Mozambique unrest: SADC’s logistical nightmare

Public protests in Mozambique continue to cause mass distractions on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) vast road network, blocking key trading routes, massive loss of properties and fears that efforts to liberalise intra-regional trade in goods and services could be jeopardised.

Transport companies have expressed concerns about the logistical nightmare posed by the unrest, which one of the trucks of prominent transport firm, Nel Snel, set alight in Mozambique a week ago.

With most of the countries in the SADC region being landlocked, most of them depend on the region’s road network of approximately 932 000 km to move their goods around.

Sea ports in Namibia and South Africa are key facilities when it comes to receiving goods bought overseas by landlocked countries in the region.





Fish

Namibia’s multi-billion-dollar fishing industry could be among the hardest hit by the unrest in Mozambique being the huge volumes of fish it exports to that country.

Fishing is one of Namibia's top industries, contributing about three percent of the gross domestic product since 2007 and approximately 20 percent of the country’s export earnings.

According to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade, Namibia is one of the biggest contributors to Mozambique’s fishing market, having exported frozen fish worth more than N$970 million in 2023.

The fish is normally transported via road with trucks on the 1900 km trek which takes drivers anything between two to three days.



Halted

Confederation of Namibian Fishing Associations (CNFA) chairman Matti Amukwa yesterday told Business7 that members of the confederation have halted fish exports to Mozambique “until the situation stabilises”.

“We [Namibia] mostly send horse mackerel to Mozambique, but due to the security situation that has stopped while we monitor the situation. You remember not so long ago a Namibian truck was set alight in Mozambique,” he said.

With South Africa having closed one of its busiest ports of entry - Lebombo Border Post - trade between the region’s biggest economy and Mozambique is also under threat from the logistical nightmare caused by the social unrest in one of SADC’s resource-rich nations.

Official statistics from the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade indicate that trade between Mozambique and South Africa exceeded US$3 billion during 2023. This is mainly mineral fuels, food,vehicles, machinery and electronics among others.



International support

Mozambican president Filipe Nyusi met several top diplomats posted in his country, calling on them to provide continued assistance for stability and peace.

“Efforts to maintain internal stability should be complemented by international support, especially given the country’s complex economic and social challenges,” he said.

The Namibia Revolutionary Transport Union (NARETU) has since called on the Namibian government to contact its Mozambican counterparts in order to map the way forward, fearing that retrenchment of truck drivers might be considered by employers if the situation persists.

“We really urge the government to come on board because this situation does not only affect the transport industry, if the situation persists, it means the factories where the fish is processed and packed will have to retrench workers.

“The vessels that go out to catch these fish in the ocean will also be affected because they would have to reduce their crew members,” warned NARETU president Petersen Kambinda during the Business7 television show last week.