African stakeholders call for united efforts to tackle high supply chain costs and constraints at the first ever Cool Logistics Africa conference in April
May 4, 2012
African perishable shippers and logistics experts call for united efforts to tackle high supply chain costs and constraints at the first ever Cool Logistics Africa conference in April.
With Logistics costs in Africa four times higher than elsewhere, change is now of the essence according to over 150 cold chain
stakeholders from 15 countries in Cape Town last month.
In South Africa, logistics costs are estimated to be 13.5 percent of GDP.
This is too high, when compared with the United States and other main trading partners, Capespan Exports Managing Director Abrie de Swardt
told
delegates to the three-day dialogue covering the African continent’s perishable logistics outlook.
“We are playing catch up in South Africa and may have no more than seven years left before congestion and delays put the region on a back foot,”
says GoReefers CEO Delena Engelbrecht.
Meanwhile, South-Africa-based Transnet National Ports Authority, which holds and controls important landside logistics assets, has recently invested R300 billion ($38.7 billion) to improve South African ports and global logistical competiveness.
Chief Executive Tau Morwe told the conference disruptions
to South African ports in 2010 will not be repeated and that Transnet
is ready to engage more proactively with the private sector to tackle operational constraints and to become more demand-driven.
While shipping giant Maersk reaffirmed its commitment to South Africa, it too raised concerns about
avoiding
‘occasional shocks’ to the Southern African supply chain in the future.
Southern Africa Cluster Head David Williams says the problem of equipment shortage in the refrigerated maritime transport sector will not go away, especially as this market expected to grow and older units are withdrawn.
According to the world’s leading refrigerated container operator 44,000 FEU were scrapped in 2011. This year the figure is estimated to reach over 47,000 FEU and could reach nearly 70,000 FEU by 2016, based on a 13 year life span.
Heralding the entry of the African consumer
and outlining potential significant trade shifts in the region, major Kenyan producer, Sunripe Director and Shippers Council Vice Chairman Hasit Shah pointed to the need for better cold chain integration.
“We need to integrate the small holder into the cold chain,” he says.
“If the African continent wants to compete on global markets and seize the opportunities offered by the agriculture sector, not just in South Africa, but in transition countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, we need to work smarter.”
Cool Logistics Africa returns to Cape Town next year.