AU: Harmonise transportation regulatory frameworks
THE African Union Commission (AUC) has called on the continental regional blocs to harmonise road transport regulatory instruments in order to realise regional integration and aid trade facilitation.
Addressing the four-day continental workshop on harmonisation of Africa Road Transport Regulatory frameworks in Johannesburg, South Africa over the weekend, AUC Acting Head of Transport and Mobility Division Mr Eric Ntagengerwa emphasised the importance of harmonising road transport regulatory instruments.
He was speaking on behalf of AUC Director of Infrastructure and Energy, Dr Kamugisha Kazaura, saying that harmonisation was important in order to realise regional integration and aid trade facilitation by laying the groundwork for the effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The workshop was organised by AUC in partnership with the European Union (EU) funded Tripartite Transport and Transit Facilitation Programme (TTTFP).
It was organised to assess progress on the harmonisation and implementation of Vehicle Load Management (VLM) in Africa, exchanging best practices on policies and standards, while soliciting realistic proposals for a continental VLM strategy.
“Road transport facilitates roughly 80 per cent of trade on the continent, and demand is expected to rise significantly in the coming years, aided by AfCFTA, which is why we need to increase the efficiency and capacity of transportation infrastructure and services for the movement of goods and people within and beyond borders.”
Mr Ntagengerwa said harmonisation of road transport will stimulate African economies by allowing African enterprises to expand and enter new markets, increase productivity, generate jobs, accelerate industrialisation and contribute to the achievement of Agenda 2063 aspirations, goals and objectives.
He praised the efforts made in the tripartite region, which covers 800 million people, to harmonise transit and transportation instruments, adding, “This is an opportune time to scale up the best practices at the continental level to address trading barriers and realise a liberalised road transport market in Africa. The AUC is ready to provide Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) with the required leadership and support.”
On his part, Mr Bernard Dzawanda on behalf of COMESA Director of Infrastructure & Logistics Mr Baptiste Mutabazi said “the three RECS are working toward the broader goal of accelerating continental economic integration, boosting economic growth, reducing poverty, and achieving sustainable economic development.”
Ms Petra Pereyra, EU Ambassador to Botswana and SADC, discussed the EU’s experience in integrating transport systems across the EU region. “To enable this level of intra-European mobility, we had to work tirelessly for decades to remove regulatory impediments to transport and trade in the EU. And this is the type of hard work that the TTTFP has been conducting for the past five years in collaboration with 25 SADC, EAC, and COMESA member states.”
On the first day, the workshop focused on the causes and effects of vehicle overloading across the continent, emerging technologies and innovations, and continental initiatives on road transport and transit facilitation, as well as lessons learned from these programmes to unlock the potential of AfCFTA, which is dependent on factors such as the removal of Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade (NTBs).
The foundations for the discussions are the recently adopted Tripartite Vehicle Load Management Agreement (VLMA), Multilateral Cross Border Road Transport Agreement (MCBRTA), and Model Laws and Regulations by the Tripartite Council of Ministers of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC), and Southern African Development Community (SADC).
A study excursion to the Heidelberg Traffic Control Centre on the Johannesburg-Durban highway, the busiest section of the North-South Corridor, is also part of the workshop’s experience-sharing initiatives, facilitated by the South African National Road Agency (SANRAL).
More than 150 policymakers, regulators, engineers, and experts from African Union Member States, Regional Economic Communities (RECs), AUC, AfCFTA Secretariat, African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Corridor Management Institutions, and international partners are attending the workshop.
