Placing Mauritius as a potential hub of transport and logistics

The logistics and transport industry has always been the backbone of global trade and will remain at the forefront of all activities that connect Africa to the rest of the world. Apart from the remoteness of the main European and American markets, many African countries face numerous challenges. These are mainly related to logistics and transport which are essential for economic development and openness to other economies. Over 150 high profile transport and logistics delegates, from across the Africa region, attended the Africa Forum 2016  from 9 to 10 March at Intercontinental Hotel Balaclava for a packed programme of guest speakers, presentations and interactive sessions under the theme. Exploring Africa Hub – Logistics and Transport as Growth Drivers. The Prime Minister, Anerood Jugnauth and Minister of Public Infrastructure and Land Transport, Nando Bodha were present at the opening ceremony. The forum was organised by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Mauritius, which is an association grouping together some 300 professionals from the transport, and transport related sectors in Mauritius. The forum focussed on Mauritius as well as other potential hubs for the various modes of transport as an example of Africa and its global connections, providing opportunities to enable economic growth through increasing logistics and transport professionalism. In line with the African Union Strategic Framework for Pan-African socio-economic development in the 21st Century, effort is being made this year to specially invite relevant arms of our regional development organizations such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which represents Africa’s gateway to economic development and prosperity. The idea is to create much wider opportunities for sharing knowledge and networking with a view to bringing francophone countries into the CILT great family. According to Naden Padayachi, President of CILT Mauritius, the country is well poised to play a lead role in the fields of logistics and transport in the region and we have a lot of things to share with and learn from the Continent. “The forum no doubt provides an excellent platform for us to discuss about the crucial role of the African Continent and its colossal influence in transforming the dynamics of the landscape of the logistics and transport industry. There is no denying that Africa is on the move,” he says. To him, from the old cliché of a cursed continent some decades ago, Africa is now the much-sought-after region for prospective investors. “It’s now, so to say, the darling of the rich countries,” he continues. In fact, according to a study by the Barclays Bank Group, the opportunities presented by the African nations are immense. “Over one billion people are being viewed with sharpened interest by economists, multinational companies, and the continent’s, highly diverse community.” Africa thus continues to be a very exciting part of the world. Many African countries are growing at almost 6% per annum. Despite the strategy for Africa to go on achieving new and unparalleled heights that look wonderful, yet it should also be admitted that the number of challenges lying ahead is rising at a quicker pace than ever. “There is an imperative need to reach a common understanding and to chalk out ways and means to remove the hurdles and to change the face of the African Continent. In this regard, logistics and transport has a crucial role to play because the most popular buzzword of this 21st Century is connectivity,” says Naden Padayachi. As the title of the forum suggests “Exploring the Africa Hub – Logistics and Transport as Growth Drivers,” this sector is already acting as one of the fundamental catalysts in boosting trade across the continent. “The CILT is bent on playing a lead role in this endeavour through its world class professional training in the transport and logistics sector for the Asian and African regions. The association has worked on a complete harmonization of its training programme with the CILT branches operating on the continent.  And the main reason for focusing on Africa is to create a pool of highly qualified professionals in the transport and logistics sector since we believe that this sector is and will continue to remain the lifeblood of trade, be it local, regional, intra-regional or international,” says the latter. The transport and logistics sector has grown exponentially in some countries where they contribute significantly to their GDP baseline. For example, the aviation industry contributes almost $ 2.4 trillion to the world’s GDP. The logistics and transport sector is well positioned to act as a bridge between African nations despite the host of challenges that the continent is subject to. At the local level, the ambition of the Government of Mauritius is to turn the island into an economic and financial hub for the region, where the transport and logistics sector is already buzzing with ground-breaking projects such as the air corridor that will connect Africa with Asia as well as the regional airline project. Another state-of-the-art project is the maritime hub where the local port will be at the heart of a major development that aims at making the island a focal maritime point in the region. According to the speakers of the forum and members of the association, Mauritius is therefore on the right track.