Africa is rich in natural resources, and the time is now for Africa to exploit its richness.
Africa is located on major strategic trade routes, whether North-South or East-West routes, Africa's geographical position makes it the potential kingpin in global trade. With over 40,000 kilometres of coastline across 38 coastal countries, Africa needs to develop and grow its maritime participation. Africa's seaports serve as the gateway to export Africa’s natural resources to the world. Exploiting potential maritime benefits would be a strong catalyst in ensuring the accomplishment of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.“Do you have a design in mind for your blog? Whether you prefer a trendy postcard look or you’re going for a more editorial style blog - there’s a stunning layout for everyone.”
You’ll be posting loads of engaging content, so be sure to keep your blog organized with Categories that also allow visitors to explore more of what interests them.
In an attempt to understand the success of ports in developing countries, Bennathan and Walters (1979) presented two contesting port paradigms that guide port governance and pricing; the Continental doctrine and the Anglo-Saxon doctrine. Continental doctrine ports are often associated with economic development objectives, while Anglo-Saxon ports are built and developed for financial objectives. The former views the port as part of the social infrastructure. Its success should not be measured by its profitability but by contributing to economic growth and hinterland development. The latter views the ports as a trade gateway point, and their profitability measures their success. Each country needs to clarify its priorities in port objectives as economic development objectives often clash with financial objectives.
The pricing system must retain benefits from port improvements and investments within developing countries' economies. Under financial objectives, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) argued that ports often set price levels so that annual revenue flow exceeds expected annual costs to build up reserves to finance future investments or meet possible deficits. In the case of development objectives, the port is most likely to be subsidised, and subsidies are most easily defended. For ports to successfully incorporate these vastly different objectives into a pricing structure, there must be a large degree of coordination between the different departments involved. Africa's countries are developing states that should promote equality and social welfare, yet most port authorities' pricing aims to maximise revenue.
Like Africa's ports, Lee and Flynn (2011) identified that neither the Continental doctrine nor the Anglo-Saxon doctrine could fully explain the growth and success of major Asian seaports and, therefore, introduce the Asian doctrine. The Asian doctrine brought about the central government coordination of ports in the early stages of port development, seeing the central government as the sole role player from a port investor, port designing, port developing, port operating, price-making, and port mediator, allowing for cross-subsidisation. Nevertheless, none of the three doctrines can adequately explain Africa's port system. Africa's ports are predominantly governed by goals aligned with continental and Asian doctrines (Meyiwa and Chasomeris, 2016). However, the pricing and the revenue collection method are aligned with the Anglo-Saxon doctrine (Gumede and Chasomeris, 2018). It is high time that Africa’s next continental roundtable among the heads of state focuses on a unified plan to develop and grow Africa’s maritime sector. Africa needs to develop clear seatrade priorities that are observed through clear trade policies, port governance principles and strategies, which will inform clear port pricing principles, methodology, structure, and strategy with effective port regulations that are understood by port stakeholders. Africa is rich in natural resources, and the time is now for Africa to exploit its richness. We should build from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to foster connectedness among African countries. Let's build Africa together; the time is now.
BENNATHAN, E. & WALTERS, A. A. 1979. Port Pricing and Investment Policy for Developing Countries. Published by Oxford University Press for the World Bank.
GUMEDE, S. & CHASOMERIS, M. 2018. Pricing strategy and tariff structure for a port authority: a case study of South Africa. Maritime Policy & Management, 45, 756-769.
LEE, P. T.-W. & FLYNN, M. 2011. Charting a New Paradigm of Container Hub Port Development Policy: The Asian Doctrine. Transport Reviews, 31, 791-806.
MEYIWA, A. & CHASOMERIS, M. 2016. Restructuring Port Governance in South Africa. Journal of Economic and Financial Sciences, 9, 854-873.
Kommentare