Future-proofing Africa’s port terminal operations

Transnet's Durban container port. File picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi

Transnet's Durban container port. File picture: Simphiwe Mbokazi

Published Oct 2, 2015

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Economic growth prospects for Africa over the next 50 years present both opportunities and challenges for port terminal operators, writes Transnet Port Terminals chief executive Karl Socikwa.

The International Transport Forum Transport Outlook 2015 estimates that trade between African countries will increase by 715 percent between now and 2050. International freight transport volumes are also expected to grow by 200 percent over the same period. This is not altogether surprising as volumes of trade through port terminals have to grow to sustain economic growth, jobs and food security across Africa.

Effectively this means that we, as port operators, have to look beyond the terminal gates in order to ensure the future sustainability of our operations and the local economy and that we have to take cognisance of the various challenges, including the health risks, that come with the predicted necessary expansions.

Our challenge is to sustainably support growth in trade between African countries as this will have a significant impact on the environment with shipping-related emissions in ports predicted to increase by the same percentage. That is if shipping companies, port authorities, freight companies and terminal operators continue with business as usual.

It is only once terminal operators and city management start working more closely together that we will find solutions. The danger is real. Increased emissions have the potential to severely impact the lives of people around port cities.

Health dangers

In fact it is estimated that shipping-related particulate matter emissions in port cities are responsible for about 60 000 cardiopulmonary and lung cancer deaths annually around the world. Most deaths occur near the main shipping hubs in Europe, east Asia and south Asia.

It is therefore vital that any future terminal investment in Africa has to take these factors into account, especially as most of the major ports on the continent are in close proximity to city centres and residential areas. The harbours of Cape Town, Durban, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Luanda and Abidjan are all good examples.

South African ports have taken this challenge to heart and in the long-term modernisation of the terminal infrastructure and operating systems will help to reduce emissions per ton of cargo moved. Not only is modern equipment more energy efficient, it is also more productive. This reduces the time that vessels spend in port – or waiting in the roadstead, which in turn reduces emissions as these vessels contribute to the emissions from the ports.

It is vital that shipping companies also do their part to continue to reduce the emissions through the introduction of new, more energy-efficient vessels or the retrofitting of older vessels. However, noise pollution remains a very real consideration too as the cumulative effect of more trade will be that the terminals have a greater impact on the air quality, noise levels and traffic congestion in the port cities in which they are situated.

If you want to see the affect of trade on a port city you need only look at the effect it has on that city’s traffic. With a few notable exceptions and for historical reasons most of the major ports in Africa have no direct road access from a highway because the cities were developed around the ports. City authorities are now left with the challenge of creating routes for trucks through city streets that were designed and built long before the container era. Add to that the huge growth in the African middle class and vehicle ownership across Africa, which has created an additional load on the road infrastructure, and traffic congestion, noise pollution and carbon emissions on Africa’s roads become a real concern.

According to figures generated by the European Commission this year, more than two-thirds of transport-related greenhouse emissions are from road transport. In contrast, rail contributes 0.6 percent and maritime operations contribute 13.9 percent of transport-related emissions. As a continent, we therefore have to focus on rail transport and short sea shipping solutions in order to support intra-African and global trade growth.

There are no easy (or low-cost) solutions. In the short term, local authorities can upgrade the access road infrastructure where this is physically possible. A more lasting solution is to place freight on rail – either from source or at a dry inland feeder port, such as the Kano dry port outside Lagos. Or a new harbour can be built.

There are already quite a few good examples on our continent: Kenya is building the port of Lamu north of Mombasa, Nigeria is building the Ibaka deep-sea port. Here in South Africa we have Ngqura and there are plans for a second port in Durban.

Increased efficiency

However, as we have seen, new ports do not automatically take all the freight from the old harbours. Without Ngqura the South African terminal system would have struggled to cope with the existing levels of trade, despite the global downturn since 2008. If the International Transport Forum is right and Africa will enjoy an average 20 percent growth in trade a year – then as a continent we will need both the new and old terminal operations to keep up with the demand.

This brings us as terminal operators back to thinking outside the terminal gates. We can only be as green and efficient as the economic and logistics systems that we support. Moving freight through the terminal gates more efficiently is one of the challenges. Another is power. According to a report the World Bank released in 2013, African manufacturers experience power outages on average 56 days a year. Terminal operators are also affected by this – which results in delays and raises the cost of doing business with Africa.

As one of the biggest power users in any port city terminal operators can, however, make a difference. Decisions on the procurement of new equipment should be guided by the energy efficiency of the machinery. An immediate benefit to the terminal operator is reduced power costs. By reducing demand on the power grid we also help keep the local economy moving, and lights burning in the homes of local South Africans. Modern ship-to-shore gantry cranes such as those installed recently by Transnet Port Terminals can also feed power back into the grid.

So, the good news is that trade through Africa’s sea terminals is going to grow, and that as an industry and society we have the solutions to reduce the environmental impact of that growth along the entire logistics value chain – which in the majority of cases starts or finishes at the port terminal. All that is required is for terminal operations to be fully integrated into the fabric of the cities and regions they serve.

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Karl Socikwa is the chief executive of Transnet Port Terminals. The company has a staff complement of more than 6 000. For more information, visit www.transnetportterminals.net.

** The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media.

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