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PORTS, TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS SECTOR NEWS ROUND-UP, 13/2020 (20 – 31 JULY 2020)

By Andrew Pike Friday, August 07, 2020
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In light of the rapid pace of infrastructure and transport developments across Africa, our Ports, Transport and Logistics (PTL) Sector Group is pleased to present Bowmans’ latest PTL news round-up. Our regular round-ups bring you a selection of pan-African PTL-related stories and keep you up to date regarding developments in the space across Africa.

We draw on a network of multi-disciplinary experts across Africa in fields as diverse as project finance, construction and environmental law, to keep you in the know about developments and thought leadership in the PTL space.

The articles to which we refer readers are, unless stated otherwise, neither written nor edited by ourselves and appear in their original form. Bowmans does not necessarily agree with opinions expressed in those articles.

This edition includes news headlines and links to articles from a variety of sources, covering stories from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Djibouti, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

For Coronavirus (Covid-19) related updates from South Africa…

Please see Bowmans’ dedicated ports and shipping web page for details of Covid-19 related regulatory changes, directions and updates in South Africa since 16 March. We also have a page dedicated to aviation regulatory changes, directions and updates.

Africa Ports provides statistics and commentary on the effect of Covid-19 on cargo volumes and ships calling at South African ports for the months of March, April, May and June 2020 respectively, including a comparison with the figures for the same months in 2019.

For non-Covid19 legislation updates from South Africa…

Other news continues below...

ICTSI signs Kribi port concession contract (Cameroon)
Source: Africa Ports (31 July 2020)
International Container Terminal Services, Inc (ICTSI) has signed the concession contract with the Port Autonome de Kribi (PAK) for the development, operation and maintenance of the Kribi Multipurpose Terminal (KMT) in Cameroon. Read the full article here.

Competition between East Africa's two main ports heats up (Kenya and Tanzania)
Source: Africa Ports (31 July 2020)
Competition between the ports of Mombasa in Kenya and Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam, though seldom acknowledged, certainly appears to be heating up with each port seeking ways of attracting or holding onto existing traffic from neighbouring landlocked countries. Read the full article here.

New TPT chief on navigating a business turnaround amid a pandemic (South Africa)
Source: Creamer Media’s Engineering News (31 July 2020)
Newly appointed Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) CEO Velile Dube, who officially assumed the role on July 1, acknowledges that his first few weeks were nothing short of a “baptism of fire”. Read the full article here.

Cape Town's assembled straddle carriers go into service with TPT (South Africa)
Source: Africa Ports (30 July 2020)
Cape Town Container Terminal’s four new-generation straddle carriers, that arrived earlier from Poland, disassembled from the manufacturer, have been successfully assembled by a Transnet team and handed over to Transnet Port Terminals and placed in operation. Read the full article here. Also reported by Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW here.

Increase of container traffic for Kenyan SGR train (Kenya)
Source: Africa Ports (30 July 2020)
Kenya Railway’s controversial and much-criticised 300-mile long standard gauge railway (SGR) between the port of Mombasa and Nairobi (and further to Naivasha) has been successful in a significant though not complete transfer of containers from road to rail. Read the full article here.

Transnet GCE rolls up sleeves to seek solutions (South Africa)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (29 July 2020)
Talk about having a hands-on approach to problem solving. Read the full article here. Also reported in Creamer Media’s Engineering News here.

Africa feels the cargo pain as air freight flounders (Africa)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (29 July 2020)
Data collected for global and regional air cargo demand shows a significant contraction for key points in Africa, the International Air Transport Association (Iata) has found. Read the full article here.

Benin Terminal's red carpet out for first ever 300m container ship (Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria)
Source: Africa Ports (29 July 2020)
The Port of Cotonou’s Benin Terminal had the red carpet our earlier in July when the 300-metre long, 49M wide Maersk-operated ship, CCNI ARAUCO came calling to the West African port from South-East Asian ports. Read the full article here.

Transnet focus is on back-of-port to reduce Durban port congestion (South Africa)
Source: Africa Ports (28 July 2020)
Working through the recently formed multi-disciplinary Port of Durban Decongestion Task Team, the focus has been placed squarely on back-of-port facilities including the surrounding road networks to provide the solutions to ongoing congestion that is negatively impacting communities in and around the port’s Bayhead Precinct. Read the full article here. Also reported by Creamer Media’s Engineering News here.

New ferry for Lake Victoria's Buvuma (Uganda)
Source: Africa Ports (28 July 2020)
A report by Uganda’s Monitor states that the Buvuma island and district on Lake Victoria has taken delivery of a new ferry that commenced operations on Friday, 24 July. Read the full article here.

New record for Walvis Bay (Namibia)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (27 July 2020)
The offloading of 42 000 tonnes of sulphur destined for Swakop Uranium from the Yi Long Shan earlier this month has set a new record for bulk commodities at the Port of Walvis Bay, the Namibian Ports Authority (Namport) has reported. Read the full article here.

Steps towards increased maritime security and economic growth in Kenya (Kenya)
Source: Africa Ports (27 July 2020)
An ambitious roadmap to develop a National Maritime Security Strategy for Kenya has been agreed following an inaugural virtual meeting held on 21 July and organised by IMO. Read the full article here.

From the Arabian Gulf to the Horn of Africa: The politics of port infrastructures (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia)
Source: Africa Ports (24 July 2020)
Experts are launching a $500,000 research project that will examine how the increase in Gulf investments in port infrastructures in the Horn of Africa has shaped its political landscape. Read the full article here.

Komatipoort ICD becomes the first dry port east of Gauteng (South Africa)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (24 July 2020)
The Komatipoort inland container depot (ICD), run by Dubai logistics company DP World, has become the first dry port on the vital Maputo Corridor. Read the full article here.

TPT improving performance in Cape Town (South Africa)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (23 July 2020)
South African ports were under pressure long before the outbreak of Covid-19 – and the impact of the pandemic has served to exacerbate the country’s already choked-up supply chain. Read the full article here.

Beitbridge backlog builds as Zim shuts down dawn to dusk (South Africa and Zimbabwe)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (23 July 2020)
A 24-hour border post with a 12-hour curfew for the country it serves – that, in a nutshell, sums up the situation at Beitbridge where trucks are queueing for kilometres into South Africa because of slow processing issues in Zimbabwe. Read the full article here.

Innovation keeps 10 000 cargo flights in the air (Africa)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (23 July 2020)
Driven by the demand for the movement of essential commodities and other supplies worldwide, airlines have put in the hard yards to keep cargo flying. Read the full article here.

New equipment starts arriving at SA ports (South Africa)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (22 July 2020)
South Africa’s ports are getting a much-needed capacity boost. Read the full article here.

Mozambique LNG secures financing for project (Mozambique)
Source: Africa Ports (22 July 2020)
French oil giant TOTAL SA has announced the signing of a US$14.9 billion financing agreement for Mozambique LNG, situated in Cabo Delgado province in northern Mozambique. Read the full article here. Also reported by Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW here.

Breakthrough as Chirundu opens for round-the-clock clearing (DRC and Zambia)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (21 July 2020)
One of the most problematic borders on the important North-South Corridor (NSC) into the copper belt area of Zambia and the DRC last night told the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta) that it was open on a 24/7 basis. Read the full article here.

Congestion surges as Zimra ramps up anti-smuggling action (Zimbabwe and South Africa)
Source: Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW (20 July 2020)
Efforts by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) to prevent groceries bought in South Africa from being smuggled north across the border have resulted in truck queues stretching for kilometres south of Beitbridge. Read the full article here.

TFR introduces ‘business corridors’, appoints executives to increase customer focus and responsiveness (South Africa)
Source: Transnet (20 July 2020)
Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) is introducing a new operating model that will bring about significant efficiencies for customers – decentralising key responsibilities to ensure a more responsive rail freight network that is better equipped to service the South African economy. Read the press release here. Also reported in Southern Africa’s Freight News by FTW here and in Creamer Media’s Engineering News here.