‘Technology presents opportunities and challenges’

Africa remains one of the
most challenging regions
for any technology-based
company, says Arnold Garber,
chairman of Compu-Clearing.
“Technology thrives on volume
and less variety. Africa is the
opposite. It has lots of variety
and not much volume.”
Africa also does not have much
consistency in terms of the way
things are done as every country
has its own rules and regulations
and way of operating.
“The vast majority of African
countries have only a fraction
of the volumes that South
Africa has. In South Africa the
technology developed for the
markets of the United States,
Europe and the large countries
of the East, is often used as it is
available within months locally.”
It takes slightly longer to reach
other African countries where
the Internet doesn’t quite work,
and where the availability of
technology skills is very scarce.
“This presents challenges,
but also offers opportunities for
companies that are prepared to
take on these challenges,” says
Garber.
There are of course notable
exceptions in the region, he told
FTW. “For example in Namibia
there are new opportunities
being created all the time and
they are also technologically
advanced.”
From a freight point of view,
Maputo offers great promise.
“By all logic Maputo will
become the natural alternative
to the port of Durban for cargo
destined for Gauteng,” says
Garber. “The distance between
Maputo and Johannesburg
is actually less by road than
from Durban. In the past,
political instability and lack of
infrastructure played a major
role, but this has all changed
as there is a firm commitment
by both the government and
the people of Mozambique to
develop this corridor.”
According to Garber the
Customs organisations in the
different African countries
are still very antiquated and
modernisation is happening very
slowly. But it is coming.
“Regional co-operation is still
limited and SACU and SADC
are working very hard to bring
harmonisation to the different
African Customs organisations.
The future looks promising
and progress is in the horizon,
although inevitably progress
will be slow,” he says “Africa
is following the same progress
as Latin America, some 50
years later. Fifty years ago, in
Latin America there wasn’t a
single country that wasn’t a
military dictatorship riddled with
corruption. Today, there is hardly
a country in Latin America that
is not fully democratic – and
although corruption still exists, it
is minimal compared to what it
was five years ago. Democracy
demands accountability, and
accountability is the enemy of
corruption. We still have a long
way to go in Africa, but great
progress is being made.”