‘Time for action on Africa strategy’

Africa must move into action mode and start ensuring its infrastructure is in place if it wants to compete with other developing nations. Speaking at a round-table discussion in Johannesburg last week, Amadou Diallo, chief executive officer of DHL Freight, said it was just as important that Africa finished the projects that it started before moving on to the next. “There is all this talk about rail at present but Africa is really about taking it step by step. They need to finish what they have started and that means addressing their ports, their roads and ensuring that rural areas are accessible.” He said while rail was without doubt a necessity and a great ambition for the continent where transport costs remained unreasonably high, it was still very early days to talk about rail solutions. “We are watching developments very closely on the continent and we believe the success lies in getting the basics right.”