Loss of economic clout spells chaos

The sound you hear in the background is our slow, but inexorable slide down the African economic ratings, as we are no longer regarded as a continental powerhouse.

This month, the copper from the Kamoa-Kakula copper fields in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) arrived in Angola’s Lobito harbour via the new Lobito Atlantic Railway corridor.

This mineral and others like it from elsewhere in Africa will no longer find their way to world markets via South African ports.

Not only is the rest of Africa – and the world – realising that South Africa is, geographically speaking, an “end of hemisphere” country, but the slow-motion implosion of our ports and transport network means exporters are looking for cheaper, more reliable channels.

And, even worse, South African exporters are also making alternative plans, such as exporting their goods via Maputo in Mozambique, because of the unacceptable delays at Durban harbour.

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In recent months, Maputo – once regarded with some derision by South Africans as a port – has racked up record volumes of cargo.

Elsewhere, African airlines like Ethiopian and Kenya Airways have taken advantage of the vacuum left by the collapse of South African Airways (SAA) to become the continent’s biggest operators.

At the same time, SAA’s financial woes have allowed foreign giants to take away most of its overseas route revenue.

Instead of trying to reduce the affect of being so far from Africa’s and the world’s markets, our government and our incompetent state-owned enterprises have made it even more difficult for traders to operate through South Africa. So, they’re going elsewhere.

Once you start losing your economic clout, you start losing your diplomatic influence… and your rivals, and even friends, begin to regard you as a has-been, if not a joke.

Nobody wants to do business with, or invest in, a has-been nation.

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