A new programme designed to facilitate a more competitive, integrated and liberalised regional road transport market in East and Southern Africa was officially launched in Dar es Salaam last month. According to SADC secretariat, Lovemore Bingandadi, the Tripartite Transport and Trade Facilitation Programme (TTTFP) seeks to strengthen the relationship between transport infrastructure and the institutions that oversee its construction and maintenance, as well as the enforcement of the regulations for using it. Programme partners include East and Southern African member states, the three regional secretariats (SADC, Comesa and EAC) and several public and private sector transport and logistics service providers. The design of the TTTFP is based on a baseline survey conducted in 2015. “We visited 19 tripartite member states and defined and documented all existing laws, regulations, standards and systems that are in place. We have assessed how those laws conform to tripartite minimum standards,” he explained. Bingandadi relayed how, during the surveys, a cross-border driver had compared driving across Africa to driving a Combi in a township, in which each passenger had access to the vehicle’s brakes. Under the TTTFP, member states will have access to technical assistance, training and capacity building. “There are 19 individual country reports, produced and validated by member states. Those will form the basis to guide the technical assistance that we are going to provide,” he said. SADC, Comesa and EAC desire four outcomes from the TTTFP: harmonisation of vehicle regulations and standards (including the dimensions of vehicles); protection of road transport infrastructure; incorporation of the Transport Register Information Platform System (TRIPS), and the provision of a vehicle road management strategy. Bingandadi said the vehicle road management strategy would ensure member states investigated, implemented and enforced agreed vehicle load standards and axle load limits. The objective of TRIPS is for member states to share transport information with respect to drivers, vehicles and their loads. “Standards in the Tripartite are in line with the Trans-Africa Highway standards established by the African Union, with the exception of one or two areas, around which we are negotiating to ensure complete harmonisation,” he said. “We have agreed on the laws, regulations and standards, which should govern cross-border interstate road transport and which member states require in order to ensure joint regulation and management thereof.” Bingandadi said it was important to recognise the inter-relationship between infrastructure and the institutions and legal instruments that are used to govern and manage it.
A cross-border driver compared driving across Africa to driving a Combi in a township, in which each passenger had access to the vehicle’s brakes. – Lovemore Bingadadi
