Digitalization is the key to recovery

25 May Digitalization is the key to recovery

Jean Marie Koffi, Secretary General of the Ports Management Association of West and Central Africa, details how Covid-19 has accelerated the digital transition

You have been Secretary General (SG) since September 2019. To begin, could you introduce the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), its principal objectives and its member organizations?

As you rightly say, I was appointed SG of the PMAWCA in September 2019. Our principal objective is to work with members to increase traffic, to improve on infrastructure and to build sustainable ports. The economies of member states depend on port platforms. The ports therefore have a big role to play for Africa to attain its development goals. Our association is also here to share best practices among port members, to ensure that things that are done very well in one port are shared and adapted in other ports. Together with the Director Generals of member ports and the president of the association, we share the understanding that we have done enough development studies in the past years: now is the time to set up concrete projects. This is the current philosophy of our association.

What role does the PMAWCA play in supporting its member organizations’ competitiveness on an international scale? Can you elaborate on how PMAWCA supports the regional integration of its member organizations?

As I mentioned, we offer a platform for knowledge and information sharing. Equally, not only do we promote and facilitate cooperation between member ports, organizations and other stakeholders, but we also attract international funding bodies to relevant port projects. 

We are planning to set up a structured data system and statistics for all member ports. That way, if one port—for example, the port of Douala or the port of Abidjan—has the statistics, they can compare them with those from other ports. These statistics will be accumulated through a common template. We will thus have standard statistics available for use by member ports. This is one important thing we are currently working on.   

We also aim to increase the competitiveness of ports and to share and work on all the issues our member ports are facing with respect to competitivity and renewable energies. We are working with the World Bank and other global organizations to set up some concrete projects to boost the competitiveness of ports and to mitigate the carbon issue which affects our ports and countries. These are some of the project frames we are embarking on. 

You took on a leadership role right before the economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis began. PMAWCA was not immune to the impact of the pandemic. How did you handle these challenges? What best practices did you implement, and what were the main lessons learned?

When Covid-19 started we were concerned, because all the ports of the world connect to each other. Fortunately for Africa, traffic didn’t decrease as much as was expected. The explanation is not that simple. On the one hand, Africa exports raw materials and it became difficult for these to be shipped to China, Europe, and America, which are the major destinations for our members’ exports. On the other hand, our imports were increasing because we urgently needed certain materials during the health crisis.

Imports are picking up relative to exports. With regard to exports, some containers were stuck in China and other destinations. This situation made it difficult for our economies and exerted a lot of pressure on our infrastructures. To solve this problem, PMAWCA shared digitalization tools with its members so that they could embark on this better way of working. The crisis has also affected our association as it forced us to modify our working schedules. Happily, traffic in African ports didn’t decrease: rather, it is increasing. What we have learned from this crisis is that we have to digitalize our procedures and limit the action of human beings to the strictly necessary. 

What key infrastructure development schemes are taking place within your association? What are the most promising port development schemes?

Today, international trade is based on digitalization. You can’t do anything without it. We therefore have to digitalize our procedures. In this respect, we have an amazing ongoing project aimed at implementing the single window in the port community systems in our subregion. It is all about digitalization. Why digitalization? Because we have learnt from the health crises that we need to build resilient systems. Another important reason is that we want to make more profits, cutting down on production costs and increasing work rates. It is better to rationally limit the activities of humans in the whole supply chain. So we developed a platform on which everything is coordinated; people get their assignments, and they work via the platform. This is the way we now operate. Our manner of working is now based on digitalization. It is just like this interview: in the past we would have done this interview physically, but now we are doing it virtually. The crisis sometimes makes it difficult to travel, and hence it is better to work this way. Africa is on this track. And we are focused on it. 

To what extent does the public-private sector model play a role in the development of port infrastructure in West and Central Africa? Moving forward, what do you believe will be the most important financing model for new projects? 

The African Union has a new project, the African Continental Free Trade Area, which encourages trade among African countries. The role ports must play is to develop the platform, the ports domain, to build small industries that will carry out the first transformation of our raw material before exporting. We are looking for funds to develop the platform infrastructure in our ports. For ports that are not large enough, it is recommended that they extend their domain by developing new areas. 

We have to work on connectivity, too, because if we don’t, the transportation of goods will be difficult. The problem of traffic jams is serious for our ports. Here in Lagos, Nigeria, traffic jams happen every day, especially around the port area. These jams are caused by trucks, and by the non-digitalization of import/export procedures. The authorities had tried to digitalize these procedures, but things defaulted to their previous state. We are presently having talks with the authorities on the issue, to see how to raise the funds for digitalization and road maintenance projects. This will ease circulation. In Abidjan for example, there is one entry road to the port, and the same road serves as exit. It is necessary for funds to be raised to construct separate entry and exit roads. 

In short, we offer a platform to develop a given port’s domain, road infrastructure and dry ports. It is crucial that the dry ports have a good connection with the hinterland.

The fourth industrial revolution is disrupting all economic sectors, including the port and shipment sectors. To what extent is PMAWCA implementing new technologies, such as AI and big data, in port management? What technologies need to be implemented in the future? 

In Africa, the rate of unemployment is high. We need jobs! That notwithstanding, I remain convinced that new technologies are far more helpful to the performance of ports. Today, most of the activities in ports are not done by port authorities but by private companies. These private companies create jobs for the population. All of it rests on digitalization. The main problem we have here in African ports is the digitalization of our procedures. Without this, we can’t solve the problems we have today. We need to clear goods; physical presence in the port can cause traffic jams; there are trucks; there is personnel. All of this is not simple. Digitalization is the way to succeed in our region. That’s the first step and then we can move further to focus on solar energy for the sustainability of ports. Finance for this can also be made available. The latter tackles the problem of carbonization in the ports. We are looking for the funds for these phases to succeed as port members.  

Moving forward and looking at the future, what is your strategic vision and what do you most hope to accomplish in the next five years?

Sustainable ports will help Africa to optimize the use of clean energy. At present we use oil and solar energy (we have solar exposure for eight months a year). We’re setting out to fight climate change, and we have also taken new development paths and chosen new tools. Apart from the fact that ports should be developed by digitalization, focusing on renewable energy will ensure that resilient and competitive ports emerge in Africa. Furthermore, if we are to ensure that resilient and competitive ports emerge in Africa, port security has to be another pillar. Pirates, stowaways, terrorists, and other organized crimes and physical violations present a huge risk to the development of our ports.

Would you like to share a final message with our readers?

Africa is the future, because in Africa there are raw materials, lots of products and a lot to develop. The market in Africa is very large and it is expanding. Even for a foreign person, it is easy to start and develop a business structure here in Africa. 

The task ahead of us is to work on the sustainability of ports and develop new sources of energy, be they solar or wind, and to improve security in our port domains. In short, in the next five years, we will focus on energy efficiency, sustainability, digitalization of procedures and the security of ports. Note that digitalization does not only apply solely to import/export procedures, but also concerns the clearance of goods in our ports.