Coetsee