Many African ports can anticipate the kind of pressure on their infrastructure South Africa is currently experiencing, as trade booms and economies grow through the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad), Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin said on Monday.
Addressing the International Association of Ports and Harbours 23rd biennial conference, Erwin said the growth in South Africa’s trade and economy over the past decade had placed severe demands on its port systems and had highlighted the infrastructural backlog that the government was currently attempting to rectify.
He suggested these changes would be replicated across African ports in the next 10 to 20 years, particularly in the light of Nepad.
South African trade with Africa now accounted for 15% of total trade and Erwin expected intra-African trade to grow significantly in the medium to long-term.
However, he warned that the logistics systems demanded by international traders had to be sophisticated and meet stringent standards. These standards were not protectionist, but logical and formed an integral part of world trading.
He cited the example of a sliced mango sold in UK chain stores that may have travelled from Mozambique under refrigeration and without more than a two degree Celsius change in its environment throughout transportation.
The five-day conference focuses on macroeconomic issues in the maritime industry with leading authorities from the world’s ports among the 750 delegates.
South African president Thabo Mbeki had been expected to deliver the keynote address on Monday, but the honour fell to Public Enterprise Minister Jeff Radebe.
Founded in 1955 in Los Angeles, the association is a non-profit making, non-governmental organisation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The biennial event brings together port CEOs, directors and managers in a bid to promote and advance their common interests.
This is the first time the conference is being held in Africa. – Sapa