South Africa: PPPs may be required to help fund Transnet’s ports investment
Thématique :
sud afrique
State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) would soon have to consider entering into public-private partnerships (PPPs) to fund the port infrastructure investment South Africa would require in future.
TNPA resident engineer Chris Matchett on Thursday, during a shipping industry discussion forum hosted by the Industrial Development Corporation, said that the authority had compiled a port development framework plan for each of its commercial ports.
The plans included a 30-year cargo forecast and indicated that South Africa would have to invest more than R230-billion on its port infrastructure during that time.
"A huge amount of money will be needed for South Africa to stay a [competitive] maritime trading country. It will be difficult for Transnet to find the funds in that time-frame," commented Matchett.
He noted that Transnet had not yet entered into PPPs, but that this was "not far off".
Meanwhile, Matchett noted that the TNPA was investigating the possibility of establishing a shipyard or shipyards within the ambit of the commercial ports system, in order to offer further support to the ship building industry.
He explained that TNPA would not operate the shipyard, but would plan for space in which the shipyards could be built if there was a requirement.
Further, the authority was also considering transferring its ship repair facilities to the ship repair industry, as the TNPA was "finding it difficult to keep the dry docks going" with the current income generated.
The TNPA had dry dock and wet repair facilities at the ports of Cape Town, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban.
Matchett said the authority was encouraging the ship repair industry to take over the "hard infrastructure" of its ship repair facilities, but noted that the TNPA would always have a maintenance programme for its own floating craft.
TNPA resident engineer Chris Matchett on Thursday, during a shipping industry discussion forum hosted by the Industrial Development Corporation, said that the authority had compiled a port development framework plan for each of its commercial ports.
The plans included a 30-year cargo forecast and indicated that South Africa would have to invest more than R230-billion on its port infrastructure during that time.
"A huge amount of money will be needed for South Africa to stay a [competitive] maritime trading country. It will be difficult for Transnet to find the funds in that time-frame," commented Matchett.
He noted that Transnet had not yet entered into PPPs, but that this was "not far off".
Meanwhile, Matchett noted that the TNPA was investigating the possibility of establishing a shipyard or shipyards within the ambit of the commercial ports system, in order to offer further support to the ship building industry.
He explained that TNPA would not operate the shipyard, but would plan for space in which the shipyards could be built if there was a requirement.
Further, the authority was also considering transferring its ship repair facilities to the ship repair industry, as the TNPA was "finding it difficult to keep the dry docks going" with the current income generated.
The TNPA had dry dock and wet repair facilities at the ports of Cape Town, Mossel Bay, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban.
Matchett said the authority was encouraging the ship repair industry to take over the "hard infrastructure" of its ship repair facilities, but noted that the TNPA would always have a maintenance programme for its own floating craft.
