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Africa is coming
06 Aug 2008
There is always a new frontier in the international port business. And as at the time of writing the G8 group is convened, it is most relevant to focus on Africa, an area where there is major scope to refine port systems and particularly along the east and west coasts of sub-Saharan Africa.
It is true to say that in this decade Africa has taken on a new strategic importance with the US, China and other Asian countries looking to Africa to source oil, coal, iron ore and other raw materials. Africa hosts approximately 30% of the world’s mineral wealth and is increasingly being seen by these countries as an important source of supply. And where oil is concerned it is considered a source that is much less volatile than the Middle East, the traditional source of this product.
Similarly, the growing trade between Asian countries and Africa is particularly visible in the trade statistics for Africa - China trade in the six year period up to end 2006.
Total trade rose from $10.8bn in 2000 to nearly $40bn in 2006, making China Africa’s third largest trading partner. As might be expected, the energy sector accounted for a major part of this growth and is forecast to continue to do so in the future.
Africa is without doubt an increasingly important source of raw material supply and this, in turn, has provided a major catalyst to the economies of the nations involved, one measure of which is rising imports. This can be seen in climbing container and general cargo volumes which we discuss in our ‘Horn of plenty’ feature on page 43.
The 200% increase in container traffic and 189% increase in general cargo recorded in a new World Bank port sector diagnostic study on sub-Saharan African ports from 1995 – 2000 throws the spotlight firmly on the growth underway in Africa.
While tackling institutional reform in the region remains a major key to raising port system performance, the World Bank identifies that there are still many positive reasons to invest in sub-Saharan Africa as the new frontier of major interest.
