The paperless, web-based Navis system – already in use at all Transnet Port Terminals’ container terminals, offering real-time tracking of containers – went live at the RORO terminal yesterday (April 1). It’s due to be followed at the Maydon Wharf section from August 1.

It’s part of TPT’s plan to help handle the 400 000 TEUs a year diverted during a 74-month berth rehabilitation at the busy Durban Container Terminal: Pier 2 (DCT)

As Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Elizabeth Thabethe, concluded her five-day investment and trade initiative to Zimbabwe, she appealed to both South African and Zimbabwean businesspeople to work together in order assist in creating employment opportunities in both countries.

She said that South Africa was positioned as a manufacturing centre of excellence, with a diversified base of industrial sectors.   The Vice President of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, Sheila Sidambe, said there were many opportunities for investment in Matebeleland in general and Bulawayo in particular for South African businesspeople.

These include the manufacturing sector, which she said was currently operating at reduced capacity. “The Government estimates US$1 billion is required to revive industry in the country’s second largest city, Bulawayo.  This figure tells us that Matabeleland presents several investment opportunities for foreign investors,” said Sidambe.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Zimbabwe Investment Authority, Richard Mbaiwa, commented: “After about a decade of economic decline there has been a serious deterioration in the state of infrastructure in Zimbabwe. Government recognises the need for private sector participation in financing and development infrastructure. It also acknowledges the important role of the private sector in financing infrastructure development. The private sector is therefore welcome to participate in the development and provision of infrastructure on a public private partnership (PPP) basis.”

The construction at the Port of Durban, specifically work on the Pier 2 north quay, that commences in June, at the height of the citrus export season, may result in an improved service for citrus shippers thanks to advance planning.

“The message can go out to the industry that DCT (Durban Container Terminal) and shipping lines are gearing up to streamline reefer business this season and ground operations should be better than what was previously seen, although anticipation of a bumper crop and further migration of citrus to containers could result in a 10-15% increase in citrus container volume transiting through DCT this year,” the Citrus Growers Association (CGA) told its shippers this week.

Seeking to determine how port construction will impact its shipments, CGA representatives met with senior staff of DCT and worked on ways to reduce bottlenecks.

The new cement factory under construction in the Maputo province of Mozambique is expected to be finished in November of this year, reports macauhub.

This after construction work costing an estimated US$72-million and funded by Chinese investors, according to Mozambiquan newspaper O País.

The newspaper said that the construction work would be speeded up in the next few days as the contractor is receiving materials from China, including machines, cement and nails.

According to the newspaper the only problem is a delay in relocating some 230 families living in the area around the future cement factory.

According to the plan for the plant the 230 families were due to be relocated by the end of last year to an area with facilities for the purpose – although they have yet to be moved.

The families are concerned with the safety of houses they currently live in and one resident, Francisco Joaquim, noted that a ditch had been dug by the factory’s contractor through the gardens of some of the houses.

Nearly one in three African countries is landlocked, accounting for 26% of the continent’s landmass, and 25% of the population (more than 200-million people), pointed out Mike Poverello’s latest blog.

This, it added, indicated that current population growth trends, including the development of population megacities distant from coastal locations, will become powerful drivers of inland markets.

At the 3rd annual Africa Ports, Logistics & Supply Chain Conference, APM Terminals’ director of business development and infrastructure investments for the Africa-Middle East Region, Reik Mueller, stated that “Ports will compete to become preferred gateways to move goods efficiently to inland cities and landlocked countries” He added that “The future prosperity of these nations depends on access to the global economy and new markets; high-growth markets need inland infrastructure and logistics capabilities along development corridors. The ports that can provide the best and most efficient connectivity to those Inland markets will be the winners.”

Mueller cited the recent success in reducing port congestion through Inland Container Depots (ICDs). These are now in operation outside of the APM Terminals-operated port of Luanda, Angola; the Meridian Port Services joint venture in Tema, Ghana; and the ICD which was opened four kilometres from APM Terminals Apapa – the busiest container terminal in Nigeria and all of West Africa.

He made the case for integrated transportation solutions. “Importers are not going to wait for improved infrastructure; the cargo will simply move to other ports” he added.

Mueller described a new model for transportation planning and development in West Africa in which port and terminal operations shift focus from “container lifts” toward “integrated container transport solutions”.

“Dry ports and inland markets are the untapped, overlooked opportunity markets of the future in Africa,” he added.

While president Robert Mugabe and government officials are preoccupied with elections, millions of Zimbabweans are facing starvation as 500 000-hectares of maize crop – the staple food – have been written off, according to a timeslive.co.za report.

Already millions of people in south-western regions are battling for survival due to food shortages, which politicians ignore as they crisscross the country preparing for elections.

The agriculture and mechanisation minister Joseph Made warned that hundreds of thousands of people were facing starvation due to drought, which has resulted in poor yields after vast swathes of the maize crop failed.

Almost a third of the maize crop is a write-off, leaving hunger stalking the land. Made said people were likely to starve to death in months ahead.

“According to the final crop assessment by the government, this past farming season 1 600 000-ha of the maize crop was planted, but, because of lack of rain, 500 000-ha is a write-off. The planted crops suffered moisture stress because of the prolonged dry spell,” Made said.

“We face hunger as a result and urgent measures are needed to avert deaths due to starvation. The rains really let us down.”

The failure of the 500 000-ha of maize crop leaves Zimbabwe with only 1 100 000-ha of the planted crop, which would result in a serious shortfall as the national requirement for maize is two million tonnes. As a result, Zimbabwe needs to import maize.

However, with the government broke and neighbouring countries, which usually come to the rescue, having limited supplies, the situation could get worse.

The World Trade Organisation and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have signed a letter of understanding to develop statistics on trade in value added. Among other things, the two organisations will produce a publicly-available database of trade flows estimated in value-added terms.

“Improved measurement and knowledge of actual trade flows will help better understand the interdependencies of today’s national economies, supporting the design of better policies and better trade regulation worldwide,” Director-General Pascal Lamy said.  The WTO has regularly pointed out that globalisation is changing business models and increasing international fragmentation of production. “Companies divide their operations across the world, from the design of the product and manufacturing of components, to assembly and marketing, creating global production chains. More and more products are ‘made in the world’ rather than in any particular country. Traditional statistics are necessary but are no more sufficient to identify the contribution of each trade partner to the total value of the final good in the supply chain.

“By contributing to specific segments of global value chains, trade partners are actually “trading tasks” rather than trading final products. Attributing the full commercial value of imports to the last country of origin can skew bilateral trade balances, pervert the political debate on trade imbalances and may lead to wrong and counter-productive decisions. Besides correcting for these counting biases, the measure of trade in value added provides additional information on the contribution of each national sector of activity to the domestic value of total exports. This information is particularly relevant to analyse the source of international competitiveness and understand the relationship between trade and development,” a WTO statement said.

Port tariff reductions will come into effect on April 1, President Jacob Zuma confirmed on Friday at the official opening of the Port of Ngqura in the Eastern Cape, according to a businesslive.co.za report.

Addressing delegates, which included Transnet and senior government officials, Zuma said the manufactured goods would receive rebates as part of efforts by government in consultation with key stakeholders to ease the cost of doing business in South Africa. This includes the automotive sector that had previously complained about prohibitive port charges.

A sum of R1-bilion has been allocated to discounting the tariffs.

South African Airways is to bolster its Africa route network to include Cotonou in Benin.

From May 17 the airline will extend its recently introduced route to Pointe Noire in the Congo to Cotonou.  Cotonou will be served twice a week with an A319 aircraft. The flights are already available for sale in SAA’s reservations system

Efficient use of technology at border posts dominated discussions when around 300 delegates from more than 80 countries convened for the Third WCO Technology and Innovation Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last week.

“Customs has been fighting smuggling and illicit trade from ancient times,” said secretary general of the WCO, Kunio Mikuriya. “Innovative solutions, in the form of modern inspection technologies in the hands of skilled and knowledgeable frontline Customs officers, promote more effective and efficient Customs controls, and aid trade facilitation and anti-smuggling efforts.

The use of modern technologies allows Customs to remain responsive and agile in relation to ever-changing developments in the international cross-border operating environment. The Technology and Innovation Forum provides a valuable platform for Customs, technology providers and the trade community to come together and discuss common challenges.”