南共体两大发展走廊

英文版

Two of SADC's Development Corridors

By H.E. Mbelwa·Kairuki  Ambassador of Tanzanian to China

STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE AND EVALUATION OF THE TAZARA-BENGUELA RAILWAY LINE CONNECTION

The recent inaugural 4,300-kilometer train journey from Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania to Lobito in Angola, via Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (“the DRC”), is both epic and significant when viewed in the context of implementing the desired industrial development coordination and cooperation framework of the Southern Africa Development Community (“SADC”) of 16 Member States which include Angola, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia. The TAZARA-Benguela railway line connection is significant in the context of the opportunity and feasibility to implement the SADC common agenda to concurrently promote intra-trade and the building of an industrial economy based on the resource endowment of the SADC region.

There is potential to build a robust industrial economy to create value chains to exploit the rich reserves of industrial raw materials and energy resources found in Angola, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia. It is industrial development that could be facilitated by the TAZARA-Benguela railway upgrade to become a world class and modern high-carrying capacity transport logistics infrastructure that would link the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The envisaged TAZARA-Benguela line high speed and seamless connection will have positive impact to international trade facilitation, with impact similar to that of the Panama Canal in facilitating international trade cargo from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. However, four critical enabling factors must be in place for everything to happen as envisaged to promote the TAZARA-Benguela Railway connection.

First and foremost, there must be significant investment to create various production platforms which will exploit the combined world-class factor endowment of resources in Angola, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia. The economic imperative is to promote investments and businesses which will generate the critical mass of cargo-traffic in quantities that will justify the cost of investment to develop a new and more efficient “TAZARA-Benguela” Railway Line which will result in high speed transportation and low unit freight costs. Secondly, Angola, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia should agree on the business case to upgrade the TAZARA-Benguela to high-speed railway technology which has enhanced carrying capacity, in comparison to the existing land transport options. The objective should be to make railway freight the preferred and most economic option to transport cargo from that region and destined for international markets via Dar Es Salaam and Lobito marine ports. The TAZARA-Benguela Railway connection will have acquired the capacity to move cargo traffic from coast-to-coast, within 48 hours of ocean vessels docking at the respective marine port of the Indian Ocean or Atlantic Ocean.

Thirdly, the four named primary stakeholder SADC Member States (Angola, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia) should agree to mobilize and commit their human and financial resources to be invested in the comprehensive development of TAZARA and Benguela Corridors. Fourthly, there is the most important and overarching factor of strong political leadership, which is critical to initiate, allocate resource and manage the entire development process to ensure success. The critical factor of strong political leadership requires a separate special mention below.

TAZARA-BENGUELA RAILWAY CONNECTION AND UPGRADE AS CATALYST OF COMPREHENSIVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

There exists a strong political and economic basis for the regional integration of SADC. Following the establishment of majority rule in the Republic of South Africa during the mid-1990s, the momentum of solidarity which had been created during the common struggle of liberation in the Southern region of Sub-Sahara Africa was carried forward to formulate development concepts and models with a holistic approach that was designed to promote trans-border investments synergies and coordinated regional economic development of the Member States which constitute the Southern Africa Development Community (“SADC”).

The seamless railway travel experience from Dar Es Salaam to Lobito should be viewed as practical demonstration of the feasibility to link implementation of the two most significant Development Corridors of the SADC Region. TAZARA and Benguela Line are respectively, the backbone land transport infrastructure for the SADC TAZARA Development Corridor (“TAZARA Corridor”) and the Benguela Development Corridor (“Benguela Corridor”).

The “Development Corridor” and “Spatial Development Initiative” (“SDI”) represent a comprehensive and inclusive socio-economic development model which seeks to build economic services infrastructure (electric power, water, roads, railways, airports, marine ports and backbone ICT infrastructure) as the key to unlock the inherent economic potential of the region with natural resources endowment (arable land, water, livestock, fisheries, forestry, wildlife, minerals and hydrocarbons); as well as the growing youthful population of the region which will provide a vibrant consumer market and energetic labour force.

SADC INDUSTRIALIZATION AGENDA AND CHINA BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE
SADC is politically the most cohesive and coherent regional economic community of Sub-Sahara Africa; and that being an outcome of the liberation “Front Line States” solidarity which was forged in the crucible of the common armed struggle for National independence in the Southern part of Africa. Communique of the 39th SADC Meeting of Heads of State and Government Summit endorsed the regional Theme of creating, “A Conducive Environment of Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development, Increased Intra-Regional Trade and Job Creation”, which takes forward the SADC Member States separate respective, as well as common industrialization agenda.

The 39th SADC Summit Meeting of Heads of State and Government recently elected Dr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli, the President of Tanzania to become the SADC Chairman. The key message in his acceptance speech underscored the imperative to increase SADC region intra-trade; and further to exploit the abundant natural resources of the Member States as the basis for coordinated regional industrialization strategy to exploit the SADC factor endowments.

At home, the President of Tanzania is leading a Government that is implementing a comprehensive Five-Year Development Plan with infrastructure, industry and trade development identified as drivers of the key results areas which will bring about the desired socio-economic transformation. Evidently, promotion of the comprehensive TAZARA Corridor and Benguela Corridors would be already aligned to the overall industrialization strategies of SADC and development plans of Tanzania. Hence, it is expected that the SADC Chairmanship of Tanzania will bring new momentum and political resolve to the regional development initiative of SADC.

The strategic concept and design of the SADC Development Corridors is similar to the China Belt-and-Road Initiative (“BRI”). The map below indicates how BRI could be linked to four strategic SADC Development Corridors via the TAZARA Corridor. Efficacy of the SADC Development Corridor and SDI socio-economic transformation model is premised on synchronized investments in economic services infrastructure and the exploitation of natural resources, linked to associated industry and logistics platforms. The said holistic development model is designed to achieve comprehensive socio-economic transformation to promote SADC region intra-trade as well as to enhance participation in world trade in value-added products via multi-modal transport terminal places of the pertinent Development Corridors and SDIs. In that regard, railway transport connectivity is critical to provide the requisite carrying capacity to move large quantities of raw materials from primary production centres to industrial platforms; as well as to deliver intermediate and finished products to respective markets.

In considering the active role of China to collaborate with international development initiatives, the BRI appears for now to be Eurocentric with focus on reviving and modernizing the traditional Eurasian Silk Road. The conceptual 21st Century Maritime Silk Road plying in the Indian Ocean skirts around the Eastern seaboard of Africa and needles through Bab-el-Mandeb into the Red Sea towards Mediterranean Africa. There is no roadway into the heartland of Sub-Sahara Africa where the TAZARA railway line made the first inroad as a lasting mark of China-Tanzania-Zambia leaders and people solidarity in the liberation struggle and economic sphere. Time is now opportune, for the present leaders and peoples of China, Angola, DRC, Tanzania and Zambia to rediscover that same spirit in economic solidarity and join hands to link BRI with SADC Development Corridors and SDIs for mutual benefit.

Strong political will to initiate and drive SADC-China international development cooperation is the prerequisite and necessary condition for China BRI and SADC integrated development to be realized. That is because it is only strong political will that can effectively mobilize and manage resources; as well as override competing interests and bring about the necessary resolve to allocate scarce resources on priority basis. Among all SADC Members States, strong political will and resolve will be required in order to allocate adequate resources for the building of the requisite physical infrastructure, to invest in human capital and to drive the necessary policy as well as business regulatory reforms; with a view to create a conducive environment that will foster inclusive and sustainable industrial development, promote and facilitate increased intra-regional trade, as well as create employment with new skills development.

A convergence of the strong political will of President Xi Jinping of China, and the current Leadership the SADC Region Member States with President John Pombe Magufuli as Chairman, may just be the right meeting of minds and resolve; to write a new page in the history of World development concerning Africa and China, that will be achieved with win-win economic solidarity for mutual benefit.

⬆Train on the Benguela railway  Photo by China Railway 20 Bureau Group Corporation Angola International Co.Ltd