Africa urged to upgrade maritime, logistic infrastructure to promote trade: bank official

LUSAKA, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Africa must urgently upgrade its maritime and logistic infrastructure in order to successfully promote the continent's trade, especially intra-Africa trade, the African Export-Import Bank said on Friday.

In an emailed statement, Kanayo Awani, the bank's managing director in charge of intra-African trade initiative, said the weak maritime and logistic infrastructure was harmful to African trade, adding that the continent currently had the world's highest transportation and transaction costs.

In remarks delivered at the Africa Ship-owners Summit in Seychelles, the official said only a few of the African countries with access to the sea had established the right infrastructure for maritime transport even though maritime transport accounted for 92 percent of Africa's trade.

Africa, she said, currently handled only six percent of global seaborne traffic, out of which 50 percent of the volume was handled by Egypt and South Africa.

According to her, there should be incentives to encourage African businesses to support the development of local shipping lines.

Opportunities also existed in inland waterways, cruise ship services, trans-shipment, container manufacturing and repairs, dry docking and other value addition services, she added. Enditem