Logistics into Africa – Supply Chain Concerns and SA’s Road Traffic Ban on Large Containers

The upsurge of COVID in China is set to increase the shortages of Chinese-made goods being imported into Africa. There have been concerns expressed that this will impact ecommerce volumes and stoke inflationary pressures, particularly for countries such as SA, Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana. A perfect storm is now approaching created by the Chinese lock-down, continuing effects of COVID globally, and the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in SA, high cube shipping containers are still banned on roads, and recently the fight to get high cube containers legalised on SA’s roads attracted the attention of Business Unity South Africa (Busa), which wrote to the Minister of Transport asking him to consider reviewing a National Traffic Act regulation that currently prohibits the transportation of these shipping containers on SA roads. This battle has been going on for more than 15 years. Busa pointed out that in view of SA’s sub-optimal levels of economic growth, investment, and employment, the country can ill afford such costly and time-consuming regulation of a sector so critical to the operations of a modern economy. Other interests, however, have pointed out that these containers will further damage roads leading to more potholes, and that most of SA’s roads are not designed to carry the weight of these containers.