South Africa no longer Africa’s trade gateway

South Africa is no longer the gateway to Africa for trade with the outside world because of its dilapidated goods transportation infrastructure, from freight, ports and rail networks that are dysfunctional.

International relations analyst Jan Venter from North-West University, said the country had gone backwards on infrastructure essential to facilitate trade and investment. But China could help fill the gap.

South Africa was billed as a gateway to Africa when it joined the international community in 1994.

SA was billed as a gateway to Africa

“Unfortunately, that is no longer the case, many other countries now have potential to be the gateway to Africa for goods to flow in an industrial scale.

“South Africa has lost an opportunity and if it doesn’t clean up its ports and the rail system, it will continue to lag behind economically and socially. The elephant in the room is the energy crisis… no rail network or port network or airway can be sustained without electricity,” Venter said.

When the country joined Brics in 2010, it enjoyed a moral high ground due to its peaceful transition from an authoritarian apartheid rule to democracy.

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“There was high hopes for economic boom shortly thereafter, but this geostrategic position has long gone. Our port system which should be connecting resources with the rest of the world is suffering from maladministration and corruption and our rail network is almost nonexistent. We went backward regarding infrastructure,” Venter said.

However, South Africa could contribute immensely in Brics as it is in a geostrategic position on the world map, with sea routes linking the country to the outside world.

Despite the constraints due to mismanagement, the country has good ports such as Cape Town, Durban, Richards Bay and useful links to ports in neighbouring countries such as Maputo in Mozambique and Walvis Bay in Namibia.

Despite constraints, country has good ports

“We are not connecting efficiently and we are not contributing to our potential. Now, China has started a programme of building roads, railways and bridges in Asia, Africa and in Latin America. Its goal is three-fold – it wants access to resources and the best way to do that is a viable infrastructure,” Venter said.

China could assist as it did in other parts of Africa such as its massive investment in ports such as Mombasa in Kenya, Djibouti, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Walvis Bay in Namibia and several others.

Venter said China’s strategy was not to wait for a host country it identified for development to build infrastructure, but it does it itself.

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The potential for economic growth of China, accompanied by its finite number workers and natural resources, makes the potential for its economy to be huge.

“So it is investing in its future growth by building in infrastructure in foreign countries,” said Venter.

However China’s projects in some parts of Africa, have been embroiled in controversy.

Concern regarding severe environmental damage

Media reported about concern expressed regarding severe environmental damage because of construction activities and about host countries being trapped in debt due to large loads they received from China.

Reports also claimed there was lack of transparency in project agreements and limited community participation in decision-making, leading to allegations of neocolonialism and exploitation of local communities.

But China denied the allegations, saying its projects were based on fair deals entered with the host country and terms agreed with that country including, in some cases, interest-free loans.

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