PRESS RELEASE
The DHL Global Connectedness Index revealed that Africa is the world’s least connected continent
CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa, September 30, 2014/
— While international trade agreements such as AGOA (African Growth and
Opportunity Act) and the recently announced Economic Partnership
Agreement between European Union and Southern Africa are positive for
the continent and should be encouraged, more emphasis needs to be placed
on trade partnerships between African countries to drive seamless
intra-Africa trade.
Photo Charles Brewer: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/photos/charles-brewer-1.jpg (Charles Brewer, Managing Director for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa)
This is according to Charles Brewer, Managing Director of DHL Express Sub Saharan Africa (http://www.dpdhl.com),
who says that while progress is slowly being made, insufficient trade
agreements exist in order to encourage and drive intra-Africa trade. As a
result there tends to be a focus on doing business with regions outside
of Africa, such as the United States or China.
He says that
African countries desperately need to start trading amongst themselves,
and that the push for trade agreements should therefore not only be with
international trading partners, but amongst African countries too.
“The DHL Global
Connectedness Index revealed that Africa is the world’s least connected
continent, when considering the ease of moving people, trade,
information and finance. All African countries should therefore be
focused on developing connectedness on the continent and building trade
relationships. From a DHL standpoint, we are focused on making logistics
more accessible and connecting Africa, which has resulted in the
expansion of our retail footprint to over 3300 outlets in less than 3
years,” adds Brewer.
When comparing
intra-regional trade statistics, Africa rates amongst the lowest, with
less than 20% of what is produced in the region staying within the
region. This, in essence, means that over 80% of what is produced in
Africa is exported, mainly to the EU, China and the US. By comparison,
60% of Europe’s trade is with its own continent, and in North America,
the figure is 40%.
As is well
documented, one of the region’s biggest challenge in terms of realizing
its trade potential is an under developed infrastructure, but Brewer
says that this is slowly improving as several Africa regions continue to
invest large amounts of capital into infrastructure development.
“Under developed
infrastructure directly impacts the speed at which goods are moved
into, out of and across the region. It also drives up logistics costs,
and it is estimated that supply chain costs are up to nine times more
expensive in Africa in comparison to other regions in the world. These
inflated costs also ultimately hamper economic growth in the region.”
Brewer adds that
while progress on infrastructure development and investment should
continue, a push now needs to be made by African countries towards
developing and implementing trade agreements which will encourage trade
between the regions.
“Angola is the
only country in Africa that has a formal and declared de minimus, and
whilst all other Sub Saharan Africa countries have informal agreements,
the fiscal clearance levels vary greatly. For example, in Tanzania,
anything with a value greater than USD 5 will require formal clearance,
which creates an additional administrative burden and potential
clearance delays with minimal returns for the government in terms of
duty revenues.”
“With that said,
the situation is improving, and more countries are recognising that
they need to find ways to make their markets accessible and easier to do
business with. A great example for the region is Rwanda, who is looking
to strip away bureaucracy, remove the red tape and make their country
an attractive destination for trade and investment. More African
countries need to follow this example, and the region will reap the
rewards,” concludes Brewer.
Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Deutsche Post DHL.
Media Contact:
Megan Collinicos. Head: Advertising & Public Relations, Sub-Saharan Africa
DHL Express
Tel +27 21 409 3613 Mobile +27 76 411 8570
DHL – The logistics company for the world
DHL (http://www.dpdhl.com)
is the global market leader in the logistics and transportation
industry and “The logistics company for the world”. DHL commits its
expertise in international express, national and international parcel
delivery, air and ocean freight, road and rail transportation as well as
contract and e-commerce related solutions along the entire supply
chain. A global network composed of more than 220 countries and
territories and around 315,000 employees worldwide offers customers
superior service quality and local knowledge to satisfy their shipping
and supply chain requirements. DHL accepts its social responsibility by
supporting environmental protection, disaster management and education.
DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL. The Group generated revenues of more than 55 billion euros in 2013.
For more information: www.dpdhl.com
Stock images available: http://www.dpdhl.com/en/media_relations/media_library.html
SOURCE
Deutsche Post DHL.
No comments:
Post a Comment