Foreign investment in African logistics on the rise

• Autores: Industrial Minerals
• Localización: Industrial Minerals, ISSN 0019-8544, Nº. 579, 2016 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Enero)
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Trial production at Senegal's Baobab rock phosphate mine, currently owned by Australia's Minemakers Ltd, is expected to start next year. Talks are underway with Dakar port for the provision of storage areas for the potential export of bulk samples and for longer-term export capacity. "Road transport is likely to be the initial means of transport," explained Minemakers. "Investigation of the use of the nearby rail transport route to the port has been initiated, with early indications that this has potential for future use beyond the bulk sample project." A recent report by the African Development Bank says that the contribution of inefficient ports to transportation costs in the East African region should not be ignored. East Africa's surface transportation costs, associated with logistics, are rated among the highest of any region in the world. According to the report, entitled "State of Infrastructure in East Africa", "these costs are mainly due to administrative and customs delays at ports and delays at borders and on roads. Regional cooperation can help accelerate the process of reforming EAC's (East African Community's) ports, a process that so far has been stifled (at least in Kenya) by domestic political constituencies opposed to the liberalisation of the management of ports".

    In the meantime, Kenya and Tanzania are locked in competition over who will emerge as the "gateway to Eastern Africa", with plans to construct mega ports in Lamu and Tanga (Mwambani), respectively. "While competition is healthy and therefore welcome, this is an area where there is more need for coordination than there is for competition among Eastern African governments," the African Development Bank's report outlined. "The costs involved are enormous, hence the need for cooperation to avoid any unnecessary redundancies and ensure that the ports realise sufficient returns to justify the investment. Kenya's planned Lamu Port South Susan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) project will cost $24.7bn. Tanzania's Mwambani Port and Railway Corridor (Mwaporc) project will cost $32bn," it states.