1   Participating Member in the COMESA/EAC/SADC Tripartite Surface Transport committees

Right from the early days, when a few road transport associations formed the FRRFA, the road transport industry has been most pro-active in regional issues along the corridors in our region.  On more than one occasion, FESARTA was the only regional association on committees for some years, before other regional associations became involved.

FESARTA has continued to lead the way amongst the other regional associations such as PMEASA (ports), ASANRA (roads), SARA (rail) and FCFASA (clearing and forwarding).

For this reason, the road transport industry, through FESARTA’s membership on the various regional committees, has always played an important role in determining regional recommendations, which, in most cases, filter down into national acts and regulations.

The committees set up to carry out this process include:  Transport Database, Transport Liberalization (market access), Road User Charges (user-pay principle), Third Party Insurance, Vehicle Equipment and Dimensions, Loads on Vehicles, Fitness of Vehicles, Testing of Vehicles, Abnormal Loads, Dangerous Goods, Driving Licences (including PrDP)), Self Regulation, Transit Bond and Corridor Management Institutions, eg Maputo, Trans Kalahari, North-South, Dar es Salaam.

Unfortunately, due to the time it takes for decisions taken at regional level to eventually filter down to the road transporter, and that the decisions are often diluted into non-specific recommendations, the road transporter is not always aware of the benefits that FESARTA gives.

2   Beitbridge and Chirundu Monitoring

As noted earlier, information is key to the success of most processes and the upgrading and improvement of Beitbridge and Chirundu were no exceptions.

In 2005, FESARTA was contracted by the World Bank Sub-Saharan African Policy Programme (SSATP) to monitor Beitbridge.

FESARTA sub-contracted Transport Logistics Consultants and the project was completed in 2006.

Following on from the success of this project, SSATP then contracted FESARTA to monitor Chirundu.

This was completed in 2007 and is reported in the World Bank Discussion Paper no. 10, September 2009.

The outcomes from these two projects is still being used as base information for future monitoring projects.

3   Beitbridge Efficiency Management System (BBEMS)

Beitbridge is the busiest border in East and Southern Africa.   Probably the whole of Africa.

But, its infrastructure is based on a 50-year old design and is becoming stretched.

At its peak a few years ago, up to 600 trucks transited the border each day.  With the Zimbabwe recession this has reduced to around 400.

Once Zimbabwe is back to normal, the border will then not cope – it is already having recurring “hiccups”.

There are monthly “inter-border” meetings, but they seem unable to make major changes.

 

With this in mind, FESARTA set about bringing together all the high-profile stakeholders from South Africa and Zimbabwe, and, in May 2009, with funding from RTFP (now TMSA), put together a workshop near the border.

SADC, seeing the importance of the situation and the success of the workshop, took over the leadership of the process to improve the situation at that border and named it the Beitbridge Efficiency Management System (BBEMS).

Further meetings have been held since and various documents have been drawn up to take the process forward.

Unfortunately, political interference in the process has negated all efforts to make the necessary progress.

However, the structure is still in place and the process will continue once political agreement is reached.

4   Load Limits and Overloading Control

For many years, SADC and COMESA have had differing load limit recommendations for member states.  SADC had higher limits than those recommended by COMESA.

After considerable pressure, a workshop was held in Nairobi in 2008, at which the SADC load limits and weighbridge allowances were agreed.  These were ratified by the COMESA council of ministers and then put into recommendations for member states.

Of note was that a 5% weighbridge allowance on Axle and GVM/GCM limits was agreed.  This was due largely to FESARTA’s lobbying.

There were some outstanding matters from the Nairobi workshop, ie load limits for super single tyres and convincing the East African countries that an interlink does no more road damage than an artic.  For example, Kenya was restricting its vehicle combinations to 48 tons, and this affected the whole Northern Corridor (Mombasa, to Nairobi, to Kampala, to Kigali, to Bujumbura).

FESARTA convinced TMSA to fund a desktop study, carried out by the CSIR, to cover these two issues.

The study was completed and the outcomes used in the ensuing EAC project.

Some years ago, Tanzania adopted the SADC load limit recommendations.

However, for some unknown political reason, interlink vehicle combinations were unofficially banned.  The ban restricted the use of the most efficient vehicle combinations in the region.

Over the past 6 years, FESARTA has lobbied vigorously to have this ban removed and, also resulting from the outcomes of the EAC project, the ban is to be lifted.

During all of the above, EAC had been “left behind” in setting recommendations to its member countries.

It decided to have a load limits and overloading control project, funded by the Japanese.

FESARTA was then invited to be a Southern African expert for the 6 months project.

The outcomes of the project were to accept the majority of the original SADC recommendations.

These outcomes are now before the EAC parliament, for ratification.

5   East and Southern African Road Transport Corridor Information Handbook

Information is key to the success of companies and countries alike.

There was no publication which gave transporters, authorities and other stakeholders, detailed information of the road transport corridors.

For this reason, FESARTA, in conjunction with Fleetwatch, created the East and Southern African Road Transport Corridor Information Handbook,.  The Handbook details costs, delays, border information etc on all the major road transport corridors in East and Southern Africa.

Trade Mark Southern Africa (TMSA) provided start-up funding for the Handbook.

The Handbook was published in September 2011.

The intention is to produce a 2012/2013 edition and also make it web-based.

Funding is being sought from TMSA to achieve this.

6   The Road Transport (Truckers’) Forum

There is an existing unsatisfactory situation of too many problem issues along the road transport corridors in East and Southern Africa.

To try to find and implement solutions to these issues, FESARTA, together with the NRTAs and organizing partner, 3S Media, held a Truckers’ Forum, in Johannesburg, in March 2012.

The three RECs endorsed and participated in the Forum. TradeMark East Africa, TradeMark Southern Africa, USAID SA Trade Hub and USAID Compete East Africa, provided moral and financial support.

At the Forum, the leading problem issues experienced along the corridors and the proposed solutions to these problems as determined by the road transporters themselves, were tabled and workshopped.

The Forum produced a document detailing the leading problems and solutions along the corridors.

This was seen as the start of a continuing process which will include liaison with the RECs and TradeMarks for the updating of the document and the implementation of the solutions detailed in it, and annual Road Transport Forums

Many stakeholders have agreed that this initiative is the first of its kind that has taken a “hands on” approach to solving the problems along our corridors.