Prelude to Port & Corridor Cooperation: SANTF & 2g@there

Currently the Port & Corridor Cooperation operates as a platform for companies and (governmental) institutions seeking business opportunities in the field of ports, corridors, transports and logistics in the Netherlands and Southern Africa and to find synergies to work together. The foundation of the cooperation originates from SANTF.

SANTF on its turn formed the prelude for a much bigger platform; the 2g@there Port & Corridor Cooperation. Below you find the history of SANTF. Please click here to learn more about the 2g@there programme, which ran from 2011 until 2013.

SANTF: Southern African Netherlands Transport Forum for countries in the Southern African Development Community. 

SANTF was launched in 2004 by the Dutch Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Karla Peijs. This appeared to be the prelude for a much bigger platform, the 2g@there Port & Corridor Cooperation. Please find below an article about SANTF and read the brochure about the objectives of this fruitful initiative, which led to the above mentioned international cooperation. Click here for the brochure: Flyer SANTF.

Background and history SANTF 

The Southern African Netherlands Transport Forum (SANTF) was established in 1999 by the Dutch Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management and the South African Department of Transport. In 2003, SANTF’s secretariat moved to the Southern African – Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (SANEC) to promote and establish business networks in the field of transport and infrastructural development, particularly in maritime, rail, road, air and agricultural logistics.

Mission

SANTF aims to implement, strengthen and coordinate business cooperation in the field of transport and infrastructural development on a private sector level. SANEC believes that the development of the key areas of governmental policy in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, such as agricultural development and agro-processing, significantly depends on the quality of infrastructure and the access to transportation in and out of the region to serve the international market. With the SADC Free Trade Area launched in 2008 and a Customs Union planned, the SADC is steadily moving towards creating an integrated economic community.

Snapshots of important corridors and transport hubs

Transport corridors have been around for centuries, but it is only in the last few decades that they have been recognised for what they are and, more importantly, what they can become as well as the value they can add in economic growth as a means of delivery and communication. Dube TradePort, Southern Africa’s global trade gateway, is Durban’s aerotropolis and new international airport. From 2010, the state-of-the-art development will comprise:

• a modern international passenger and cargo airport facility

• a trade zone

• a support zone

• an agri-zone, and

• a cyber port.

Transport along the Walvis Bay Corridor has grown substantially, driven by moves to promote Walvis Bay as an effective alternative trade route for Southern Africa. The zone now offers commodity traders in the SADC region opportunities to get their products to the international market more swiftly and vice versa, boosting the competitiveness of the Namibian economy. The planned new Walvis Bay container terminal will be due for commissioning in 2012. Furthermore, Walvis Bay plans to secure a <second?> new container terminal to be built on a man-made island facing the present terminal and connected with the mainland by a causeway.

The Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative (MCLI) has welcomed the launch by Maersk and Safmarine of a new named-day service linking the port with the Far East. The service will call on a Sunday and depart on a Wednesday, offering a 15-day transit. Maersk says the westbound service will give access to the Indian Ocean Islands through Port Louis, Mauritius, Toamasina, Madagascar and to landlocked African countries through Maputo. The eastbound service offers direct access from Southern Africa to the Far East market via Tanjung Pelepas in Malaysia.

Coega Industrial Development Zone is a combination of 11 000 ha of sector-specific zoned land with purpose-built infrastructure. Positioned alongside is the Port of Ngqura – South Africa and Africa’s largest deepwater port. Then there is the adjacent metropolitan city of Port Elizabeth – a resource of experienced skills. Just a heartbeat away is Africa’s oldest and most successful automotive export and manufacturing node, the catalyst for many other industry developments.

The Sishen-Saldanha Corridor is also known as the “ore” line. The rail line extends over 865km from the iron-ore mining centre of Sishen to the port of Saldanha Bay, where iron-ore exports are transshipped onto maritime carriers. The line is undergoing an extensive upgrade and re-equipping with longer trains.

The North South Corridor aims to reduce the time, and so the costs, of road and rail transport along the Corridor that services eight countries – Tanzania, DR Congo, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa.

Other trade corridors in Southern Africa are:

– Mtwara Development Corridor for South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi

– Beira Development Corridor for Mozambique and Zimbabwe

– Nacala Development Corridor for South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia

– Lobito Development Corridor for Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo

– Dar es Salaam Development Corridor for Tanzania and Zambia.