African leaders have been advised to embrace new types of transportation in order to reduce the cost of doing business that is fuelled by the high cost of transporting commodities.Uganda’s High Commissioner to Tanzania, Mr Ibrahim Mukiibi, said use of maritime and railway systems are instrumental for cutting down high costs of transportation not only within countries but also across the continent.He was speaking at commemorations of the 49th African Union anniversary called Africa Day, with a theme ‘Boosting Intra African Trade’ marked at the country level in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

“Western countries have prospered in their economies as they decided to use alternative means of transportation which is water and railways, that’s why they make more profit in their businesses,” he said.

He noted that due to their quest to make the continent remain their potential market for their produce, Western countries have kept on investing in roads projects in Africa.
“They produce motor vehicles. The vehicles cannot use railways but rather they use roads, so that is the main reason as to why they fund us in road projects instead of empowering us in establishing other means of transport,” the Ugandan envoy said.

He urged African leaders to stop accepting their continent to be a dumping site for ideas, culture and goods from the West. “They should consider the affordable transport sector as a way of reducing cost,” noted Mr Mukiibi.

He urged Africans to be serious on various resolutions they made and on implementation of documents they produce, advising them to invest in infrastructure and energy as the sectors have potentials to boost technology transfer hence reducing unemployment.

For his part, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr John Haule, urged the African governments to improve their transportation means basing on the fact that low quality of the continent’s transport infrastructure network limits connectivity.

The Africa Day commemoration was organised by African Diplomats group accredited to Tanzania in collaboration with the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Various African diplomats and high profiled academicians attended the occasion.