There is significant potential to increase the scale and technology of Africa’s materials handling, or pit-to-port infrastructure, which is generally poor, compared with that of other mineral-rich countries, such as South Africa, Brazil and Australia, says global multidisciplinary consulting firm WSP|Parsons Brinckerhoff Africa development, transportation and infrastructure divisional director Vishaal Lutchman.

He notes that the technology currently being used to extract and transport mined resources across Africa is old, small-scale, inefficient and poorly maintained.

“As Africans, we need to find an appropriate implementation strategy to improve this infrastructure in a socially acceptable manner that is sustainable, yet competitive,” Lutchman tells Mining Weekly.

Some of the factors that lead to bulk materials handling and logistics infrastructure being generally poor in Africa include corruption in the private and public sectors, unstable or unclear government policy and poor regard for economic consequences, as well as poor long-term strategic capacity planning that is also not regionally integrated, he explains.

He further states that the continent’s land-locked countries have more difficulty in accessing ports and often rely on geopolitical trade agreements and partnerships with countries that have port and harbour access points.

The unavailability of skills to develop infrastructure on the continent is another problem, says Lutchman, adding that this leads to countries often relying on foreign skills and their not being able to maintain existing infrastructure domestically.

However, he says the pit-to-port technology used in South Africa is world class, and that the country has the best transportation infrastructure network on the continent. Nevertheless, the country’s challenge is that mines are far away from the ports, with the cost of moving commodities continuing to increase with the implementation of planned new capacities.

“South Africa has a dry bulk export market at present and wants to beneficiate local volumes in a cost-competitive manner.”

Lutchman says materials handling infrastructure is not growing fundamentally in South Africa, although State-owned rail operator Transnet has embarked on an aggressive, long-overdue investment in the rail sector.

The mining sector is also characterised by a lack of transformation, as new entrants find it difficult to break into the mining and transport sectors because existing players in the market hold an advantage, due to them being able to leverage their large balance sheets, good knowledge of mining operations, established supply chain access and access to new and existing markets, he explains.

Solution
Lutchman tells Mining Weekly that the challenges in the logistics sector in Africa can be solved through collaboration between the members of the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development. He says this approach can help to converge sustainable strategies and implementation plans that will empower the countries to establish more joint initiatives and projects that meet their individual, as well as regional, social mandates for change and growth.

This approach will also enable the countries to share knowledge and best practice, and learn from the models that have worked and not worked. Afrcian countries will also be able to properly integrate regional strategic and long-term planning towards a common developmental goal, maintains Lutchman.

He also states that proper collaboration will encourage countries to commit to an African perspective that is focused on intra-regional investment and enables strategic intra-Africa trade, “not just focusing on international export opportunities in the short-term, but opportunities to trade in Africa in the medium- to long-term – beneficiation hubs that are strategically located to supply for the African demand”.

Lutchman says this collaboration should also enable African countries to source skilled human resources to build the logistics sector. Having these skills in-country is the ideal objective in the long-term, but in reality, being able to develop these skills will depend on getting key projects “out of the pipeline” and operational, he adds.

He says that, in the short term, collaboration with neighbouring countries, as well as the public and private sectors will, therefore, allow for better assessment of skills availability and a more accurate determination of what might still need to be sourced through foreign avenues.

Further, African countries can source financial resources for logistics projects through vehicles such as development finance and loans from other African countries. Lutchman says barter finance could work for deals between the countries to offset a shortage in volumes and revenues between them, which can be supplemented with commercial loans or development funding.

Lutchman highlights that African countries also need to look at ways of developing a maintenance strategy for their materials handling or pit-to-port infrastructure.

“Overall, this strategy might be influenced by availability of budget and skills capacity; however, there needs to be a real commitment to maintenance at country level that is then driven by policy, prioritisation and operating expenditure funding,” he concludes.