The North-South Corridor: Part Two

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 11:30

In Part One we looked at the challenges faced, such as prohibitive transport costs (much of it owing to the time it takes to travel), red tape and poor regulations, decaying infrastructure, lack of incentive for the private sector and the shallow, isolated approach taken by so many decision makers.

Mark illustrated how his team has had to create some highly innovative solutions for these challenges, but also emphasised how they had to make use of their connections in the regional organisations to get things done. Previous ties with the organisations gave the team in-depth knowledge as to how the systems work, and how to get the most out of them.

Instead of 'stomping around playing Cecil Rhodes', as Mark puts it, the RTFP has always acted through the regional organisations. It is an intelligent way to ensure support and retain momentum. Allowing people, and even governments, to claim ownership of good ideas is an excellent way to garner support. It may take longer but it is definitely more sustainable.

Sustainable momentum is absolutely critical too. As mentioned in the previous article, Mark believes it is the regulatory and policy issues that will make or break these projects, for that is what will attract the private sector.

Mark says, "It all depends on the private sector – there's no doubt about it. They've made their requirements extremely clear, time and again. We have to get the policy environment in order before we bring the private players on board. The major challenges we face are the regulatory issues. Infrastructure challenges are not insurmountable."

Having said that, the successes of the North-South Corridor so far, are not solely attributable to the high-level cooperation the project invites, but also its involvement down at the grass roots, project level. Mark adds, "We're lucky that we operate on so many levels. On one hand, we're illustrating the bigger picture, helping to shape policy and regulation at regional and national levels. On the other, we're working with the road engineers, fixing potholes and bridges, or repairing and constructing buildings. I suppose through our work in developing countries we've plugged into the World Trade Organisation as well, working on duty-free trade negotiations, market access and services. From the very beginning we pitched the North-South Corridor as an Aid for Trade programme."

In the end, inter-regional trade is not an option in Africa, it is an imperative. Without trade, individuals, communities, countries and regions cannot reduce poverty or achieve economic growth. Practically all countries that have ever achieved sustained economic growth have done so through trade.

PROGRESS THROUGH FOCUS

There are currently a large number of corridor projects and Spatial Development Initiatives (SDI), in various phases of development, across Africa. However, from the beginning, the economic rationale behind the North-South Corridor has remained relatively simple – it is a transport corridor, nothing more. Staying grounded like this is what has helped the project maintain its focus. Barring the Maputo Development Corridor, there are no successful African SDI case studies. The economics become far more complicated when the scope grows from transport into multiple infrastructure projects along the same route. In time, collateral growth will happen, but it should not be the economic driver. The old African proverb 'patience can cook a stone' comes to mind.

Each corridor project is inherently different, from the mineral deposits underground to the distance between cities. One would think you could apply the same lessons learned from one project to another, however, this is not the case. Simply because infrastructure grows organically beside the N4 from Gauteng to Maputo does not mean the same will happen in the Northern Corridor, where there are no economic drivers between Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. A further example would be the Richard's Bay Corridor, which has healthy coal deposits as the driver, yet a successful railway has put paid to any development along that route. Beira, on the other hand, has attracted a fair amount of attention, largely because of the private sector interest. Yara, a specialist agricultural product firm, has ploughed R465 million (US$60 million) into developing ports at both Beira and Dar es Salaam. Between various partners, the roads, rails and ports will be designed to open the area up for agricultural trade. The model is sound, but the economics are very different to that of the North-South Corridor.

The distance travelled along the Beira Corridor will doubtless exceed 20 or 30km, whereas, on the North-South Corridor, traffic that leaves Lubumbashi (DRC) will eventually end up in Durban, 9 025km later. The comparisons are few.

EXPLORING TECHNOLOGY

There are, however, certain elements outside of the business models that can be borrowed across projects – most notably when it comes to technology. One of the main problems with transporting goods through Africa is overloading, primarily, because damage done to the road is exponential, relative to the weight being carried. Weighbridges are put in to police the overloading, but all too often become hot houses for bribery, and therefore, another barrier for trade.

Weighbridges can now be equipped with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags affixed to windscreens, loaded into which is all the relevant information. As the truck nears the weighbridge, a long-range scanner collects all the information. Software on the weighing programme connects all the dots, effectively removing the problems of duplication, artificial weights and corrupt officials. Not only that, but the technology saves a huge amount of time, which allows for more trucks to pass through the weighbridge each day. Today, some trucks can waste days sitting in queues at weighbridges. If the trucks end up further down the line with less, or possibly even more cargo than before, it becomes really easy to identify the funny business.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is now doing research into axel loads and super-single tyres, which the RTFP has plugged into. When running a truck, the profit margins depend largely on how much the truck is carrying. The idea behind it is that instead of having a doublewheel axel, the truck has one fat tyre. The reason being that wheels weigh a lot, so if the truck normally has 32 wheels, it now has 16, reducing the entire weight of the vehicle, allowing higher loads. All the while the impact on the road is the same as that of a double axel.

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